“Hmm.” Tuck sniffed the air. “Smells like jealousy in here to me.”
“Please.” Jillian laughed as if the idea was completely preposterous. “I have no romantic interest in you whatsoever.”
“Really?” Lexi sounded hopeful and clasped her hands in her lap.
“Really,”
Jillian said emphatically.
God, how had he gotten himself into this conversation? Brandi came back and slid the beer across the table. She winked slyly
at him. Tuck gulped and just dove right into the beer. Anything to keep from dealing with this.
Jillian crossed her leg underneath the table, and the tip of her shoe grazed his shin. He caught another whiff of her cucumber-scented
hair and had the strangest urge for a garden salad. She smelled like lush, summer produce, and the thought of nibbling on
her was making him hard.
“I think this is an exciting time,” Evie said, leaning across the table. “Ridley and I are working on a baby. Jillian’s just
moved to town. Lexi’s expanding her business to include window treatments, and my little brother Tuck has decided to come
out of the shadows and return to the land of the living.”
All eyes were on him. Tuck blew out his breath. It unnerved him. The thought of starting over, trying again. He wasn’t sure
he was ready. Hell, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready.
“A toast.” Evie lifted her glass and looked at Tuck pointedly. “To new beginnings.”
Everyone raised their glasses and echoed, “To new beginnings.”
“Hey,” Lexi said to Evie after they clinked glasses. “Have you thought about window treatments for the nursery?”
And they were off, Evie and Lexi talking about babies and curtains with circus animals on them that matched the receiving
blankets Evie had already bought.
Clearly an outsider in the conversation, Jillian leaned back against the seat, and strands of her hair trailed along Tuck’s
shoulder. To keep from yanking her into his arms and stealing a kiss, he made himself think about work. How was he going to
finish the job Sutter had hired him to do with a broken ankle?
But no matter how hard he tired, Tuck couldn’t keep his mind, or his eyes, off Jillian. He was in serious trouble here. It
wasn’t just her cleavage or the tickling strands of her hair against his skin or the cucumber scent of her invading his nostrils.
It wasn’t the pucker of her rich raspberry lips when she took a sip of wine or the way her slender neck curved into her shoulders
or the heat of her long, firm body radiating through his that clouded his brain.
Okay, so maybe it was all those things, but it was something more as well, and he had no idea what it was or what to do about
it.
He squirmed in his seat.
She looked over at him. “Are you okay?”
“Um … I gotta move my legs. Kinda cramped up here.”
“Oh,” Jillian murmured, and leaned over to touch Lexi’s arm. “Could you let us out, please? Tuck wants to stretch his legs.”
Lexi let them out and Jillian got up, stumbling a little in the process. Tuck put out a hand to steady her. She’d had only
two glasses of Chardonnay. He didn’t know if she was a lightweight in the booze department or if it was those high-heeled
boots giving her the trouble. You had to admire a woman who stood five-foot-ten and still wore heels.
“Thanks,” she said breathlessly, and moved away from his hand. She reached for his crutches and passed them to him. “You know,
I think I’m just going to call it a night.”
“So soon?” Lexi said.
“Are you sure you should be driving?” Tuck asked.
She sized him up. “Like you could drive me home with a broken ankle?”
“We could walk. It’s only a quarter of a mile.”
“You’re on crutches.”
“I have tough underarms.”
“It’s downhill.”
“I’m willing to risk it if you are.”
“Hang out a little longer,” Evie said. “We’ll drop you off in a bit.”
“You stay,” she told Tuck. “Let Rid and Evie bring you home. I’ll see you back at the house.”
“You’re not walking alone.”
“What? Someone in Salvation is gonna mug me? You people don’t even lock your doors.”
“It’s October. There still might be bears wandering about looking for some last-minute snacks before hibernating. I’d hate
for you to be an appetizer.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. Okay, you can come.” She retrieved her jacket from the coat rack, shrugged
into it, then turned and headed for the door, her ass swaying seductively as she walked away.
Tuck hitched his crutches underneath his arms.
If she really is a jinx
, he thought,
I’m about to find out for sure.
