when she’d squeezed him.
“So, where to next?” He buckled the old-fashioned seat belt across his lap and started the engine. Pulling from the parking lot, he headed toward Main Street. “Want to get something to eat? We could go by the diner. I’m guessing they’ll be overrun with teenyboppers in another couple of hours.”
“How about your place?”
Justin hit the brakes for the red light at the intersection a bit too hard. When the truck stopped, he swung his head to look at her. Despite his best effort, she noticed from the corner of her eye that the movements made him flinch.
“My place?”
Proud at how casual her words came out, Gina smoothed out the skirt of her dress. “Of course, we could go back to my house, but my mother might be home by now.”
“Ah, n-no,” Justin croaked, then cleared his throat. “My place is fine.”
She angled to face him, as much as her own seat belt would allow, and lifted his Stetson from where it lay between them to rest it on her lap. Leaning forward, she slowly walked two fingers up the length of his arm from his wrist to shoulder.
“You know, there’s something at your place that both of us really need,” she said.
He looked at her through hooded eyes. “What’s that?”
She bit back the first response that popped into her head, despite the longing that hummed in her veins. With pouted lips, she returned his stare, lashes fluttering. “A first-aid kit.”
He groaned and closed his eyes.
A quick horn toot from the car behind him made Justin put his attention back on the road. He continued to drive, and Gina faced forward again, stunned she’d actually pulled that off.
“How did you know?” he finally asked.
“I’m smart, remember?”
“Gina, it’s no big deal.” He sighed. “You don’t have to do this, I’ll be fine.”
“It’s your place or the clinic.” She gestured at the turnoff to the lake. “Or do I make another 9-1-1 call?”
He glared at her, but she only returned his look and released the catch on the sequined flap of her purse. Justin put on the left directional signal and headed for the cabin. Moments later, they were inside and Justin stripped off his jacket. Letting it fall to the floor, he headed for the kitchen and flipped on the overhead lights.
Gina picked up the jacket and headed for the bathroom. Hanging it on a hook on the back of the door, she found a first-aid kit beneath the sink. She then grabbed two towels, wetting the smaller one with warm soapy water.
Walking back into the main room, she halted, noticing the new furniture for the first time. A sofa and loveseat faced the fireplace and a larger television sat atop a nearby cabinet. Simple end tables held mismatched lamps and a coffee table was covered with magazines, a drawing tablet and a tin full of crayons. A round dining room table and four chairs sat nearby in front of the row of windows. All of it was clearly secondhand purchases and while the place still needed something Gina couldn’t quite put her finger on, it was easy to see Justin was working hard to make a home for himself and his son.
“What do you think?” He returned from the kitchen, his bolo tie gone and the top buttons of his shirt undone, a bottle of whiskey and two glasses in his hands. “None of it’s new, but—”
“I think it’s great.” She joined him at the couch and made room on the coffee table for the items she’d brought from the bathroom. “I also think we’re going to need a bit more light.”
He clicked on one lamp, the sudden brightness causing her to blink, but for the first time she could see the slash marks and spots of blood on his shirt.
“Oh, Justin.”
He backed away from her outstretched hand and set the glasses next to the first-aid kit. Quickly pouring a splash of whiskey in each, he straightened and offered her one. “Thirsty?”
Gina shook her head. He couldn’t look at her. His eyes moved to the glass in his hand before darting around the cabin. Then it hit her. Having her in his home again was driving him crazy. But was it a good crazy or a bad crazy?
She now realized he’d been fighting an attraction to her as much as she’d been fighting what she felt for him. But she’d heard the longing in his voice, felt the restrained desire when he held her while they danced,