He pouted. “Come for dinner tonight. There will be lots of food.”
“Sweetie,” Marissa reiterated sternly, “go on now.”
He huffed but hurried down the sidewalk to where his grandparents waited.
“Jason can be very blunt. Are you all right?”
He stood and dragged in a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. I expected you to move on with your life, but not with my brother.” He watched as Jason jumped into the back seat of the van. “I should have been here to take care of you two after Joel died.”
“It would’ve been nice to see you, but we’re not your responsibility—then or now.” She shivered as the breeze lifted locks of her hair from her shoulders. “Harold and Linda help a lot. They’re wonderful grandparents.”
“I’m sure they are. Once Jason becomes a teenager, though, Dad will probably lose hisGrandpa of the Yearawards.”
“Perhaps.” She crossed her arms over her chest and strode down the sidewalk, away from the van. As Jarrett kept pace beside her, she blew a stream of white air from her mouth. “Joel headed for Afghanistan a few months after you left home. He returned injured and angry. My boyfriend’s sweet, quiet brother was gone. He was different, harder. More like you. We got to know one another on a more personal level, and marriage felt like the next step.”
“If Joel were here, I’d probably knock his lights out before I congratulated him. He couldn’t have picked a better woman to marry.”
She blushed.
A horn blared from behind them. As they turned toward the van, the horn blasted again.
Jarrett spat a curse. “That man is a dick.”
Marissa grumbled a few choice words as well.
He stroked the third finger on her left hand. Joel’s engagement ring and wedding band had taken the place of Jarrett’s faux emerald promise ring, but he couldn’t feel the indention or shape of any kind of ring beneath her wool glove. How he longed to feel the warmth and softness of her skin. Should he rip off his gloves, strip away hers, and feather kisses on her flesh? The shaft in his jeans thickened. Could he be any more pathetic?
“Are you all right?”
Her quiet voice skewered him. “I should go. I don’t belong here.” He kissed her hand and backed away.
“Jarrett, wait.” She grabbed his arm. “Have lunch with me. Jason can stay with Linda and Harold for a while.”
His heart skipped a beat. “Sure.” Why the hell did he say that? He needed to go, but how could he deny such a simple request? His heart longed for her—had never stopped. He followed her gaze across the snowy lots of hallowed earth.
“Where’s your car?” Her eyes widened as she grinned. “Is that your motorcycle at the caretaker’s station?”
“Yeah, I parked it there while I got directions from the clerk to Joel’s plot.”
“You’ve upgraded. Take me for a ride?”
“Um—okay.”
“Great. Wait here.” She hurried to the van, spoke with Linda, and kissed Jason goodbye. Then she walked with Jarrett to the parking lot.
The van passed as Jarrett handed Marissa his full-face helmet. After he rummaged through a saddlebag, he secured a pair of goggles to his head and straddled the black-and-chrome machine.
“Why are you driving a bike in the winter? Aren’t you freezing?”
He shrugged. “It’s all I have. It doesn’t snow much in San Francisco, so I didn’t think about the weather until it was too late. But the jacket keeps me warm enough.”
“Is that where you live?”
“Yeah.” Shit. He better watch his mouth around her.
Marissa slung the strap of her purse around her neck and shoulder before shoving on the helmet.
Her curly hair trailed down her back in waves of luscious red. His cock thickened, and he bit back a groan. Down, boy. A shiver snaked up his back as she climbed on behind him and gripped his waist. How would he survive? He kicked the clutch and started the engine. Her legs clenched around his, just as he remembered.