A
ll Jillian could figure out was that the house Chardonnay at the Rusty Nail had more kick to it than her usual label. She
had no other excuse why her head was spinning sweetly and she was dumbly ambling down the road toward the lake house in the
dark of night guided only by a sky filled with stars and Tucker Manning limping along beside her on crutches.
She’d had only two glasses. Why did she feel so unsteady?
Maybe it had nothing to do with the wine and everything to do with the delicious hunk of man beside you.
The air was crisp and clean, and she felt a little breathless. High altitude, she told herself, but whenever she sneaked a
glance over at Tuck’s profile, her pulse rate spiked. A shiver shot down her spine at the same time a moist heat rolled between
her inner thighs.
Quick! Think about something else.
But her dumb, numb brain refused to cooperate. His scent hung in the air. Some kind of spicy cologne tinged with the yeasty
aroma of beer and the musky fragrance of outdoor man. He was a far cry from the men she normally dated—smooth, polished, overly
groomed men like Alex or the muscle-bound, pretty-boy himbos who looked good in a Speedo but didn’t think too much.
Tuck was a guy’s guy. Good-looking for sure, but in a rugged, tousled way. He didn’t shave half the time, his hair was just
a tad past the point of needing a trim, and she’d never seen him in anything other than flannel and denim.
Oh wait, there was that time when she’d walked in and found him on the couch in only his underwear.
Anyway, she’d never been with a guy like this. Unabashedly blue collar to the bone. Sure, he’d had his Magic Man phase. She’d
seen the article on him in
Architectural Digest,
gussied up in a tuxedo. He could give Alex Fredericks a run for his money. But that had just been a lark for him. This Tuck,
this guy here with the broken ankle and wind-blown hair and whiskey-colored eyes, he was the real deal. He could hunt and
fish and start a fire with his bare hands. No wonder he’d settled in Salvation. No matter where he’d been born and raised,
he was Colorado to the bone.
And without even trying, he turned her on like no man ever had.
“Here we are.” Tuck stopped walking at the top of Enchantment Lane. The streetlamps ended at this point. They both stood looking
to where the road dipped before it disappeared in the darkness.
“I think we should have taken that ride from Evie and Ridley,” she said.
“They’re still at the Rusty Nail. They play in the trivia tournament at eight on Thursday nights.”
“Ah,” she said.
“So, you and Lexi. Friends?”
“I’m new in town. I was looking for someone to hang out with.”
“You’ve got me,” he said. “I’ll hang with you.”
“Yeah, here’s the deal. I’m thinking you wouldn’t be so good at the girl talk.”
“You never know; I might surprise you. I grew up with sisters.”
“But what if you’re the one I want to talk about?” She slapped a hand over her mouth. Why had she said that? Damnable Chardonnay.
“You want to talk about me to Lexi Kilgore?”
She made a derisive noise. “Noo … it was just an example of a topic we couldn’t talk about. Should we do this thing now before
we slowly start dying of exposure?” Jillian asked, vigorously rubbing her upper arms to stay warm.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” To descend the hill, he bravely thrust his crutches out in front of him, anchored them on the asphalt,
and swung his body through. He used his good foot to hold a new spot while Jillian followed behind him.
“This is a piece of German chocolate,” he said.
She held her breath, just waiting for him to fall on his ass. What had they been thinking coming out here alone in the dark?
Tuck tried the maneuver again, succeeding a second time. “Look, ma, no leg.”
“Don’t get cocky, buster.”
“We’ll be just fine unless we run into a bear.”
“Tell me you’re making this whole bear thing up just to make me nervous.”
“Nope,” he said cheerfully. “Bears are very real, and they can get really cranky if you come between them and a hearty meal.”
“I’ll make a mental note to avoid that.”
“Sound’s like a plan.”
Up ahead she could see the lake house, and relief pushed through her. “We’re almost there.”
“With the steepest part of the landscape to traverse,” Tuck observed.
“Here, I’ll lead the way.” Jillian marched off in front of him.
“Jillian,” he called.
“Yeah?” She swiveled her head as she stepped over a cross-tie timber that lined the lake property from the curvaceous Enchantment
Lane.
