“I should get back to the inn,” she said, though she was oddly reluctant for the evening to end. She was half-afraid once it did, they would fall back into their old awkward pattern despite the promise of a casual date the next day.
Will nodded. “I’ll drive you.”
“It’s okay. I have my car. It’s parked by your office.”
“Then I’ll walk you back there,” he said, leaving cash on the table with their bill, then standing up to hold her chair.
Outside, he reached for her hand. For an instant, Jess was so startled, she almost pulled away, but then she realized she liked the sensation of his fingers curved around hers. How had she forgotten just how sweet such a gesture could be, how comforting? And maybe just a little sexy, she realized as she trembled with a newly discovered physical awareness of the man beside her.
At her car, he opened the door, waited for her to get behind the wheel, then leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Drive safely.”
She looked up into his eyes, saw the unmistakable desire of a man who wanted much more than a goodnight kiss. “Want to follow me to the inn?” she asked.
“More than you can possibly imagine,” he said candidly. “But not tonight. You’re not ready.”
“I think I am.”
“Not good enough. You have to be sure,” he said, then winked at her. “And you will be.”
“So arrogant,” she murmured, amused despite herself at this unexpected side of him.
“Confident,” he corrected. “I’ve been patient for a long time. It won’t hurt you to gain a little experience with that virtue.”
“Is this one of those life lessons you shrinks like to impart?”
“Pretty much,” he said, then grinned. “Or it could just be payback. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, and we can discuss it further.”
He pulled back, closed the door gently, then waited for her to start the car and drive away. Jess checked her rearview mirror as she pulled away from the curb. Will was still standing there in the middle of the street, staring after her. She liked believing he was regretting that noble stance he’d taken about not coming back to the inn with her. She had a feeling that she surely was going to.
When Jess walked downstairs from her suite at The Inn at Eagle Point on Saturday morning, Abby and Bree were waiting for her in the lobby.
“Breakfast in the dining room now,” Abby said, linking an arm through hers. Bree walked beside them, her eyes glinting with amusement.
“What’s this about?” Jess asked. “I know I haven’t messed up anything around here lately. That accountant you hired is all over me if I even forget to give him a receipt for replacing the pen the guests use to register.”
“Good for him. That’s what he’s paid for,” Abby said.
“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Bree consoled her. “Other than maybe losing your mind.”
Jess scowled at her. “What are you talking about?”
“You and Will,” Abby said. “First there was the widely reported kiss, and then last night I hear the two of you were having dinner in some cozy corner at Brady’s till closing. How come we had to hear about that secondhand? Shouldn’t you have been on the phone confiding in us about your hot date?”
“The date, which came up at the last minute, was none of your business,” Jess said irritably.
“We’re your sisters,” Bree countered. “You’re supposed to tell us these things.”
She frowned at them. “Do you have some objection to my dating Will?”
Abby’s eyes lit up. “Then you are dating? This wasn’t just some spur-of-the-moment night out or something?”
“Last night was spur-of-the-moment, but in general that’s not Will’s style,” Jess said. “It could be a problem.”
“You can’t mean that,” Abby protested. “Will is exactly the kind of man you need. He’s steady and reliable.” She held up a hand before Jess could respond. “Which does not equate to boring, if that’s what you were about to say.”
Jess thought back to their dinner. It had been anything but boring. In fact, there’d been so many sparks flying, it was a wonder she hadn’t gotten singed. Sadly, the evening had ended with that very sedate peck on her forehead. It had been frustrating.
“I’m not sure why I’m just finding out about all this,” Bree said. “Do you really like him? To be honest, when Jake heard about this, he wasn’t happy. He thinks you’ll break Will’s heart.”
“I’m not going to break Will’s heart,” Jess said defensively. “At least not on purpose. We’ve only been on one even semi-official date, for goodness’ sakes. And it doesn’t really count as a date because I sort of turned up in his office around dinnertime and he probably asked me out because it seemed like the polite thing to do.” That was her story and she intended to stick to it. It was a lot less complicated than the truth. She frowned at Bree. “Why does Jake think this is any of his business, anyway? Tell him for me that his opinion doesn’t count.”
“He’ll disagree,” Bree said. “He and Will are best buddies. And he wasn’t saying anything that Connor or Kevin didn’t say when they heard, although apparently Connor has seen this coming for a very long time and Kevin started suspecting something was up when he helped out at the inn last week.”
“Did you all have some kind of family meeting in the middle of the night and forget to tell
