He had the feeling that his family was enjoying this way too much.
“I do have a point,” he said.
“I’ll think about it,” said Jessie. “We’ll see how it goes. What I really want is for you to wear a flannel shirt and carry an ax, like you’re about to chop down some firewood. It would be the perfect vibe.”
“It isn’t Christmas.”
“No, but it would give you that wholesome vibe.”
“I am not wholesome,” he said.
She shrugged.
He had lost control of the conversation. His family was bantering back and forth about all the ways in which he and Jessie could be the most convincing Hallmark movie the town had ever seen. And he was not into it.
Finally, when dinner was over, Jessie excused herself because she had to go home to make her cinnamon-roll dough.
“What time are we meeting tomorrow?” he asked, standing and preparing to walk her out, because, goddammit, he actually was kind of a gentleman.
“Ten. I want to get there before Danielle shows up. Since apparently we are sharing the parking lot.” He opened the front door for her and held it. “You don’t have to walk me out. My car is right there.”
“Consider it practice. You know, you’re telling this whole story like it’s kind of funny, but the reality is, we have to have one, because people are going to ask. And frankly, I think Danielle is going to be suspicious.”
Because their getting together was a little bit too neat, and hecould see that. Looking at it from above, explaining all of it to his family, and constructing the story of how the two of them had gotten together, he could see it clearly.
“It’s just … people will believe it,” she said. “Your brother even made that comment about us. About … I don’t know, whatever nonsense he was on about.”
“Nonsense?”
“Yes. I know people think that just because we … banter on occasion, there’s something between us.”
“And there’s not?”
“No,” she said, tilting her chin up toward him. “Not on my end, anyway.”
“Really?”
He shouldn’t let her push him. Hell, it shouldn’t matter. Because he had done his level best to ignore the attraction between the two of them for years. Why it should make him mad that she was denying it, he couldn’t say. Except that she tormented him. But then, she had waltzed up to this ranch and asked Carson to fix that historic Conestoga wagon for her family, and had practically acted like he wasn’t here. And it had made him feel … decidedly bent out of shape. Because hell, he had always kind of thought that if one day they crossed that line, that threshold between his family and hers, it would be the two of them. And for a moment it had seemed as if it was maybe going to be her and Carson, and he hadn’t particularly appreciated it. It had felt like years of foreplay between them.
Years. Starting somewhere around high school, in fact, and now she was just acting as if it was all in his head.
“Yes,” she said. “Really.”
He took a step toward her, irritation fueling him, and grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. “Let me tell you something, Jessie Jane. My family—hell, everybody—seems to be pretty damn charmed by your carnival barker schtick. It’s bullshit. I don’t buy it. Everything about you reads like an elaborate bit to me, and I don’t believe for one second that half of what comes out of your mouth is genuine. Yes, I want you to beat my half sister in this election. Butthat’s because of my own feelings about them, and nothing to do with you. I’m suspicious of you.”
“Why? Because you’re suspicious that a woman isn’t gagging to get into your pants?”
He moved nearer to her, and he could smell her. Vanilla and lemons. Probably just because she’d been making lemon bars. That made it even worse. “No, because a woman wants to, but is lying about it.”
“Well, maybe think about this,” she said, pulling away from him. “Maybe consider that to some women it’s worth resisting you either way. I’ve got pride. And standards.”
“Apparently not. Because you’re more than happy to use me when you need me.”
“Well, maybe I am. And maybe I thought we were even close to getting along, but your ego is getting in the way.”
“Your lying is getting in the way.”
“What difference does it make? Nothing is going to happen between the two of us.”
