Page 41 of You Wish
“We were young. Both of us dealing with incredibly stressful lives. We were bound to fizzle out at some point.”
“Do you really believe that?” Because he thought she was his soulmate and that they’d go the distance.
“No,” she replied in a quiet whisper. “I thought you were my person.”
He brought her knuckles to his lips. “What if I am?”
“What if you’re not? We didn’t work before, what makes now any different? You travel the world. You’re in a different country every week. My home is Austin.”
Semantics. Jake had faced the impossible before and won. In fact, with every race he faced them and was victorious.
“Aren’t you even curious to see if the universe put us together for more than just this conversation?”
“Maybe.” Her gaze dropped to his lips and the pulse at the base of her throat thumped erratically. He nipped at her knuckle and she lost her breath.
“Do you feel that?”
“What?”
“The way the air snaps and sizzles like the universe has been waiting for this for a decade.”
“It’s not just the universe waiting.”
She moved closer and if that wasn’t a green light to move onto the good stuff, then her wrapping her arms around his neck was.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered.
Jake and Georgia’s first kiss had been under a summer sky that smelled like honeysuckle and bad decisions. But this? This felt different. He hovered for a breath, close enough to taste the sweetness of her air, close enough to hear the thrum of his own pulse in his ears.
She didn’t look away, didn’t run. And when he finally closed the space, pressing his mouth to hers, it wasn’t nostalgia—it was ignition. All that history, all that wanting he’d buried deep, roared back like it had just been waiting for the chance.
Her lips moved against his, familiar and brand-new all at once, and he realized with bone-deep certainty that this wasn’t a repeat of the past.Thiswas their second first kiss—and it was going to ruin him in the best way.
15
The morning air was sharp, crisp enough to make her cheeks pink, but Georgia didn’t care. She tugged her scarf tighter and walked toward the tree line, heart skipping when she spotted Jake. He was pacing along the frost-hardened dirt, a tool-belt on his hips, an ax in his hand. His jacket was dusted with frost, hair tousled by the wind, and that scowl—the one that made her want to cross the field just to challenge him—was firmly in place.
“You’re really going to spend the whole day grunting at wood?” she called, trying to hide the thrill in her voice at the idea.
Jake glanced over his shoulder, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Depends. Are you here to supervise, or to steal my hammer?”
“It depends on what else you have hidden in that tool-belt.”
“I’m a man with many tools under his belt. Just tell me what tickles your fancy, and I will be sure to cover all bases.”
“What base are you the most interested in covering?”
“I’m more of a show rather than tell kind of person.”
“Then why don’t you show me,” she said, brushing past him with a little push against his shoulder, just enough to make him stumble. He caught himself on the nearest tree, glaring at her with mock irritation.
“Be careful what you wish for.” He snatched her hand and spun her back around.
She walked into his space, going on her tippy toes to whisper in his ear, “I’m nearly a senior wish maker, so my wish standards are high.”
“Any wish you have, I can fulfill.” His hand slid around her waist, and he hauled her against him. Her body melted against his hard I-chop-trees-for-fun muscles. “What’s your deepest darkest wish, darlin’?”
Youalmost slipped out, and wasn’t that terrifying. But after last night, everything with him had become terrifyingly exciting—like a roller coaster threatening to fly off the tracks.
