Page 31 of Crazy Little Thing Called Love
“It’s not nice of you to remind me about that little incident. If that sled hadn’t had a warped set of runners, I would have sped right down those stairs instead of flipping over.”
“You don’t really want to go back there, do you, Gran?”
Jake looked like he was ready to explode, and Ruth was right, he did get a little line on his forehead when he was angry. It was everything Faith could do not to ask what happened, but she didn’t want to direct any attention to herself.
“No, I suppose not. Well, I guess we’re all done here. I just wanted to get Faith out of the house. You can’t let her get too settled in her ways or she gets a little stuffy. Someone’s got to teach the girl how to have a little fun before she ends up like a dried-up old prune.”
Ruth stepped out of the lake, naked as a jaybird, and went for her clothes.
“Good grief, Gran, you could have waited until I turned my back.”
“Oh, pish-posh, Jake. Don’t be such a prude. I know my body looks like a science experiment or one of those cadavers they cut on in medical school.”
“Why me?” Jake said under his breath.
“I heard that,” Ruth said, getting into his truck. “Make sure you take care of that girl.”
“I plan to,” he said, bringing Faith’s clothes down to her.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to give me the same treatment,” he asked, his smile rakish and disarming.
“I don’t think so. I still have a ways to go before I’m as brave as your grandmother.”
“Thank God for small favors. I’ll have to ask about your sanity with my back turned. How could you let my grandmother talk you into something like this? You seem like a sensible woman. I was hoping you’d be a good influence on her.”
Faith started to laugh so hard at that statement she could barely get out of the water. “Jake, your grandmother is old enough to make her own decisions. She doesn’t need a keeper. And I certainly am not going to get in her way when she gets it into her mind to do something.”
The sound of her clothes sliding over wet skin was driving him insane. He couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying when she was naked so close behind him, so he just gave her a noncommittal hmm and turned around once she’d given him the all-clear.
“I’ve missed you,” he said simply, his eyes conveying what words couldn’t. He kept a respectful distance, though everything in him wanted to close the gap between them.
The cold that had seeped into her bones began to recede under the warmth of his gaze. In all her running, all her careful avoidance, she hadn’t allowed herself to admit how much she’d missed him too—his steady presence, his quiet strength, the way he looked at her as if she were the only woman in the world.
“I’ve missed you too,” she admitted, surprised by her own honesty. “The calls to the show…they weren’t enough.”
A smile—genuine and without his usual careful restraint—transformed his face. “No, they weren’t. Though I did enjoy getting to know bits and pieces of you each night.Roman Holiday, huh?”
She laughed, remembering their conversation about favorite movies. “I still can’t believe you got me to reveal that on national radio.”
“Come back to the house with me,” he said, his tone making it clear this wasn’t about anything more than company. “I have a surprise for you.”
Faith raised an eyebrow. “Another one? I’m not sure I can handle any more of your surprises, Murphy.”
“Trust me,” he said with a smile. “You’ll like this one.”
“Jake…” she began, uncertainty creeping back in.
“No strings,” he promised, reading her hesitation. “I promise not to propose marriage, ask you to bear my children, or suggest we adopt a dog together.” His eyes twinkled with mischief. “At least not tonight.”
Despite herself, Faith laughed. “Those are very specific promises.”
“I’m a specific kind of guy. So what do you say?”
Faith hugged her arms around herself, teeth chattering as the evening breeze cut through her wet clothes. Goose bumps covered her skin, and her hair hung in dripping tendrils around her face. She could barely feel her toes anymore.
“R-Ruth—” Faith glanced toward Edward’s sedan where his grandmother should have been waiting, but the car was already pulling away from the shoreline, Ruth’s delighted face visible through the rear window as she waved cheerfully.
“Did she just—” Faith’s words stuttered through her chattering teeth.
