Page 63 of Just One Kiss

She lifted her chin, as if to prove that there was absolutely nothing sentimental about that old fishing cabin. “No big deal. Go ahead and ask.”

Jaden clicked Send and set his phone on the table. She picked up her half-eaten egg roll and dragged it through the soy sauce on her plate.

No big deal.She’d just pretend that old cabin wasn’t the place where she and Josh would sneak away to when they wanted to be alone, that it wasn’t the place where Jaden had been conceived.

A lazy grin spread across Josh’s face, as if he’d just been reading her mind.

Unbelievable.

Jaden’s phone dinged, and he picked it up, slid it open and read what she could only assume was a text from his grandfather. “Grandpa says it’s totally trashed out, but you’re welcome to it.”

Carly glanced up and found Josh watching her again. Or maybe still. Had he stopped looking at her since he walked through that door?

“And you told him it was me who’d be staying there?” Josh asked, obviously aware of how her father felt about him.

“Yeah,” Jaden said. “He might’ve made some remark about it being about as good a place as you deserve, but he agreed, he said, because I asked.” He shoveled the last of his food into his mouth and stood. “Now that that’s all settled, we’ve got a date with a certain game.” He started toward the door.

“Hey,” Josh called out.

Jaden turned.

“Dishes.”

Jaden sighed, took his plate to the sink, rinsed it off and stuck it in the dishwasher. “Happy?”

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

Carly pushed a pea around her plate with her fork.

“Are you really okay with this? Me staying out there?”

She picked up her plate and walked over to the sink. “Makes no difference to me.”

“Carly.” And then he was standing beside her, close enough for their arms to touch.

It makes no difference.She’d tell herself that as many times as she had to to make herself believe it.

“But it’s not in great shape.” A step away from him to calm her racing pulse. “We can go out there tomorrow if you want to see for yourself. My dad never uses it anymore. I tried to convince him to turn it into a rental or to sell it, but Sheriff Gus never does anything that’s not his own idea.”

“And you’re good with it? Me staying there?” he asked.

She fished a container out of the cupboard next to the sink and scooped her leftover chicken and rice into it. “Yep. I’ll be fine.”

Was she trying to convince him or herself?

“I know you will be,” he said. “You always are.”

“I mean, you’re going to have to let me be the one to clean it up and make sure things are the way they’re supposed to be.”

His smile teased. “Of course.”

She shrugged. “Don’t mock me because I know what I want.”

A steady hum took hold of her as he forced her gaze to his and held on. “I won’t. So long as you don’t fault me because I know what I want.”

He wasn’t talking about the cabin.Oh, wow. Was he talking about her?

He cleared the leftovers and cleaned the table, and in a flash the room closed in on her and she struggled for a much-needed breath.

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