AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She turned forward again, stiff and obviously uncomfortable.
Jace’s mind spun in the quiet of the car. They went down the main road toward town. It was almost dinner time and there was never much traffic in Summit Valley so it was quiet, peaceful, and offered a beautiful view of their sweeping gorgeous valley.
But the inside of his vehicle was not peaceful.
Neither of them said anything. Luckily it was only five minutes to the small neighborhood adjacent to the small strip of “downtown” Summit Valley where Klein and Alivia had built several rental homes. He pulled into the home’s driveway, half-afraid she’d jump right out and possibly slip and fall on those silly boots again.
Instead, she turned to him. Her blue eyes were so bright and beguiling he felt his jaw go slack.
“Ayla …” He had no defenses up with her around. How could he?
She gave him a quavering smile and said, “I actually love the way you say my name.”
He smiled back. That was a score for him. “I love saying it.” He let the moment stretch or a few beats and then said, “Ayla … have you lost someone close to you?”
She studied him then finally gave a small nod. “I did.”
“I’m sorry about my stupid line.” No wonder she was hurting. She’d lost someone and she’d obviously been mistreated and tricked by different men. And he’d thought his heartbreak and betrayal was hard to get over.
“No,” she said. “I should’ve just laughed. For some reason it feels more raw right now than it has for a while.” She looked him over as if he were the reason that her pain was more raw. He didn’t like that. He wanted to help her, not hurt her.
“You should see the look in your eyes,” she said, actually smiling. “It isn’t your fault it’s hurting more.” She studied him, then said, “Has anybody ever told you, you have very soulful eyes?”
He chuckled. “Never heard that one before.”
“Well, you do. Very expressive. Deep. I could get lost in …” Her own eyes widened and her door was open and she was out of the car before he could stop her or tell her how expressive her gorgeous blue eyes were. How he wanted to take a chance on her like he hadn’t taken with anyone in ten years.
He sprang out of his door and hurried around to help her to the front porch. She didn’t say anything. Was she embarrassed or simply thinking they were moving too fast? They were moving far too fast. He should be terrified, especially with her getting snippy about why she worked for jerk-Bryan. Something wasn’t right with that entire situation. He wasn’t terrified and that was as unsettling as anything.
He pulled out his phone and held up his face to open it, then said, “I didn’t want to see the door code and have you uncomfortable that I knew it, so I haven’t opened the text from the owner. Click on the text icon and Klein Vance’s name.”
“Oh. Thank you.” She took his phone and clicked on it a couple of times, then she read the text and a mischievous look crossed her face.
“Something wrong?” he asked warily.
She looked up at him and said, “I just deleted the text, but I should probably tell you that your buddy wants you to return the complete Hallmark Romance Collection DVD you borrowed.”
“Oh, is that right?” Jace smiled.
“Yep. Also said something about book club Tuesday night, you’re bringing your homemade macarons and leading the discussion onChristmas in Snow Flake Canyonby RaeAnne Thayne.”
He laughed, and she finally dropped the deadpan look and grinned at him. Man, she was cute.
“I’m a huge fan of RaeAnne’s.” His mom had a pile of RaeAnne Thayne books by her bedside and was always saying what a brilliant writer she was.
“That, my fine chap, was obvious.” She grinned. “Honestly, your buddy said he’s stoked for cliff jumping on Tuesday, not sure what that means and I hope he’s joking, but this is very nice of both of you.” She turned and typed in the code. He held the door for her. Walking in, she looked around and then she turned to him with a genuine smile. “Wow. This is actually an upgrade from your cabin.”
He laughed. “I’m not quite sure how to take that.”
“Oh. Sorry, no. Your cabin was incredible and perfect. This is just … bigger and the design is fabulous and instead of only the tree …” She gestured around.
“I took no offense.” He smiled and did look around. He’d walked through these cabins when Klein and Alivia had originally built them. The cabin was great with a large open area including the kitchen, dining, and living room on the main floor. A loft stretched above them that he remembered was a huge master suite. Everything in the cabin was top of the line with rustic wood trim, granite counters, and huge two-story windows looking across the valley and to his resort. The fireplace was decorated, the banister was wrapped with garland, the table and side tables had Christmas-y stuff on them, and there was a huge Christmas tree, almost a story and a half straight up, all professionally decorated. Alivia and Klein were not only incredible builders, but they knew design and what appealed to people. It was very Christmas in here. Out-of-a-magazine Christmas. He preferred his simple tree, but he could imagine women liked things a little more decked out.
“Oh, good. I wouldn’t want to offendyou.” She said it so sassily and the inflection on “you” showed he’d offended her and she could already tease him about it.
He’d been raised with brothers. They loved to tease, and he’d always hoped he could find a girl who could take a tease. Dang, he liked her a lot, and he’d not only offended her, but he could bet she’d be gone Monday morning and it was already after five on Friday.
“That is good.” He studied her and he hoped his “soulful” eyes were doing something good for him. It should’ve been crazy to him that he’d shoved all his normal reservations aside because of Ayla’s appeal, the connection of them both having been hurt, the need to protect her from Bryan, and simply the woman herself. But it wasn’t crazy. It felt right. “Ayla, I am sorry that I offended you.”
