Page 27 of Worth the Trouble

“Jason?”

His brows creased and he looked around the immediate area. There was a road that veered off a little way back. It led to a property of someone he wasn’t familiar with. Was that where she’d come from? “Cece, what are you doing out here?”

Her shoulders scrunched up then dropped. “I guess I was getting a ride?”

He arched a brow.

She sighed. “I left a party early and I didn’t want anyone to see me leave. I didn’t want to make anyone mad.” Her face flushed a pretty pink color. “Anyway, what are you doing out here? Were you on your way to the party?”

Jason shoved his hands into his pockets and strode toward her. “No.”

“Then what are you doing out here?”

He quirked a grin at her. This road was the only one that led to the lodge. He hadn’t messaged her. He’d planned on stopping in to see her like he had last time. It hadn’t even occurred to him that she might not be home.

At a party no less.

Cece glanced down at her phone, then back to his face, expectant.

He took another step closer then stopped a few feet before he reached her. “I thought it might be nice to see you.”

She snorted. “What if I wasn’t home?”

“That was a risk I was willing to take.”

This time she laughed, but it was more of a sad-sounding laugh than anything else. “Who are you?”

That question caught him off guard. “You know who I am.”

When her eyes didn’t lift to meet his but remained glued to her phone she sighed again. “I’m going to have to order a replacement. That’s really going to suck.” When she lifted her eyes to meet his, the two of them were locked in a world of their own making.

This woman always had his body going haywire. It should scare him, but it didn’t. If anything, it drew him in.

He was a rabbit chasing after a carrot, and he couldn’t care less if he never caught it. He simply wanted to revel in the experience of it all. Jason drew his thumb over his lower lip as he studied her. “You were at a party.” It wasn’t a question, only a way to continue this conversation. A way for him to eventually ask her if he could take her home.

“Yeah,” she groaned. “And I didn’t tell my—” Her eyes darted away for a moment. “I didn’t tell the guy I came with that I was leaving.” She glanced over her shoulder toward the road. “Mind if I use your phone to send him a message?”

He didn’t hesitate before pulling out his device and handing it over. He smiled when it dawned on her that she didn’t have his number memorized.

“Well, shoot. This isn’t good. Maybe I should go back⁠—”

“Nah,” Jason murmured, drawing her attention once more. “If he hasn’t come looking for you yet, then he probably isn’t expecting to hear from you.”

She rubbed at her temple with her finger and thumb. “But he’s supposed to help me with something, and I don’t want to get on his bad side.”

She was spiraling, and he couldn’t take the distance between them any longer. Jason reached out and took that hand in his and clasped it between his own. “I’m sure it’s going to be okay.” He kept it calm and soothing. She was worried about work. He didn’t want to think too hard on that subject seeing as they were on different teams when it came to the development of the property that lined his own. “Do me a favor?”

She was breathing a little faster than he’d like. It wasn’t often that she was frazzled. Chatty, maybe, but not worried like this. Cece lifted her eyes, her lashes fluttering for a moment before she nodded.

“Breathe.”

How she wrinkled her nose and peered up at him made him not care what she did for work or who her father was. He simply wanted to spend time with her because of how she made him feel. “I’m fine,” she insisted, already brushing off his request like she didn’t need any coddling.

When she made to move away from him, he took her face in his hands. His thumbs trailed across her cheeks, unable to wipe off the now dried muddy water, but his touch soothed her anyway.

Cece’s eyes widened and locked with his. He searched her gaze. Was she as affected by his presence as he was by her? The faintest scent of her perfume reached him. Her pulse fluttered beneath his pinky where it had slipped just below her jaw. It wouldn’t take much for him to close the distance between them and steal a kiss, and he couldn’t deny he’d obsessed over that since their movie night. For countless seconds they stood like that on the side of the road until she finally expelled a shuddering breath.

He grinned, letting his hands slide down to her jaw as he cradled her head between his hands more gently. “Good. Now, tell me why you’re here. A party? Why did you leave?”