It was his turn to administer a teasing poke in the side, though as always when he touched Jean, it wound up more of a caress, wandering over the curve of her waist. “It won’t be like that with us.”
“Don’t worry about me, Dakota. We’re having a good time. Zero expectations and no pressure. Easy peasy, light and breezy.”
He frowned. That was a lot of ways to say the same thing. It felt like she was trying to push things backward when Charlie wanted to go full steam ahead. Yes, they were having fun. And being around her made Charlie feel likehewas fun, even though he was still terrible at poker. Luckily, Jean seemed just as happy to play war with her lucky deck, or pretend the floor was lava, or build a pillow fort in the living room.
Anything could be a game, according to Jean. But being playful didn’t negate the fact that this was the best week of his life. Charlie would have described it as being like a kid again, excepthe’d never felt this carefree in his actual childhood. And he was very glad to be a grown man right now.
“I saw your grad school stuff,” Jean said.
“I’m not going to grad school.”
Charlie wasn’t sure why he’d requested application materials he knew he wouldn’t get to use, much less spent hours drafting a letter to one of the visiting professors he’d met in Australia, to see if she was taking on new PhD students. Was he delusional or torturing himself? Charlie’s mom called him a daydreamer, but his father had accused him more than once of being out of touch with reality.
Which was probably why his impractical brain was spinning a whole new scenario in which Jean came back to South Dakota with him. Maybe just for a visit at first, because she wasn’t going to move in with him this soon. Unless she wanted to, being a bold and decisive person. It might not sound like the greatest place compared to where she lived now, but Charlie could imagine Jean enjoying the wide-open spaces, red rocks and pine trees, the endless blue sky. And he knew she was fond of beer, so there was that. The other part of his past might not even be an issue, since Jean wasn’t the type to let other people’s opinions bother her.
Maybe Charlie could give his parents what they wanted—his entire future—if he had Jean in his life.
“I know you’re smart enough,” Jean said, reminding Charlie that while he was building a cozy dream life for the two of them, she was trying to talk to him in the present. “And it can’t be about the money, because you could pay a semester’s tuition for what a week in this cottage is costing you.”
“I had some saved.” His only expenses for the last six months had been bug spray and candy bars. There wasn’t anything else to buy at the research station, unless you wanted to splurge on extra toilet paper. “Plus it was the first vacancy that came up on the website. I guess I didn’t plan to stay this long.”
Charlie felt her sudden stillness, even the fingers Jean had been stroking across his stomach freezing in place. “Is it because of me?”
“Partly,” he admitted. “Among other things.”
“Like what?”
“I’d rather blow all my money than feel like it’s the most important thing in my life. It has a way of owning you, if you get too attached.”
“I wouldn’t know. But I respect the renegade spirit.”
No one had ever called him a renegade before, probably because he wasn’t one. That didn’t stop Charlie from glowing at the praise. “The other reason is that I’m not looking forward to going home,” he admitted.
“Why?” She propped her chin on her arm, dark eyes studying his face. “Tired of all the farm chores? Baling hay and shucking corn?”
“What?” Were those more sex jokes? He’d had no idea before meeting Jean that there were so many code words for making love.
“Forget it. Finish your thought.”
That was easier said than done. “Have you ever run away from your responsibilities? Even when you know you shouldn’t?”
“What do you think I’m doing right now? People have probably been ringing the bell at the concierge desk nonstop.” She paused for a second before winking at him. In a flash, her expression turned serious again. “Wait, is this your way of telling me you’re married?”
“Of course not! But it is a family thing.”
“You have kids?”
He grabbed her hand before she could poke him again. “My parents are having a big party. For their anniversary. They want me to be there.”
She waited for him to go on, clearly not seeing the problem. “Are you afraid you’re going to have to make a speech?”
“It’s the whole thing. Large groups of people are not my strong suit. And my parents’ friends are not really interested in the same things I am.”
“You can’t just avoid talking about politics?”
Charlie shook his head. “I wish it was that simple.”
“So you don’t want to go, but you feel bad about it,” Jean summarized. Her tone was hard to decipher. “When’s the big day?”
