“I can see why they chose this place,” Jay says as we walk. He has his hands tucked in his pockets, a casual air to his stance and a thoughtful look on his face as he glances up to the stars.
“I know, it’s really beautiful here.”
“Where would you get married if you had all the places in the world to choose from?”
His question takes me by surprise as the gravel path we walk on crunches under our feet. “Um.” My teeth catch my lip, not knowing how to answer.
“You’d get married at um? Wow, that sounds amazing!”
I swipe his shoulder and it knocks him forward haphazardly. A chuckle rings out of him, making his whole upper body shake.
“Don’t tell me you never thought about getting hitched, isn’t it every girl’s dream?”
I laugh a little nervously, not really knowing why the question feels so hard to answer. Maybe because it’s Jay doing the asking. “Yeah, I’ve imagined it for sure.
I’ve always thought about having a quiet beach wedding, bare feet and warm weather kinda thing.”
I catch the easy smile that finds his lips, as his baby blues look up to the sky. “So, not the big white wedding thing?”
“I’m not opposed to a white dress.” I shrug. “But for me, it’s about the person, not how much money I can spend on throwing a one day celebration. I don’t mean Tanner and Deb, of course, they worked hard for this day and it’s small and intimate. They made their commitment years ago, it’s kinda just sealing the deal.”
He glances down at me as we approach my Tudor-style cottage, a small wooden undercover deck stretches out at the front, right below the upper deck that has magnificent views of the lake via double French doors. Even the ground floor view is amazing, but seeing the glistening water stretch for miles earlier, as I sat out on the deck in one of the comfortable outdoor chairs, was nothing short of magnificent.
“Is that what you’d do? Seal the deal?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I think the celebration of two people is a beautiful thing, just sometimes people go overboard. And I kinda get it, but I’d never want to get into huge debt to throw a wedding party. What about you?”
His lips quirk at my words, leading me to believe he finds something amusing, or maybe he’s resonating with what I’m saying. He leans on the post that adjoins the few steps up onto the deck, he thumbs into his shirt. “Me?”
“Yeah, did you ever think about it?” My pulse races at his answer, even though I know Jay hasn’t exactly been a one woman kinda guy. Surely he must’ve wondered what it would be like one day when his womanizing days are over?
He blows out a breath and runs his hand over his five o’clock shadow he’s been sporting. It’s sexy on him and my pulse ticks even more what it would feel like brushing against me, down my neck, over my breasts and down my body. What would Jay’s sexy scruff feel like between my thighs?
“I don’t think I ever let myself think that deeply about it,” he says. “I guess I just assume it will happen one day when the time is right.”
“Far, far away,” I muse, I make sure the silly twinge of disappointment isn’t visible on the outside, by keeping my face as carefree and neutral as possible. But it strums in my heart, my mind going over the words. And it’s silly because, again, two stolen kisses in the past three months doesn’t mean I can skip to the wedding.
I feel his fingers brush past my cheek before I see them, not realizing I was looking down until he tips my chin up with long, gentle fingers.
“Not necessarily. The right person could come along at any moment.”
My eyes lock with his, my heart licking up to a rapid beat somewhere deep in my chest cavity. “Do you really think it’s possible that someone could tame the wild beast?” I try my hand at being playful because I don’t want to get all sappy on him.
He throws back a laugh, the luscious sound of it dancing on the edge of the breeze around us. “Wild beast? Is that what you think of me?”
“Maybe I scrolled too much on your social media.” I slap a hand over my mouth.
Whoops.
His grin is suddenly a mile wide hearing that. “Ooh, stalking me now, huh? I like the sounds of that.”
“I wasn’t stalking!” I insist, thankfully the flush of my cheeks isn’t visible in the dark, but I feel like it could betray me, anyway.
“Oh, you can stalk away.” He smiles in his true Jay Jefferson cat-that-got-the-cream kinda way. “I’m not as wild as you think, I just like to have fun and make people happy. Doesn’t mean I can’t be serious.”
His hand brushes some loose strands of hair out of my eyes as I try to control my breathing. Even his slightest touch sends everything soaring, and I’m trying so hard to keep it at bay. I don’t for one second think Jay is anything like my ex, but I don’t want to get hurt again. Least of all by my brother’s bestie from way back, who’s a famous hockey star. It rings in my mind that I could be walking down a slippery slope even thinking about another athlete in the romantic sense. One thing I can’t deny with Jay, though, is the chemistry. We have it in bucket loads.
“I get that. But what do you want with me in the long run? I’d never wanna be just another — I mean, I know you wouldn’t treat me like that on purpose—but I—I.”
