“Good,” his blue eyes held mine, steady and warm. “Because I wasn’t planning to let you.”
Then he pulled me in for another kiss, not caring that an SUV full of hikers pulled in at that moment. It was just him and me in the world right now.
My pulse shot to the moon, my heart speeding along in my chest.
After we pulled away, my mouth tingled where his lips had been.
On wobbly legs, I climbed into my rental car and rolled down the window.
Jameson leaned against his truck, arms crossed over his broad chest, watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Something between hope and uncertainty, maybe. Something that looked a lot like what I was feeling.
“I’ll call you soon,” he rumbled. “Drive safe.”
“I will,” then without caring that it might make me look overly eager I added, “And I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
After backing out of the parking spot, I gave him a little wave as I turned toward the road.
In my rearview mirror, I watched him standing there, getting smaller and smaller as I drove away.
But I wasn’t sad.
For the first time in months, maybe years, I wasn’t sad at all.
I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt as I navigated the winding mountain road back toward town.
Sunlight filtered through the trees, dappling the pavement with gold and green, and everything felt new in a way it hadn’t in so long.
I thought about calling my best friend, Carmen, to tell her what had happened, but I wasn’t ready to share it yet.
This feeling was too personal. I wanted to hold it close for a little while longer.
I’d only driven a half mile down the road when my phone rang.
My heart stuttered when I saw the name on the screen.
Jameson McCall.
I pulled over to the side of the road, not trusting myself to drive and talk at the same time, and answered with fingers that were suddenly clumsy.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” his voice was a low rumble through the speaker, and I could hear the smile in it. “Miss me yet?”
I laughed, the sound bubbling up from somewhere deep in my chest. “It’s beentwominutes.”
“Longest two minutes of my life.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Maybe,” there was a pause, and when he spoke again, his voice was softer. “So I was thinking about tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah. There’s this place in town called the Bear Den. It’s a bar, nothing fancy, but the food’s good and the people are better. My friends hang out there most evenings.”
He cleared his throat, and I realized with a jolt of surprise that he sounded nervous. This big, capable mountain man was nervous about asking me out. “I was wondering if maybe you’d want to come with me. Meet some of the locals. See what Red Oak Mountain is really like when you’re not trapped in a cabin.”
“Are you asking me on a date, Jameson McCall?”
