When they got to the truck, she let him open her door. But she didn’t take his hand when he offered it. He got in quickly himself, but before he started the engine, Willow turned to him.
“We can’t do this,” she said simply.
“Nothing is going on between us,” he retorted automatically.At least, not yet.
“If nothing is going on, why did you drag me off to hide?” she asked.
He opened his mouth and closed it again.
She was right, of course. If he didn’t think they were doing anything wrong, why would he want to hide?
Little Willow Wright, when did you get to be so wise?
“We can’t do this,” she repeated softly.
This time, he didn’t have the heart to argue. He turned the key and the truck roared to life with all the passion Jensen felt but couldn’t express.
The snowy scenery slipped past them in a blur, and he knew that this was it, the end of his time with Willow. He wished he could ease his foot off the gas and make this journey last a lifetime.
It was impossible to resist stealing a glance at her.
Willow gazed out the window, her expression impassive, but her eyes… oh, her eyes.
Make things right with her brother,a little voice in his head told him.
And maybe he could. Maybe now that his feelings for Willow had wrapped themselves around his heart so tightly that he wasn’t sure how it would continue to beat, he could better understand why Ransom had wanted to protect her from the world.
But Ransom had always read him like a book. If he went to his friend now, Ransom would know in an instant what was going on. He’d shut it down before Jensen even had time to plead his case, and likely never speak to him again.
I’m going to lose them both.
But that thought was too awful. So Jensen drove on, past the moonlit farms and fences of his youth, trying not to think about his life beyond these few moments in the car with Willow.
Too soon,he was pulling up in front of Carla’s Place, knowing that their first date was going to be their last.
He got out, opened her door for her, and accompanied her all the way to the top of the fire escape.
His thoughts were screaming a million reasons why she should change her mind, but he kept his mouth shut while she jiggled her key in the lock.
She turned to him before going inside, and there wassuch sadness in her blue eyes as she looked up at him, but also a certainty that made him glad he hadn’t embarrassed them both trying to make her go against her instincts.
“Thank you, Jensen,” she said so softly it was almost a sigh.
“Good night, Willow,” he told her, using all of his self-control not to reach for her.
She slipped inside, and when the door closed behind her, he headed back down the fire escape to his truck.
His heart ached, but he forced his memory back to those days in the woods, and the same look of determination on Willow’s little face as she braved muddy creek beds and even that Tarzan rope to stay close to the big brother who adored and protected her so fiercely.
Jensen Webb was no better than a fool if he thought he could get between the two of them and still sleep at night.
Whatever had been blossoming between himself and Willow, it was over now.
14
JENSEN
Jensen sat on the floor of the children’s section of the Trinity Falls Community Library the next day, grateful for a chance to lose himself in Henry’s world instead of thinking about Willow.
