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She couldn’t breathe.
“If I win, what will you make me for dinner? You never said.” His green eyes, looking more hazel up close, captured hers and made it impossible to move.
She cleared her throat and stiffened her back. “I, uh, I haven’t given it any thought. I have no intention of losing.”
There it was. That arrogant smile, that twitch of his lips that drove her crazy yet drew her to him at the same time. It was that smile alone that was responsible for the annihilation of her heart all those years ago.
She drew in a deep breath, fortifying herself, but before she could take a quick step back, he leaned in even closer.
So close she was terrified he might kiss her.
Or might not.
What would she do if he did? Wrap her arms around his neck and return the kiss? Or would she take a giant step back and tell him no way. Not only no way, but absolutely no way!
He smiled down at her and moistened his lips.
She pulled in a shallow breath, unable to take her eyes off his mouth.
“May the best man… or woman win.”
Surprised, her gaze flew to his.
He winked, turned, and was gone.
She stared after him as he disappeared into the night, long after the bell above the door stopped ringing, its echo still chiming through her mind. The phantom feel of his lips played across hers from the kiss that didn’t happen. That she didn’t want to happen and yet couldn’t stop thinking about the echoes of a memory of his kiss from long ago.
She touched her lips and turned to face Spooky who was staring at her with a knowing look in his wide yellow-green eyes.
“Don’t even think about it,” she told Spooky. “It’s not happening.”
She would not kiss Jimmy again.
No matter how much she might want to.
She wouldn’t let him get that close, physically or mentally. She had to be strong because she knew if she did, if she let him get that close, it wouldn’t be long until she’d be falling for him all over again.
Which would be a disaster.
He lived in Denver, and he wasn’t coming home.
He’d left her once before, and they both knew it was only a matter of time until he left her again.
CHAPTER11
That night Jimmy worked for hours on a new painting. He got the idea to paint Spooky while visiting Roni. There was something about that cat. He wasn’t usually drawn to animals. He’d never had one and didn’t want one now, but Spooky grabbed his attention and wouldn’t let go.
Jimmy fell deep into his work, adding one color after another, layering the paint in thick sweeping motions for the body and small defining dabs for the ears and nose. As the night wore on, Spooky filled his canvas, though try as he might, he couldn’t seem to get the eyes right. He wanted Spooky to be perfect.
He couldn’t wait to see Roni’s face when he gave her the painting. He imagined wrapping it up in colorful paper and adding a large red bow. It was the shoo-in he needed to win her back. He’d come to a decision tonight when he stood next to Roni, looking at the bundles of mistletoe, and remembering what it had been like to kiss her.
At that moment, he’d wanted so badly to kiss her again. To pull her into his arms and feel her softness up against him. He’d almost done it but the last thing he wanted to do was scare her. No, he had to do this right, or he’d push her away again. He’d played this all wrong for so long. This might be his last chance to get it right.
The clock chimed and he looked up to see it was three a.m. He had to get to bed. He had a long day at the coffee shop tomorrow and then there was his event to raise money for Jenni’s rescue foundation in the evening.
He expected it to be a full house. Not that he wanted to win. In fact, he wanted to lose. He planned to make dinner for Roni, to show her they could be good together, that it was possible to recapture what they’d had so long ago. That spark between them was still there. He knew it.
But more than that, he wanted his life back.