“Watch out for—”
But she didn’t hear the rest of the warning. The heel of her boot caught on something in the dark, and she found herself stumbling
headlong toward the ground.
She put out her palms to catch herself. Her knees kissed the cool damp earth at the same moment she heard the clatter of Tuck’s
crutches as they tumbled to the dirt; then she felt his strong arm slide around her waist. “What are you doing? You’re gonna
fall if—”
Too late.
He was already slipping and taking her all the way down with him.
Somehow, Tuck ended up flat on his back in the pine needles with Jillian stretched out across the length of him, his arm still
locked securely around her waist. His chest was so broad and firm. His eyes so dark. His breath so warm against her skin.
“Brilliant move, Einstein,” she muttered.
“How do you know this move wasn’t highly planned and calculated?” he asked.
“Too graceless. Then again, you’re a guy …” She hitched in her breath. “
Was
it planned?”
He laughed. “Are you kidding? I couldn’t do that on purpose if I tried. Besides, pratfalls just aren’t my style. Face it,
you weren’t the only one imbibing tonight.”
They stared into each other’s eyes, and Jillian suspected he knew as well as she did that the situation they were in had nothing
to do with alcohol. She scrambled off of him before she did something wholly inappropriate and exceedingly stupid. She turned
toward the house, blood pounding in her ears.
“Hey,” Tuck called out. “You just going to leave me here?”
“Huh?” Jillian blinked. She’d been so focused on getting away from the hard heat of his body that she’d forgotten he was lying
there like a turtle, unable to hop up or flip over on his own. “Oh yeah. Sorry.”
She hurried back to him, knelt beside him, and helped lever him off the ground. She reached for his crutches. Thrust them
at him.
Wind rustled through the pine trees and sent a shiver over her skin. She didn’t want him thinking she was shivering because
she was so close to him, even though she was. “It’s cold out here,” she said. “Let’s get inside.”
“Let’s,” he echoed.
In the darkness, she could barely see the porch.
“Next time we go out drinking,” she said, “we should remember to put the porch light on.”
“Good idea. Next time.”
They rounded the side of the house, their boots making hollow noises as soon as their feet hit the redwood deck. The moon,
which had been playing peep-eye with the clouds, burst forth from its hiding place in that moment, bathing the dock in a silvery
glow.
It was a beautiful shot of an autumn lake in moonlight. She heard the sounds of the wind-blown water gently lapping the shore,
a hoot of an owl from a nearby tree, a dog barking in the distance. She caught the scent of wood smoke in the air, along with
the cool, crisp, languid odor of mountain water.
She stopped to suck in an awed breath. “This view is stunning.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “It is.”
Jillian didn’t have to turn her head to know Tuck was looking at her and not the water. “It’s romantic.”
“That too.”
“Did you and Aimee make love out here often?”
“A time or two,” he surprised her by admitting. “But only in the summer. Aimee didn’t like the cold much.” His tone took on
a wistful note.
“And yet she loved Colorado.”
“In the summer mostly.”
“You’re lucky,” she said.
“Lucky?” His voice sounded gravelly.
She swept her arm at his vista. “To have all this.”
“What are you talking about? I have nothing. Not legally. Not until that deed turns up and I lost the most precious—” He broke
off and maneuvered himself away from her.
She knew he was talking about his wife. She didn’t mean to make him think about her, but she supposed when you love someone
that much and lose them so young and tragically, you never really stop thinking about them. Jillian wondered what it would
feel like to be so loved.
Jealousy bit into her, and she hated herself for being jealous of a dead woman. How pathetic was that?
“You’ve got a lot more than you think you do. You’ve got a great sister and brother-in-law who love you. You’ll soon have
a little niece or nephew on the way. You’re doing a job you love. You’re young and strong and gorgeous, and you have your
whole life ahead of you if you could just let go of the past.”
“Hey!” Tuck snapped. “You’ve got no right telling me what to do with my life.”
Jillian held up her palms. Her heart was breaking for him and everything he’d lost, but the man was desperately in need of
some tough love. “You did everything that was humanly possible to save her.”
“Yes, I did.” His tone was vicious.
“So let yourself off the hook. You’re not the one who’s dead, Tuck.”