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Jack laughed again. “I came over here because I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to join me for dinner last night. Obviously, you were sick, so I never got that far, but we ended up eating together anyway.”
If I hadn’t been sick, I was certain I would have turned him down. I’d done what I had to do the day I took him the cookies I’d made, but it had been too much for me to spend that time alone with him while he introduced me to all of his animals.
But now that this had happened, now that he’d taken care of me the way he had, I wasn’t sure I’d have the same response. And my response wouldn’t be different because I suddenly thought it was wise to get involved with someone again. It would merely be because I felt the need to repay him for taking such good care of me.
“I’m sorry your plans were ruined,” I apologized.
He shrugged off my apology. “It’s really okay, Dakota. Besides, we could always do it tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I figure it might be good to give you another day to make sure you’re feeling a hundred percent.”
That was probably a wise idea.
But it also indicated that he believed I wasn’t going to say no.
“After all that you did for me last night, and even with you making me breakfast this morning, I’d be a real jerk if I turned you down, wouldn’t I?”
Something serious washed over his face. “No. I don’t want you to agree to allow me to cook dinner for you because you think you have to. I want you to agree to it because it’s what you want.”
Yep.
There was no doubt about it now.
Jack was a dream of a man.
“I’ll do it under one condition,” I told him, my lips twitching.
His eyes dropped to my mouth, intrigue written all over his face. “What’s that?”
“If you’re cooking dinner, you have to let me make dessert,” I said.
Jack grinned.
My heart burst inside my chest at the sight.
“You’ll get no argument from me on that one. It’s a deal.”
With that, I parted my lips and took a bite of my banana. And when I did, I didn’t miss the way Jack watched me.
Today was the big day.
To say I was nervous would have been an understatement.
Ever since I’d agreed to have dinner with Jack, I’d been unable to think about anything else. And a big part of the problem I was having now was that I wasn’t convinced I was going to be able to separate what this needed to be from what I wished it could have been.
I needed this dinner to be two friendly neighbors, simply getting together to enjoy some company and conversation with one another. I needed it to be nothing more than just a platonic dinner, followed by dessert.
What I wished it could have been was something I didn’t even want to admit to myself.
Jack had shown me repeatedly just how great of a guy he was. He’d proven he was kind and compassionate. It was difficult to ignore just how much more attractive Jack’s personality made him. And if I was being completely honest, I wished I hadn’t been raked over the coals, so that I might have been willing to go after more with Jack, because he seemed like a really great guy.
But the harsh reality was that the hurt still lingered. The rejection I received from my parents and the indifference Tom had shown me led me to a place where I couldn’t bring myself to risk my heart again.
It was already hard enough to try to heal my heart. I still had plenty of bad days. With a guy like Jack, I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to recover if I made the mistake of letting him in.
I wanted tonight to be a good night for both him and me. I deserved a night of fun after all that I’d gone through over the last several months, and I thought Jack earned a good night after all he’d done to help me over the last few weeks.
