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And watched Mr. Darcy, who at that precise moment was dashing around on his horse. Because that’s what dashing men did—they dashed this way and that. Jax had been dashing that morning, then he’d just been disillusioned. And that bothered her—more than it should.
“It’s because you’re friends,” Milly told herself. “And friends worry about each other when one of them is struggling. So this overwhelming sense of solicitude is normal.”
She blew out a breath and leaned back, trying to forget the sensation of his hands on her, his mouth on her. They hadn’t talked about the other night in the café. But that was the problem, when she was around him, she didn’t want to talk. She wanted to kiss, and touch, and if there were any sounds, she wanted it to be moaning. Lots of moaning.
Then when I’m pumping into it the shower will smell like you.
She wondered if he had actually done it. The idea dampened her panties.
“This is bad,” she whispered. “Really bad.”
He was right. This thing brewing between them wasn’t going away anytime soon. Thank goodness he was going away. How far could feelings cement in a couple of weeks?
Milly was trying to come up with a mathematical equation to determine the risk factor involved in a faux-mance with someone who had the potential to ruin her for all men when there came a knock.
Following Morning-After-Gate, Milly had established some boundaries with her parents. One of them being, as long as Milly was residing at the cabin they had to give twenty-four hours’ notice prior to visits. Not that Milly was planning on having any other sleepovers between now and Jax leaving—but precautions must be taken.
Just in case, a little voice whispered.
Her parents had agreed, but their quick and easy compliance had only added to Milly’s skepticism. So she wasn’t surprised when, after only two weeks, Howard and Gennie had infringed on their arrangement.
Patting herself on the back for donating four boxes of Zoe’s things, she set the jar of pickles on the coffee table and walked to the mudroom.
She opened the door and stopped mid-lecture. It was Jax. Dressed in jeans and a dark-green shirt that emphasized those broad shoulders and impressive biceps she’d had her hands all over. It also matched his eyes—which were haunted with a solemness that had her going still.
“Jax?”
“Hey,” he said quietly, resting a shoulder against the doorjamb. His eyes ran the length of her. She was in blue pinstriped bottoms with a matching Mr. Darcy top, which read, I prefer to be unsociable and taciturn. A small smile crossed his mouth. “I thought I made it clear that I don’t share well.”
“You spent the entire afternoon avoiding me, so Mr. Darcy came out to keep me company.”
His smile vanished. “About that.”
So, he had been avoiding her. Those swirling doubts turned into a fast-acting tornado. A chill blew through the house and cut through her pajamas, so she stepped aside to let him in. When he hesitated, she asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” He looked genuinely shocked by her assumption, then he stepped inside the doorway and, kicking the door shut behind him, he cupped her jaw. “And I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”
“You didn’t make me feel that way,” she admitted. “This whole pretend thing was easier when it was just the two of us concocting a plan. Being in the office, around everyone, it gets confusing. Am I giving too much, or not enough, or … ?” Her gaze moved to his chest.
Milly had never mastered the art of dating. Dillon had claimed that she was a relationship strangler, smothering him with so much love that he couldn’t breathe. Then she’d turned that attention onto Zoe and Dillon had accused her of being emotionally unavailable. He wasn’t the only boyfriend to point this out.
It seemed that Milly’s love was either too big or not enough. She just couldn’t seem to get it right.
“Never mind, I’m just being silly.”
He didn’t move, didn’t speak until she was looking at his eyes. “You never have to worry about any of that with me. You’re as perfect as they come.”
Milly didn’t even blink. The need to be still and let the relief sink in was too great. No man had ever said words to her like those.
“Thank you.” Her voice was barely audible through the emotion.
“It’s the truth.” The pad of his thumb grazed her lower lip and then he dropped his hand. She immediately missed the intimacy. “Did I wake you?”
“No. I was just eating pickles.”
“Pickles, huh?”
“Don’t deflect with that smile,” Milly said, crossing her arms over her very distracted nipples. “Tell me what’s wrong?”
