this nightmare. He took her hand, running his palm over hers. Her heart skipped, making her feel downright giddy. Yeah, she’d officially caught his mood. They passed a stuffed snake curled around a statue with glittering button eyes. “Hard to imagine that they can’t find a buyer for the place,” Janson said. “Maybe I should set up shop here. We could merge our two businesses.”
“Pharmaceuticals and ghost tours?” she asked incredulously. “What are we selling?”
“Water, of course—from the healing waters of Eureka Springs. We’ll be the best snake oil salesmen out there. You scare them off their feet and I’ll give them a cure.”
“Oh no, no...” She snatched her hand away. “Unless you give me the greenhouse.”
“You’re gonna waste that huge space on a greenhouse?” Clearly he was joking. Even she had felt uneasy up there, and she didn’t have claustrophobia or, or Cleisa... or whatever phobia he said he had. “We could make a cozy apartment up there for two,” he said.
She ducked her head, not sure what she thought of talking about the future so soon after their first or second or third kiss... or whatever. He’d actually kissed her a lot more than that, but she wasn’t ready to have her heart broken by anybody—no matter how giddy he made her. “Watch out for that bear, Red,” he said.
Huh? He nudged her playfully towards the biggest teddy bear she had ever seen, and she let out a shriek when she saw it. Her nerves must be coiled tight for that stuffed animal to give her that kind of scare. How had she missed it? Its plush body made up the whole end wall. The gargantuan head collided with the ceiling. She spun around and Janson had her in his arms, pressing her against the soft teddy bear. His sling got in the way, and he fought it off to steal another kiss.
She snaked her hands around his neck and let out a laugh, just as involuntary as her scream. “Watch out for you!” she said. The man made her feel like she’d signed up for American Ninja Warrior and he’d thrown her over his shoulder like a caveman to run her through the obstacle course to make sure she didn’t back out. “You’re worse than any teddy bear,” she cried.
“Say more things like that.”
He had her hair now, and in a moment, she knew he’d render her senseless with his touch. That was so unfair! Going in too fast or too strong was too dangerous for her heart—Janson had absolutely guessed that she’d been protecting it. She had to deescalate this before she got too attached. “This is like the scene in a scary movie before the boyfriend dies,” she told him bluntly.
“No one has ever told me that before,” he mused. “I hope I die beautifully.”
Oh, he would. No—she wouldn’t encourage him by telling him that! The thought of him dying was horribly tragic anyway, but he took nothing seriously, so why should she? Janson was possibly the boldest man she knew; he wasn’t so easily put off by her purposely ruining the mood. She’d have had Scooby crying by now. “Don’t mess with fire,” she warned him. “I’ve got more where that comes from.” She pursed her lips at him to prove it. “You scare me again, and you’ll be called a lot of crazy things before the day is through.”
“Is that a promise?”
She hesitated. This wasn’t going the way she’d thought. No one went up against her like this, and his quick wit left her staring at him with fascination. She loved and hated this rush of their attraction. “There’s only one way to find out,” she said. Her face warmed at her husky voice. Somehow she’d turned her set-down into an invitation—even more strangely, she meant it. She’d surrendered completely to his charm.
He slid her hair from her eyes, studying her face, before dropping his hand. She felt the separation keenly. “Now I can see why they can’t keep this place leased,” he breathed. “It’s dangerous here. A gorgeous girl just stole my heart.”
Mollie let out a nervous laugh and when he turned, she leaned into his back, pushing him at the door. His passionate Latin side was showing—that was all. His father was a hardnosed businessman from Dallas, and he’d come from that stock too. Soon enough, Janson would come to his senses and laugh about ever saying his heart had been stolen by a ghost tour guide. Just wait. Sadness pooled