Gilt_ By Invitation Only - Geneva Lee Page 0,48

nothing. Instead, he gives me a half-smile and tugs me toward the house. It might be hard for a building to compete with the natural beauty of the mountain setting, but this house does. Jameson leads me through a living room that I can fit my whole house in, and out double doors to a back deck that jets precariously over the side of the rocky precipice. I wait patiently as he lays out his feast, trying try not to laugh when he produces peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a bag of chips.

“You’re the gourmet cook,” he reminds me, but his eyes twinkle like stars, reflecting some of my own amusement.

“No complaints. This is perfect.” I unwrap my sandwich and take a large bite.

“It’s crunchy peanut butter. I hope that’s okay,” he tells me as I begin to chew.

I swallow hard, nodding enthusiastically. “Crunchy is the best."

“Duchess, I think you’re the peanut butter to my jelly,” he says before he takes a bite of his own sandwich. It’s a cheesy sentiment, but my stomach flutters.

When we finish, he hands me an apple. “Dessert?”

“There’s a lack of frosting on that dessert.” I scrunch up my nose. I guess even billionaire guys with model-level good looks can’t get it right all the time.

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” he promises.

But I munch away at the apple, still mesmerized by the scenery around me.

“You know, I did come to the mountains once,” I say, as I begin to recall a hazy memory from childhood.

“Didn’t leave much of an impression,” Jameson says.

I can’t help but laugh as the memory grows clearer. “Actually, I think I blocked it out because it was traumatic. My parents took us on this road trip into California, and we went through the mountains.”

“Road trips are the absolute worse.”

Somehow I doubt that someone with a private jet can actually commiserate with me on this topic, but I nod in agreement. Jameson reaches for my hand, entwining his fingers through mine, and I wonder if he can feel my pulse starting to beat frantically in my veins.

“What happened?” he prompts.

I shake my head trying to clear it before I continue, suddenly, overcome by his nearness. “We brought my cousin, Ellie, along. I have no idea why. We had to stop to use the restroom. Mom told us to stay near the car, but we’d be cooped up for hours, so of course we started running around like bats out of hell. Anyway, I was racing Becca to a tree behind the rest stop. I’m sure it wasn’t that far, but it felt like it at the time. I beat her there, but when I turned around, she was gone, so I run back to the parking lot, and my parents are gone.”

“What did you do?” he asks, trying to unsuccessfully stifle a laugh at my predicament. His thumb rubs circles on the inside of my wrist, and I have to take a deep breath.

“I sat down and cried,” I admit. “I thought they left me because I wasn’t listening to my mom. As it turns out, they forgot they had Ellie with them. All they saw was two kids in the backseat. It took twenty minutes of my sister raising hell before they turned around and realized she was trying to tell them I wasn’t there.”

“Were they angry at you,” he asks, “when they got back?”

“No,” I shake my head, feeling the slightest prick of tears in the corner of my eyes as the memory turned from amusing to bittersweet.“I just remember my mom hugging me so hard, and then Becca grabbed my hand and promised she’d never leave me again.”

I nearly choke on the words. Jameson drops his hold on my hand and wraps his arms around my shoulders, drawing me against his hard chest. How can he feel so sturdy and muscular, and still be such a soft place to land?

“My parents took us on a road trip once,” he tells me, and I’m grateful for the distraction. “I don’t remember much. Dad packed us all in the car and drove us out to this little city in California. There was a boardwalk and a giant ferris wheel. He gave us twenty bucks and let us play as many carnival games as we could. I’ll never forget that city. It was called Heaven.”

“Heaven?” I repeat in disbelief.

“Yes. Heaven is a place on earth,” he says bemusedly.

“Did you ever go back?” I ask in a soft voice.

“No.