He couldn’t be that man for her—not yet. Maybe not ever. And the thought of giving in, of letting himself have what he wanted most, only to fail her in the end gutted him.
So he sat in the backseat, letting the conversation roll around him, while his own silence pressed heavier and heavier on his chest.
By the time Zoe’s shop came into view, Jackson convinced himself it would be best if he got out and said goodnight to Zoe just as Zach pulled away. He needed to keep it quick and clean. A friendly goodbye, talk to you tomorrow.
That was the plan, and what he had started to say when Zoe turned to him.
“Do you wanna come up to see that old map of Maple Falls, then? Thought maybe we could plan out our hike?”
“Sure,” Jackson heard himself say, before he could even think better of it.
They slipped through the alley and into the back entrance. Jackson had been upstairs to her apartment plenty of times, but never with her kiss still burning his lips.
Whiskers came out and meowed instantly, weaving between Zoe’s legs as if she hadn’t eaten in years. “You are not starving,” Zoe said before bending down and scratching her under the chin. “Don’t let her fool you. If I feed her now, she’ll get the zoomies, and then she’ll be running all over the apartment waking me up at twoa.m.”
Jackson almost smiled. He hovered near the entryway, pretending to study a potted lavender plant, trying not to stare at how gorgeous her legs looked in that dress.
“Let’s see…” Zoe pulled open the fridge. “We’ve got…beer, water, oat milk that might be expired, or my magical green smoothie.” She pulled a jar from the back of the fridge that looked like fermented kale.
Jackson shook his head. “Think I’ll stick with a beer.”
“Coward,” she teased, handing him a bottle and grabbing one for herself. “Cheers to surviving our first fake date.”
Jackson clinked his bottle against hers, trying not to get lost in the depth of her eyes.
“Here’s the map,” Zoe said, motioning for him to follow her over to the dining table. She pulled the yellowed paper out from the back of a book and spread it flat.
Jackson followed her over, but stopped dead at the sight of the table. It was an absolute mess. Half covered in books, ribbon scraps, dried flower petals, a glue stick with no cap, and what looked like a half-finished bunny wreath made of twigs and googly eyes.
The corner of Jackson’s mouth tipped up. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”
“Sorry,” she said, sweeping a stack of seed catalogs aside with the back of her arm. “I meant to clean this up, but I had a clientemergency this afternoon. Someone needed sympathy daisies with exactly seven stems. Long story.”
“Sympathy daisies?”
“I said it was a long story,” Zoe said while clearing a small spot and unrolling the map. “I’ll tidy this up later.”
“You say that like you have a working definition of tidy.”
“I do,” she said. “It’s just…looser than yours.” She smoothed the map with her palms, pushing a stray petal aside as Jackson leaned in to get a better look.
“See this right here?” she said, pointing to a winding trail that cut across the page. “This one looks like the best place to start. I don’t think half of it actually exists anymore, but it’s all public land.”
“Yeah, I see it.” Jackson leaned forward, scanning the faded ink. It stretched further outside of town than he’d expected, some of it edging into national forest. The elevation changed out that way too.
He straightened and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper.
Zoe groaned. “You and your list.”
He smirked, scribbling something down. “Just trying to stay organized.” Zoe rolled her eyes but smiled.
He studied the map, then opened his mouth to comment on the trail, but when he looked up, she was already looking at him.
Heat shot through him. There was that spark again. God, it had always been there, hadn’t it?
Her eyes dropped to his mouth, then back up. “About that kiss,” she whispered. “Maybe we should try it again. Not for show. Not for anyone else. Just…for us.”
“That’s a very bad idea,” he said hoarsely. But his hand was already reaching for her cheek.
