Jamie thrust them toward Landon, then bent down to give each dog a gentle pet. “Same time.”
Landon took the leashes. Marceline and Bubblegum went excitedly as Landon led them toward the street, clearly happy to go for a ride. His Range Rover was parked at the curb, black, immaculate. He loaded the dogs into the back without looking at us, climbed into the driver's seat, and pulled away.
The engine faded. The street went quiet.
I realized my arm was still around Jamie's shoulders. I should move. Should step back, put some distance between us, figure out what the hell I'd just done.
I didn't move.
“Holden.” Jamie's voice was shaky. When had he learned my name? “What—why did you—”
“I heard what he said to you.” I finally made myself step back, let my arm fall. “The stalking comment. The guy's always been a giant prick.”
Jamie's face crumpled for half a second before he pulled it together. “You heard that.”
“Yeah.”
“And you just decided to kiss me in front of him?”
“I…” I shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
He stared at me. Then, impossibly, he laughed. It was watery and a little wild, but it was real, and something in my chest unclenched at the sound.
“You're insane,” he said. “You know that, right? You just told my ex-boyfriend we're dating.”
“I know.”
“In front of witnesses.” He gestured vaguely at Main Street, at the Copper Kettle across the road where people were definitely watching through the windows. “In the middle of town.”
“I'm aware.”
But was I? There were gonna be ramifications of that move I'd just made, right across from the town's favorite café on Main Street. There was no chance that hadn't been seen by at least a few people. Which meant…
I hadn't much cared what people thought about me, other than I was good at my job. Why start caring now?
The almost-smile flickered. “So what do we do now?”
I looked at him, flushed and shaky and still holding the flowers I'd made for him against his chest. The card was back in my hand,you're more than enoughin my own handwriting, and I thought about Landon's face when he'd read it. The way the smugness had cracked.
Whatever else happened, seeing that made it all worth it.
“Coffee,” I said. “We should talk.”
Jamie
The Copper Kettle was warm and smelled like coffee and cinnamon, and Holden Hutchinson had kissed me approximately ten minutes ago.
I was still trying to process it. The way he'd walked up like a fucking boss in dark flannel and put his arm around me like it was the most natural thing in the world. The way he'd bent down, so far down, the height difference almost comical, and pressed his mouth to mine. The way it had started soft, almost tentative, and then I'd grabbed him and pulled him closer and everything had shifted into something hungrier.
I could still feel the ghost of his fingers at the back of my neck. Still feel the solid warmth of his body against my side.
He'd done it to shut Landon up. I knew that. It was a performance, a rescue, a split-second good deed made by a decent man who'd overheard my ex calling me pathetic.
But knowing that didn't stop my heart from racing, and it didn't stop me from replaying the kiss on a loop in my head.
That kiss had beenoutstanding.
Holden went to the counter to order while I found a booth in the front near the window. He moved slowly through the space, hunching his shoulders, making himself smaller, navigating around tables and chairs with the careful precision of someone who'd learned to take up less room than his body demanded while avoiding the stares that he was getting.
