“So I’ve been told.” His tone was a little defensive. “How do other writers do it? I could never write romance. Give me an action scene anytime. Shooting is fun or I can always do a nice scene where someone’s throat gets slit. I’m good at that.”
“Poor Jasper. Brought to his knees by touchy-feely emotions and a few kisses.”
“I wouldn’t say brought to my knees,” he grumbled.
“I know and that’s what makes it so fun. I’ll wrap things up here and drive to your place.”
Before she hung up, she got his address, then quickly finished her work for the day. She thought about stopping by her place to change clothes, but didn’t want to take the time. She felt all fluttery with anticipation. She and Jasper hadn’t really had much of a chance to hang out for a while now. Okay, they’d recently had dinner and before that they’d been working on wedding stuff, but it wasn’t the same as just spending an evening together. Plus, there was the promise of kissing, at the very least. He was always saying he learned by doing and she was up for a fair amount of doing, wherever that might lead.
She put his address into her car nav system, then followed the directions out of town and up the mountain. She knew that Ronan and Natalie also lived well above the town, but thought their place was in a different direction. Despite having lived in Happily Inc well over a year, she hadn’t done much exploring. Work kept her busy and it wasn’t that fun on her own.
She went up the side of the mountain, occasionally glancing at her outside temperature gauge. In Happily Inc, the sunny afternoon had been ninety-seven degrees. Up in the mountains, the temperature had dropped to seventy-eight, which was a big difference. She would bet at night it got even cooler. Jasper could sleep with his windows open, if he wanted.
She was still fantasizing about cool breezes on bare skin when she spotted his house number on a mailbox and pulled onto the long, paved driveway. There were trees on either side and a sense of being a long way from Happily Inc.
She saw the house up ahead. It was plenty big, but in a hodgepodge kind of way, as if it had been added on to every generation or so, with no thought of symmetry or style. There was a big porch and what looked like the original cabin, then additions jutting out in all directions.
She parked and got out of her car. Jasper walked out to greet her, looking all tall and manly and sexy enough to make her whimper. Kissing was not going to cut it, she told herself. She was going to have to insist they go all the way or she was going to be really cranky.
He smiled and drew her into his arms, then pressed his mouth to hers. He tasted of mint and promise and just hanging on to his lean, strong body was enough to get her ready.
“Hi,” he said when he drew back. “Thanks for coming over.”
“Thanks for inviting me,” she said, staring into his eyes. “Is this really about research or did you lure me up here?”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “A little of both.”
“I like the honesty.” She briefly rested her head on his chest, then turned to the house. “So this is great.”
“It’s a mess but it works for me. Come on inside and I’ll give you the tour.”
They walked up the front steps and moved into the house. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the less bright interior. She had a brief impression of hardwood floors and big windows and really ugly furniture. She was about to tease him about it when something moved. Something large and dark and alive.
She jumped back and pressed a hand to her chest. “You have a dog!”
She knew she sounded horrified, which was pretty okay because that was how she felt. She swung to face him, hoping he would say she was wrong and it was just a big, hairy rocking chair or something.
Jasper looked surprised. “That’s Koda. You knew I had a dog.”
“No, I didn’t. When did this happen? You never said you had a dog. You can’t. You really can’t. I don’t do well with pets.” Dogs especially, because they seemed so knowing and aware and what had he been thinking?