But just like every other time he was around her, doing what he should never worked out. He closed the distance between them. Awareness widened her eyes. “And here I thought you hadn’t noticed.”
“I’ve noticed. But not like that. I mean . . . you’re not . . . we’re not . . .” She blew out a long breath and gave him an exasperated look. “You understand, right?”
He was playing with fire, but he couldn’t make himself stop. “You better explain it to me.”
She rubbed her palms on the front of her shorts. “You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
If she only knew what was harder than it should be.
His gaze followed the up and down motion of her hands. She was nervous, and he knew he was the reason why. He should back off, back away from her. He’d been around a lot of beautiful women in his day, but Jenny was different. Beautiful, definitely. But there was something else . . . something more. All the years Jared had been in the military, he’d never received a letter, a care package. But Steven had. Lots of them. And the vast majority had come from Jenny. When Steven realized Jared never received anything, Steven—being Steven—insisted on including Jared during mail day. Whatever treats he’d been sent (now Jared understood why they’d been store-bought) he’d shared; he’d also read parts of his letters out loud. Before then, Jared had been able to endure mail days. When you didn’t expect anything, you were never let down. But through Jenny’s letters, Jared had glimpsed a way of life he’d long ago given up on. Her letters had been filled with stories about life on Hidden Lake. Listening to the world she’d weaved, it had been almost impossible not to fall under her spell. With distance, he’d managed to resist. But now, being here, being in the world she had unknowingly woven around him years before, Jared felt that allure pull at him. Felt Jenny pull at him.
He tore his gaze off her legs and changed the conversation back to where it should never have strayed from. Being around Jenny was becoming dangerous. “All I’m saying is, I know what it feels like to be passed around like you aren’t wanted. To have grown-ups talk about you like you weren’t even there,” he said with a candor that was unexpected, even to him.
“Cody’s wanted,” she said softly. “I just thought he’d have more fun with you. You were a kid once. A teenage boy.”
“I was never a kid.” His words were light, and his smile was bright. The combination had never failed to reroute a woman’s thoughts to where he wanted them to go. But Jenny wasn’t biting.
She searched his face. “What do you mean—?”
The screen door opened and banged shut.
Startled by the sound, her eyes widened and she moved away from him as if only just realizing how close they’d been standing to each other.
“Here,” Cody said as he entered the kitchen. He handed Jared a root beer.
Jared took the can automatically, though what he really wanted was a straight shot. Maybe two. In less than a handful of minutes, he’d revealed more to Jenny than he’d ever told anyone else.
Before his aunt could tell him no, Cody snapped his can open, and a fizzy hiss filled the suddenly silent room. With his can of pop halfway to his mouth, Cody looked to each of them. “So, did you figure out who gets stuck with the booby prize?”
Jenny avoided Jared as she wrapped her arm around Cody’s shoulders, gave the top of his head a playful tousle. “You are a prize, kiddo. Don’t forget that,” she said sincerely. “So here’s the deal. I need to do some work in the office for a couple of hours, but then I’m all yours. You can either hang out in here with me or work on the plane with Jared. It’s up to you.”
Through the screen door Jenny watched Cody follow Jared across the yard. Jared walked like a man with a purpose, a man who knew exactly who he was and what he wanted. His long legs made the distance seem short, while Cody hustled to stay abreast. For every one step of Jared’s, Cody took two. His small head was cocked to the side, turned toward Jared, and even from here, she could tell Cody was jabbering away. From the stiff set of Jared’s shoulders, Jenny had a pretty good