Plus there was the not-so-small issue of her wanting a horse, and a cart, and he was long done with all of that.
So he rubbed his thumb gently along her jaw, then eased her away from him. “Thanks for the laugh earlier,” he said softly. “That was the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time.”
Her eyebrows arched up.
He groaned. “Except for the whole grandson thing, of course.”
“I knew what you meant.” Her lips quirked, and he wanted to kiss her so much it hurt inside. “It felt good for me, too.”
He dragged his gaze from her mouth up to her eyes, and held that connection for a beat. Then he nodded. “Good.”
* * *
As she slidbehind the driver’s seat of her car, Kerry realized her fingers were shaking.We can’t do this, right?Oh, but she’d wanted to.
Months of it’s-fine, he’s-off-limits-and-just-a-fantasy had collided with a very real, very tender moment of vulnerability and, maybe for the first time, she’d seen Owen Kincaid for all that he was. Not just a caring grump, not just a worried father, not just someone who carried the weight of responsibility like it was his own personal cross to bear. But also as a man, one stretched close to the limit, who needed to laugh. Who needed to be touched.
She’d seen him, truly seen him, and she’d liked him more than ever before.
Which was easy, she supposed. He’d done a very good job of being unlikeable. How much of that had been a mask? And was it just for her, or for others?
A memory flashed through her mind. The first night she’d seen him, when he’d stomped through the Green Hedgehog. No, not just for her.
A movement in front of her broke her out of her thoughts. Owen had swung the door open. “Everything all right?” he called out after she rolled down her window.
“Fine,” she hollered back, holding up her phone. “Just waiting for a text before I head on to the next appointment.”
And then, so she wouldn’t actually be a liar, she texted Jenna.
Kerry: SOS. But a personal one, not actually an emergency.
Her partner replied right away.
Jenna: Those are my favourite kinds of emergency. I’m at home if you want to come by for tea.
Tea. That sounded like an exceptional excuse to stop at the bakery and pick up butter tarts. When she pulled up out front, she was surprised to see a For Sale sign in the window. But it was business as usual inside.
She mentioned it to Jenna, though, who was more up on the local gossip.
“Apparently the Minellis are retiring. They want to travel and spend time with their grandkids.”
“I hope they find a buyer for it. Losing these tarts would be the worst.”
“True story.” Jenna poured them each a big mug of tea, and they settled into the breakfast nook that overlooked her forest of a backyard. Jenna lived outside of town, in a house her husband had custom built for her with his brothers. If Kerry had visited here before they’d looked at the clinic, she wouldn’t have doubted Jake Foster’s ability to do anything.
Jenna’s house was a jewel, fit for a queen. Over the last few months, her partner had opened up more about what had brought her to Pine Harbour in the first place, and Kerry was in awe of Jenna’s commitment—to her husband, who’d been injured overseas, and to her vision for their life together.
Sometimes, Kerry felt like she had zero vision for her own future. Other than her career, everything in her life had always been about the here and now, about living in the present. And she had a lot of fun doing that. It wasn’t that she had regrets—not at all. But now she was full of weird and complicated, conflicting feelings.
Jenna had confided her secrets in Kerry. It was time for their roles to switch.
“I almost kissed Owen Kincaid,” she said. “Just now. At his house. While my client was asleep in the other room.”
Jenna’s mug hit the table with a thud. Then she grinned. “Almost? How…almost?”
Kerry shivered again, remembering the feel of Owen’s hands against her face, the soft way he’d touched her skin. “Just, uh, you know. He was right there, and we both wanted to. And then we agreed we couldn’t.”
“Right. It wouldn’t be professional.”
