Now, though, with his proposal on the table—albeit for all the wrong reasons—she felt she had a right to study him from his windblown hair to his dusty boots. The sight of that expensive snakeskin layered with barnyard dirt made her smile. This was the old Jordan, the one she’d missed, the one who didn’t give a hang about appearances. The most rebellious of the brothers who’d filled the days of the lonely, only child next door, allowing her to tag along with them and later to compete with them as an equal.
“What are you looking at so intently?” he inquired, his voice laced with amusement.
She could feel herself blushing to the roots of her hair. “I was just worried you were going to mar that beautiful expanse of chest.”
His gaze settled on her. “Would you have kissed it to make it better? It might have been worth it.”
Dazed by the very idea, she slowly shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said in a choked voice.
“Why not?”
“Bad idea,” she mumbled, forcing herself to look away.
“What was that?” he taunted.
She stared at him defiantly. “I said you’re a flirt and a tease and proper women aren’t safe around you.”
He nodded seriously. “I thought it might be something like that.”
“Don’t sound so proud of yourself.”
He winked at her. “I’m not the only one around here for whom pride is a character defect.”
“Jordan, I...” Her voice trailed off. There was no point in arguing with him, no point in trying to explain that pride wasn’t keeping her from accepting his proposal. It just wouldn’t work. She couldn’t marry a man she loved so desperately and spend the rest of her life pretending that she didn’t.
Still, knowing that the one thing she’d always dreamed about—marrying Jordan—was finally within her reach and yet so far away, filled her with wistfulness.
She was so lost in imagining a life with Jordan that she never noticed that the sun was beginning to sink toward the horizon in a blaze of orange. When she felt a shadow fall over her, she looked up and saw Jordan staring down at her. He’d shrugged into his shirt, but left it unbuttoned. The impish gleam that had been in his eyes all day had given way to a look that was far hotter and more dangerous.
When he held out his hand to assist her up, Kelly briefly considered ignoring it. Something inside her, though, longed for some contact, no matter how innocent. His earlier inspection of her arm had made her heart pound. Her blood had sizzled with the memory of his quick, unexpected kiss on the tip of her nose and, despite her best intentions, she wanted him to repeat it.
No, she corrected, what she wanted was a repeat of that spine-tingling kiss they’d shared in her kitchen a month ago. There had been the kind of magic in that kiss she could almost believe in. It was the kind of magic that could make a woman forget that she’d ever been betrayed by a man. It was the kind that inspired wonder and hope for the future. It was the dangerous kind.
Sighing, she put her hand in his and let him help her up. Her muscles ached. Her eyes were scratchy from dust and exhaustion. Her nose felt sunburned, despite repeated applications of lotion and the hat that she’d tried to keep on but had tossed aside more than once as a nuisance.
“Tired?” Jordan asked, his gaze warm and filled with concern.
“A bit,” she admitted, wondering at the expression in his eyes that said he thought she was beautiful, despite what she knew to be the truth after a long day of hard work under a hot sun.
“Then I’ll take charge of the rest of the night. Shower and change, then you and I and Dani will go into town for pizza.”
She stared at him in openmouthed astonishment. She doubted Jordan had dined on pizza since he’d discovered French cuisine and four-star restaurants. And he had never, ever, indicated the slightest desire to spend any more time than absolutely necessary with her daughter.
“You want to take both of us into town for pizza,” she repeated, not bothering to hide her incredulity.
“You haven’t changed that much, have you? You still love pizza?”
“Of course, but...”
“And Dani?”
“It’s her favorite.”
“Well, then, it’s all settled. I’ll be back to get you in an hour.” He dropped another one of those innocuous pecks on her nose and headed for his car, leaving her staring after him in bemusement.
Exactly when, she wondered, had her old buddy—steady, safe, reliable Jordan—become so unpredict-able? One thing was for certain, the evidence that he had was definitely mounting up.
5
The aroma of garlic and oregano, of tomato sauce and spicy Italian sausage filled the tiny pizza parlor in town. Kelly had taken Dani to DiPasquali’s Italian Kitchen only occasionally. The visits had been a rare treat on their tight budget. Even so, the old wooden booths with their red vinyl seats, the scarred tables and red-checked napkins were very familiar. They hadn’t changed at all since she and Jordan and their friends had come here as teenagers. Just walking through the door evoked all sorts of fond memories.
The owners were the same, as well. Anthony and Gina DiPasquali were still fussing over their customers as they had for three decades now. Now their daughter Liz and their son Tony were slowly taking over the business, but it was Anthony’s boisterous command of a kitchen that turned out consistently mouth-watering pizza and Gina’s warmth that drew people back.
Gina had obviously caught a glimpse of Jordan even before they came through the door. She was already rushing out from behind the register as they entered. She threw open her arms to envelop
