Zach squeezed her thigh under the table, still laughing. “Fine. Just don’t let it take over the whole dinner.”
“How could it?” Madison teased. She tipped her head toward Zoe and Jackson with a wink. “We’re sitting here with the newest, hottest couple in Maple Falls.”
Zoe shook her head. “We wouldn’t even be ‘public’ if it weren’t for my mom.”
“And we’re all thankful she had a big mouth,” Kit said breezily as she uncorked a bottle of white wine.
“Speaking of people talking, Gram said something about a mystery magical flower?” Madison asked.
Zoe smiled, setting down her napkin. “Yes! Some of the locals remember it. Jackson and I are hoping to find out if it still exists and where.”
Madison’s eyes lit up. “That’s right up my alley. You know I love a good mystery. Count me in to help.”
Jackson leaned back, arm draped over the back of Zoe’s chair, fingers brushing her shoulder. “I don’t know,” he teased. “It’s kind of been our thing.”
“True,” Zoe said, matching his tone. “We make a good team.”
“We do. Even if you are a bit…distracting,” he murmured, a smile tugging at his mouth.
Madison grinned. “You two are killing me.”
Zoe laughed.
The meal unfolded course by course, starting with baby arugula salad with roasted strawberries and candied pecans before moving on to pan-seared chicken with morel mushrooms and creamy parmesan risotto. Conversation flowed as easily as the wine, laughter mingling with the soft hum of jazz from the corner speakers. By dessert, the air between Zoe and Jackson was humming too.
Zoe lifted her spoon, eyes fluttering closed as she tasted the lavender-honey panna cotta. “Oh, Kit.” She sighed. “This is heaven.”
“I know,” Kit said, appearing at their side with a smirk and the wine bottle already tipped. “Thank Krista’s grandparents’ bees and my inability to follow a recipe.” She topped off their glasses with a flourish. “You’re welcome, lovers.”
Jackson reached for his napkin, his hand brushing Zoe’s under the table. It should’ve been nothing, but neither of them moved. His fingers lingered, tracing a slow line against her palm before sliding to rest on her thigh.
Without looking at him, she shifted slightly closer, her knee brushing his. It was almost a dare.
Jackson smiled to himself. Tonight’s fake date was quickly turning into something dangerously real.
FIFTEEN
ZOE
Tuesday, March 11th
After dinner, they piled into Zach’s truck and rumbled across town, pulling up to what looked like an old horse barn turned new business venture: axe throwing. Along the way, Zoe couldn’t stop replaying the way Jackson’s hand had rested on her thigh under the table during dinner. Every time they got within arm’s reach lately, the air felt electrified.
Now, tucked into the backseat of Zach’s truck, her knees brushed Jackson’s with every turn. He didn’t move away. Instead, he rested his arm casually across the backseat, his fingers just close enough that she could feel the warmth of him even without touching.
Outside the window, Maple Falls glowed under the soft blush of evening. They passed the bookstore with its striped awning and handwrittenSpring Sale!sign, the windows of the Pumpkin Pie Bakery still fogged from a day of baking. Strings of lights twinkled along the square where a few couples lingered on benches with ice cream cones. Farther out, the road wound past the lake, the water glinting silver under the first stretch of stars.
Madison chatted from the passenger seat about Kit’s panna cotta and how she was definitely stealing the recipe for her next “Maple Falls Living” feature. But Zoe barely heard them. She was too busy sneaking glances at Jackson in the reflection of the window.
The passing streetlights illuminated Jackson’s strong jaw and that quiet confidence that always made him look like he could fix anything, handle anything. Even throwing an axe, apparently.
She already knew, without a doubt, he was going to look infuriatingly sexy doing it.
By the time they pulled up to the old horse barn at the edge of town, her heartbeat was out of control. The place glowed under string lights that zig-zagged across the rafters, laughter and the faint thud of wood-on-wood spilling out into the night. Inside, the wide central aisle had been transformed into throwing lanes, with wooden targets mounted along the walls. The smell of sawdust hung thick in the air, mixing with the damp scent of spring rain that had fallen off and on all day.
Zoe exhaled a nervous laugh. “Okay, in my defense, I’ve never done this before. If I lose an arm or a finger, it’s not my fault.”
Madison grinned. “You’re in good hands. Jackson looks like he’s been training for this his entire life.”
