Page 6 of Steel & Jenna
She nodded down to Lilly. “Of course! I saw the way you were looking at the books in the window.” Glancing up at Jack, she added, “I hope I didn’t overstep. I just was so busy today that I hadn’t had a chance to do something special for anyone and I knew as soon as I saw your sister look at the books that that was the one kind thing I wanted to do today.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, gunmetal-gray eyes to hazel. There was…somethingin her eyes that told Jack she was studying him as much as he was her. Jack had never before considered what it would be like to fall in love. It wasn’t as if his parents had been an example to him.
The saying ‘falling in love’ had just been something corny to him until this moment. Something romance books and poets used. One didn’t actuallyfall. But then, why did it feel like he was standing on the edge of a cliff with no parachute? Like he could fall into those hazel eyes and drown? Like she was the only girl in the entire world?
“Thank you!” Lilly’s high-pitched, excited voice seemed like background noise.
But it was enough to break the moment on the girl’s part. Sheblinked rapidly, as if coming back to herself. When she looked away, Jack’s entire body rebelled, wanting to demand her attention again.
“I’m so glad you like it,” she told Lilly. Her smile widened on his sister and a jolt of jealousy hit him. Fuck, he wanted her to smile athimlike that.
“Jackie, look! They’re all there. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! All seven books!”
Jack forced his eyes away from the girl’s face to look down at his sister’s request. “That’s great, Lilly.”
“I’m glad I caught you. I thought I was going to be too late when I saw you were gone by the time I left the store.”
Jack noticed that the girl didn’t have any other packages with her. That meant she hadn’t bought any books for herself. Just Lilly.
As sweet as the gesture was, a churning in Jack’s stomach left him with a feeling of inadequacy. This girl, as beautiful as she was, was a stranger. She’d bought Lilly a gift that was Jack’s responsibility to give.
“Hey, Lillypad, could you go wait by my bike for a minute?”
Lilly looked up at him with wide eyes. “You’re not going to make me give them back, right?”
He shook his head. “No. They were a gift to you. They’re all yours.”
She let out a long sigh of relief. “Thanks, Jackie!” She hugged the stuffed lion to her chest. This close, Jack could tell it was also used. “Thank you!” Lilly said to the girl.
“You’re very welcome.”
“Leave the books there,” Jack told her. “I’ll get them in a second.” He knew how heavy they would be for her. He still had to figure out how he was going to get them back with them on his bike.
Lilly walked over to his bike, where it was leaning up against the brick wall. She was running her fingers through the lion’s mane and whispering to him.
Jack made sure she was at his bike and then turned back to the girl. To his surprise, she had a bit of a defensive posture.
“Is this the part where you scold me for buying her a gift or saying that you don’t accept charity?”
Jack raised an eyebrow. Why was her hostility such a turn on? “No, this is the part where I sincerely thank you.”
“Really?” She looked skeptical. “You’re not going to chastise me for wounding your pride or some other man-bullshit?”
The curse word falling from her pretty mouth was unexpected but also a delight. “My sister’s joy is worth more than my pride,” he informed her. “If you’d boughtmethe books, we’d be having an entirely different conversation.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, studying him for a moment. “Huh. You actually mean that.”
He nodded once. “I don’t say anything I don’t mean. Just like,” he added, “me saying I’m going to pay you back for the books.”
“It’s not necessary?—”
“It is. She doesn’t need to know about it, but I’m going to do it anyway.”
“It was a gift?—”
“Gift to her,” he interrupted again. “But I don’t want you to be out the money.”
She waved that off. “Really, don’t worry about it. Like I said, I like to do one kind thing for a stranger per day. Your sister just happened to be today’s recipient.”
