Page 31 of The Hermit on the Hill

His eyes danced and his smile might have been the first real one I'd seen from him. There was a sort of triumph in it I didn't understand. I didn't realize the trap had already closed on me. "Finish your salad, and I'll show you. Assuming you can wait a bit for dessert."

I grinned. "There's dessert?"

"I might be an asshole, but I'm not blind. I picked up on the hints that you have a sweet tooth."

"My sweet tooth can wait. Show me your clues."

CHAPTER EIGHT

Sam

Ileaned against the desk in my office as Jenna looked over the clues I'd found as I'd hunted for Nana's treasure. She sifted through the items in each of the leather bags, glancing up at the whiteboard on the wall that I used to keep track of the clues. Her focus was intense, her eyes bright, her whole body practically vibrating with energy.

And I couldn't take my eyes off her. Her sun dress showed off her narrow hips, her long legs, and her toned shoulders. Her tight dress pushed up her small, perfect breasts, displaying her cleavage in a way I doubt she even realized. Some men loved big breasts and curves and I didn't hate them, but I was and had always been a leg man. And Jenna's legs were phenomenal, long and lean, her low heels making her calf muscles pop. I couldn't stop imagining those perfect thighs wrapped around my head while I ate her sweet pussy.

But it wasn't her body that had drawn me in at first. It was her smile and the kind way she talked to everyone who approached her. She was goodness and light to my grumpy, black-hearted soul and I craved her.

Her intelligence and the way she'd shared it with me, without ever talking down to me, had sealed the deal. I'd never get bored with this woman and we'd never run out of things to talk about.

She was one hundred percent my type, which was why I'd almost ruined everything by taking her to bed at the conference. She drove me out of my mind, past all sense and reason.

Now, it was even worse, because she had that slight bump of a belly, our baby growing inside her. I wanted to get on my knees and thank her for coming back to me and bringing our baby with her.

It might not be what I'd planned when I'd dreamed of my future, but family was never perfect. I'd take it anyway it came.

She bent to study a chicken bone, pushing her butt out, and I almost groaned aloud. This attraction needed to be stowed down deep. I was going to be a dad, and I had a town to take over. I didn't need the drama of a relationship that would likely amount to nothing, just like all my past relationships had.

If Jenna would even have me. I was nowhere near good enough for that sweetheart of a woman. She'd probably hate me for even suggesting it. And I was determined to have a good relationship with my child's mother.

Jenna straightened and looked over at me, her eyes lit with excitement. My grandmother would have adored her. "So each charm is missing an ingredient, right?"

I nodded, biting back my smile. She was so damn smart. I'd told her about the treasure and let her in the bags and my notes and she'd put it together in less time than I had. "Right. And each missing ingredient led me to the next charm bag. The first bag I found was missing dogwood flowers, and I found the second charm bag buried next to a cluster of three dogwood trees."

"Really?" Jenna was practically bouncing in place. She looked back down at the bags and their contents. "The next one is missing lavender."

"Which led me to Nana's herb garden, or at least where her herb garden used to be. I dug up the next bag there."

Again she bent, pushing her butt out, and I went hard. What the hell was I going to do? Live with a chafed dick for the next eighteen years?

"Wow." Jenna straightened, her smile so bright and genuine I wanted to kiss her, taste her happiness. "This one was missing acorns? How did you find the last bag with that clue? There are oak trees all over this mountain."

"I spent three weeks walking the land, climbing every oak tree and looking for a knot or a hollow. I didn't find it until lightning struck the oak tree out front and it landed on your car."

Her nose scrunched in adorable confusion, but she couldn't stop smiling. "You hadn't looked there?"

"I had. The tree lost a limb when I was a kid, and my great uncle tarred over the hole. That spot was two stories high, and I didn't figure Nana would have been able to get the bag up there." I shrugged, remembering my stubborn, brilliant Nana. "She must have been planning this treasure hunt for years, sticking bags anywhere she found an opportunity to put them."

"She sounds amazing. I wish I could have met her."

A door slammed somewhere in my house, and the scent of peppermint filled the room. Nana had used peppermint to ward off headaches, and she always smelled like it. "She would have liked you." I cleared my throat and straightened. "I haven't been able to figure out what's missing from that last bag."

Jenna bent over the bag, humming to herself. "I believe this is a charm to ward off the evil eye. Have you considered it's not part of the treasure hunt, but a protection for the house?"

I groaned. "Damn it. Please don't tell me I need to start searching oak trees again tomorrow."

"I need to do some research to figure out for sure if there's something missing. Have you checked her journal?"

"I did. There are no recipes for these particular charms anywhere in her journal. That's why I stole your research and your credentials. I had run out of places to look for the charms. Your paper on folklore origins had a bibliography that was a huge help and your credentials have allowed me to research different versions of these charms from around the world to make sure I'm not missing something."

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