“You too.” He turned away, but she impulsively reached for his hand. “Jackson. Thank you. Again. This helped a lot.”
“Yeah?” He stepped back into her personal space. “Don’tsuppose you’re grateful enough to tell me about your biscuits.”
She licked her lips. She wasn’t thinking about biscuits at all. But if she did this, there was no turning back. He was friends with Kaci. She’d see him again. A lot.
Excitement tingled her girly bits.
She grabbed his face and went up on her tiptoes, then pressed a kiss to his lips. His hands settled on her waist. After a moment’s hesitation, he kissed her back.
Lordy, did he ever kiss her back.
The hint of strawberries was nothing compared with the rich flavors of coffee and caramel on his lips. He slanted his mouth over hers, his breath tickling her cheek. She slid her arms up and around his neck, pushing up higher on her toes.
Neil hadn’t been this tall.
He’d always stayed in decent shape, but she didn’t recall his being as solid as Jackson was.
Or as thorough.
Did a guy get this good at kissing through practice? Was it her fault Neil had been a bad kisser, because they hadn’t practiced enough?
Or was Neil simply inadequate?
Jackson broke the kiss, but he kept his hands anchored around her waist. He tilted his forehead against hers. “That’s some awful loud thinking, Anna Grace.”
She froze. “I-I’m sorry. I—it’s—crap.” Kissing wasn’t supposed to be this complicated.
“That bad, was it?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “No! It was very nice.”
“Nice?”
The way he said it didn’tsoundnice. “Better than nice.” It was enough to make her tingle in places she’d forgotten another human being could excite, but she wasn’t ready forthatyet. Not by a long shot. “It was a lot better than nice. It was…nicer.”
His body shuddered against hers. She popped one eye open and found him shaking with silent laughter. “Highestpraise I’ve had all day.”
She tried to untangle herself, but something about the cool evening made her want to huddle close for warmth, though she doubted he would appreciate it now. “I’m not very good at this,” she said.
“You’re good at something or we wouldn’t still be here.” He hooked a hand around her neck and kissed her forehead again. “Next time, Anna Grace, I’ll make sure you’re not thinking about anything else.”
She suppressed a shiver at the promise lurking deep in his voice. If he could deliver—well, did that count as being cured of her divorce? The physical parts, anyway?
For now, she’d take heart that he was willing to try. She licked her lips. “You’re on.”
He released her. A wave of cool air wrapped her body. “I’ll be seeing you, Anna Grace.”
The look in his eyes guaranteed that was a promise.
There wasnothing like a nice hot morning squirrel hunting with a ragamuffin crew tagging along to make a man wish it was deer season. The three pans of biscuits Mamie and Miss Ophelia had set in the front seat of Jackson’s truck should’ve been his first clue, but while Miss Ophelia rattled on about Miss Flo’s havingthreesingle granddaughters now, such a shame, tsk tsk, Jackson’s mind had been circling back to peach pie.
But not the kind that came in a pie plate.
Even Mamie’s description of the girl who’d baked his third pan of biscuits—a nice Baptist girl who did things her parents called scandalous—hadn’t been enough to distract him.
He had a feeling Mamie knew it.
But then Louisa had driven up in that car that made him think of donuts, and that’d distracted everybody.
