She slumped back in her chair, studying the ceiling, as a truly adorable blush seeped up her cheeks. “It’s nothing.”
“Obviously that’s not true. It’s got to be something if Caleb thinks he can get to me through you.”
Her gaze shifted, and those oddly colored eyes of hers seemed to have gone toward the green side of blue. What did that color mean? Anger? Surprise? Desire?
Oh please, let it be desire.
“It’s stupid,” she said.
“Okay. But people act on stupid stuff all the time. Trust me, I’ve seen fortunes lost because of stupidity.”
“Okay,” she said on a long breath. “It’s like this. Since we got caught out in the storm, there are a lot of folks who think we’re an item. And there are a bunch of people who are ticked off at me for dumping Colton.”
Her words hit him like a two-by-four. “What?”
“I told you it was stupid. Two people go out to discuss a house project, get caught in a storm, and poof, the whole town starts making up ridiculous stories.”
“Are they so ridiculous?” he blurted, and immediately regretted the words.
She turned away again, inspecting the fireplace in the sitting room as if it needed a makeover, while the pink in her cheeks blossomed into a red the color of Ashley’s roses.
What should he say now? He had no clue. He was in alien territory. Never had he been the object of rumor or innuendo, and if he had been, he would have put his firm’s publicist on the case and spun the message.
“I just want to be clear,” Jessica said after a tense moment. “Colton and I are not a thing. In fact, I happen to know that he’s got a thing of his own going with someone, but I’m not going to gossip about it.”
“Hooray for Colton,” Topher said in a slightly acerbic tone.
She pushed her chair back, the legs scraping against the wood floors. “Well, I guess I should be going. I’ve delivered my message. I think I’ll just…”
He stood up and closed the distance before she could make it to the door. “I didn’t mean to make us the object of gossip,” he said.
“I know. We can blame the weather for that.” She tried to step around him, but he blocked her, and then, as gently as he could, he cupped her face.
She didn’t pull away, thank God.
“Jessica,” he murmured, leaning in. “I enjoyed the kiss. Is it beyond reason to hope that something like that might happen again?”
Those big eyes turned in his direction, darkening, telling him everything he needed to know.
He resisted the urge to crush her to him. And maybe it was a good thing that his days of carrying women into his bedroom were over.
She reached out and touched his scars. This time he forced himself not to flinch. And then a miracle happened. She rocked up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek, where the damage was at its worst.
Her mouth trailed along the ruined skin, linking kisses and heat all the way to his left ear, which was missing most of the lobe. The damaged nerves along his face jangled, and he winced.
She drew back. “Did that hurt?”
“No. It’s numb there. So it tingles a bit.”
“Oh.” Her eyes got round, and he wanted to erase the shock in them, so he swooped in and kissed her.
She tasted like hope, like a spring day, like coming home. Like it used to feel sometimes when he’d spend his summer days out on the island with Granddad.
She was everything good in the world. She hugged him tight, and he prayed to God she would never let go.
* * *
His lips had a plummy taste, like the moo shu sauce but so much deeper and richer and lustier. How could she square the deep desire with his almost reverent gentleness?
It seemed illogical, but then she’d stopped thinking. Her barriers came down. She let him in, and he swept her away.
Someone should call out the rescue squad or the National Guard, because this had the makings of disaster. He’d started a fire, and she was ready to let it burn.
Maybe it would burn down the house he wanted to build. Maybe it would cauterize her wounds. Or maybe it would just destroy everything in its path.
It was anyone’s guess, but she was tired of trying to do the right thing. She was tired of always being blamed for stuff she never dared to do.