“You didn’t ask.”
He dared to set a compassionate hand above her knee, resting it gently in hopes she’d relax from his touch and not tense up even more. Or worse, toss it away. “If there was another way to get to this place without taking a plane, we would. But even by boat it would take too long.”
“And we don’t have that kind of time. Yeah, so you’ve reminded me.” Though some of her coolness today was definitely a direct result of her fear, Cody wondered if there was more. Maybe she panicked when she realized her walls had dropped too much, and in turn, reinforced them twice as much.
It should bring him relief.
He took his hand from her knee and folded it with his other in his lap to keep it from misbehaving. If Jenna wasn’t falling for him, it would be easier to leave. Nothing to feel guilty about. Nothing for Eddie Kingsley to haunt him about.
Except, Cody suspected he was falling for Jenna, too.
Or maybe already had.
She gripped his knee, digging her fingers in when the plane lifted into the air. It didn’t matter that her nails threatened to draw blood. Her touch still sent his pulse racing. Maybe it was because she so rarely reached for him, or that uninvited feelings had taken deeper root than he suspected. Yeah, he was definitely falling for her, too.What a mess.
“Look,” he said, pointing out the window, thankful for the beautiful sunny day and the soaring wings of an eagle to distract them. The wildlife didn’t mind the chill, but it was certainly easier to spot them without gloomy drizzle and fog. “There’s an eagle.”
“Really?” Jenna stiffly leaned forward an inch, accepting the hand he offered and giving it a death-grip squeeze. He wondered if she’d clam up this same way tomorrow when he surprised her with a library visit. He’d already reached out to the head librarian Fiona James to sign Jenna up for story hour. She’d rearranged the library’s entire schedule to accommodate areal livechildren’s author tomorrow at nine thirty.
“See it?”
“Oh, yeah!” Her grip relaxed enough to allow blood flow in his hand again. He didn’t mind that she held on, despite how problematic that was proving to be for both of them. He ignored the warning voices whispering to him and instead fixed his attention out the window.
“One down, at least eight more to go if we want to beat your grandpa’s record.”
“How are we supposed to take selfies with nine or more eagles?” Jenna asked, her gaze fixed out her window.
“Hopefully Jenkins will settle for one.” Because Cody didn’t know, either.
“Look, there’s another one!” She lifted her sunglasses, setting them on top of her head, revealing the sparkle of excitement in her brown eyes so dark they were nearly black. Except this close up, he could identify a handful of golden flecks in her irises.
Cody forced himself to peer out his own window before hedidkiss her.
“I knew Alaska would be beautiful, but I— Just wow!” He wasn’t certain whether it was their joined hands that broke through her icy layer this morning or the list-related distraction, but he much preferred this warmer version of Jenna. “You’re really going to up and leave forthreeyears.” She shook her head. “You’re crazy. This place is magical.”
“You haven’t gone through a winter yet,” Cody said, purposely leaning in because the engine made it hard to hear one another without almost yelling. Sitting closer to Jenna was an added bonus. Or so he told himself. “I could come back in three years and find you packed up and left two days after the first major snowfall.”
“I think you underestimate me. I’m from the Midwest. We have plenty of snow. It’s Graham’s favorite time—” Her easy smile vanished in an instant when the plane dipped forward. Her grip went from comfortable to cutting off the circulation in his hand in a single lost heartbeat.
“Liam’s getting ready to land,” Cody said, tempted to drape an arm over her shoulders and pull her tight against him because he knew she’d let him in this moment of vulnerability. Would it be so ludicrous to stay in Sunset Ridge and see where this might go? It’d been a decade since he last left his heart open for the taking. Something he swore he’d never do again after it was so easily crushed. But something about Jenna and the way he felt in her presence made him flirt with the temptation to try again.
Never mind that his entire career—one that he loved—was riding on his showtime Monday morning.
Yeah, he was definitely in trouble.
Jenna squeezed her eyes shut as they descended, not opening them again until the plane stopped rolling forward. She loosened her death-grip one finger at a time.
“We can’t walk back to Sunset Ridge later?” she asked through a pitiful laugh.
“We could, but I’d definitely miss my flight.”
“I’m not sure I’d mind that.”
Cody stroked the side of her hand with his thumb, unable and unwilling to keep his gaze from dropping to her soft lips. He could deny his feelings all he wanted, but he couldn’t keep lying to himself by pretending he hadn’t thought about kissing her nearly every minute since they first met.
The back door popped open, and Jenna yanked her hand free of Cody’s as if it were on fire.
Never before had Cody been so annoyed to have a moment shattered. He’d always chalked up missed kisses to fate. These serendipitous interruptions often saved him from breaking hearts, and he welcomed them. Until now.
