Chapter 6
6
“ I agree. I consider the entire weekend a smashing success.” Aiden pushed back from the breakfast table on Monday, grabbing his plate and coffee cup and giving Jinx a nod. “We need to get going if we plan to pick up Sasha before heading to school.”
“I need to grab my stuff for drama class.” Jinx snatched up her dishes as well, pausing to nab a hug from Petra as she passed. “I won’t be late tonight. Sasha has to train after supper.”
“Someone will come for you. Weather report says it’ll be really cold, and I don’t want you walking back in the dark.” Petra shooed her out of the room. “I’ll load the dishwasher. Go get ready. You don’t want to keep Sasha waiting.”
“Tansy and I will grab you,” Jake offered. “Text me when you’re ready.”
“Okay.” Jinx left the room at a run, Dixie bouncing on her heels, barking with excitement.
Petra leaned back in her chair. “It doesn’t seem right that after working so hard all weekend, Tansy still got up at the crack of dawn and headed over to Buns and Roses. It’s her day off. She should be sleeping in and celebrating how well things went with the food services this weekend.”
“She said before the shop opened was the easiest time to meet with Marina.” Declan topped up his coffee cup and sat back down at the table. He glanced over at the ranch hand who was sitting quietly but seemed to enjoy being included in their group gatherings. “It’s too cold to do much outside. Chris, I was thinking of taking a drive today. I have to grab a feed order, but not much else. Want to come along?”
The man hesitated. “I don’t think going into any stores in the city is a good idea.”
“Nah.” Declan shook his head. “We’ll drive south to the Pincher Creek area and maybe beyond. It’s cold out there, but it’s pretty. Sometimes days like this are the best time to look at the scenery and think about the future.”
Chris’s lips twitched. “I seem to have done a lot of that lately, but yeah. I’ll head out with you.”
“I also know a great hole-in-the-wall pub about an hour from here. We’ll hit it for supper at the end of the day. It’ll be safe and a chance to listen to some music and play some pool.”
“Sounding better and better.” Chris smiled this time.
“Which means you two are on your own for supper,” Petra announced, glancing between Kevin and Jake. “Aiden and I are having dinner at my brother and sister-in-law’s.”
Kevin raised a brow. “I notice you seem to accept invitations to eat there at least one night of every two that Tansy has off.”
Petra pressed a hand to her chest. “Us? Contrive not to cook? Absolutely.”
From the front door where he was pulling on his winter gear, Aiden laughed. “If the rest of Petra’s enormous family lived closer, we’d be dining away both nights Tansy doesn’t cook.”
“Sorry to desert you, Kev, but I have plans for tonight as well.” Jake had debated all weekend whether he should tell the rest of them about his interest in Tansy. The final pro/con checklist had ended up five to four in favour of waiting until after their first date.
Just make sure she didn’t cut him off at the knees.
Kevin raised his hands in the air. “I will entertain myself, then. And try to keep up with Dixie. She’s always a great companion.”
Jinx rushed past, offering high-fives to everyone on the outer side of the table as she passed. She jerked on her coat and slammed a toque over her head. She barely had her feet into her boots before reaching for the door.
“Slow down there, girl. Zip your coat and tie your boots before you set yourself up to freeze in the first ten seconds of being outside.” As Aiden waited for Jinx to finished dressing, he bent and patted the top of Dixie’s head. “Such a good girl. You take care of Petra. And Kevin. Kevin’s going to spoil you rotten, yes, he is.”
Once Aiden and Jinx were gone, Dixie wandered sadly back to her dog bed where she lay down and let out a long, mournful sigh. Everyone else scattered, and suddenly the room was down to Jake and Petra, clearing the table and preparing for their days.
“What are you doing today?” he asked. “Other than being a mooching moocher and nabbing dinner off your brother?”
“You’re so funny. You’re jealous that we’ll be eating something far more edible than I could cook. Or you, for that matter.”
“I’m not jealous at all. I’m going out for dinner, remember?” Too late it dawned on him that he hadn’t specifically mentioned that.
She eyed him, stacking the remaining plates in the industrial-sized dishwasher. “You said you were going out, but nothing more. From that guilty look you’re wearing, I’d say it’s time to share the details.”
Shit. He’d walked into this one. “If you must know, I happen to agree that Tansy deserves to celebrate how well everything went with her first catering gig for High Water. I’m taking her out so that she doesn’t have to cook tonight, not even for herself.”
Petra turned on the spot, jaw dropping. “You?”
He folded his arms over his chest. “Don’t you think that Tansy deserves to have a day off and something to cheer on how well things went?”
“Absolutely, but…” Petra frowned. “Are you like dropping her off and letting her eat by herself?”
Jake snorted. “Because I’m such terrible company you don’t think she’d want to eat with me?”
“Because the two of you have been bickering like cats and dogs ever since you laid eyes on each other last September.” Only her frown deepened. “Wait. No. That’s wrong. You haven’t been fighting lately…”
“And now you sound more concerned than before.” Jake rinsed a washcloth and went to the table. “We’re getting along fine these days. Tansy is a talented woman. It was helpful when you pointed out that while we might do things differently, she wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
He finished wiping the table with a flourish and turned to discover Petra right behind him.
Her fists were planted firmly on her hips. “You’re up to something.” She eyed him with suspicion. “Tell me, or do I have to break out the big guns and get Sydney to stick you with some truth serum?”
“It’s only dinner,” he said calmly.
A lot more calmly than he felt inside.
Why had he forgotten that any hopes of getting involved with Tansy meant running the gauntlet? Not only with her own family, but with a far more deadly group—her best friends.
Petra examined him for another moment. Then she took a big breath and shrugged. “So. If it’s only dinner, I hope you have a nice time. And if it’s anything more than that?” Her chin lowered the slightest bit, meaning if her eyes were laser beams, he’d have been burned to a crisp. “Then you better treat my girl nicely. Or else.”
Thank God her phone rang at that moment.
Petra answered it, the cheer in her voice miles away from the death threat she’d just offered.
Jake got the dishwasher going then hightailed it from the main house before Petra finished her call.
He didn’t see Tansy during the day. When he came in to grab lunch, she was out in the barn doing something. Come five thirty, though, he got himself dressed and headed into the house.
Damn butterflies in his stomach—he hadn’t been this nervous since tenth grade, which was before he’d had a driver’s license, and his stepdad Jeff had to drive him and his date.
He slipped into the house and was greeted enthusiastically by Dixie.
He scratched her head. “Hey there. Had a good day?”
“Pretty good.”
He jumped a little at the answer from the living room.
Tansy waved at him from where she was curled up on one side of the loveseat, the blanket that usually lived over the back of the chair wrapped around her shoulders and a book resting in her lap. “Only I was a butterfingers right after I got back from Buns and Roses. I dropped my cell phone into the watering trough in the barn.”
“Drat. Stick it in a bag of rice?”
“Of course. The universal solution to watery disasters.” Her grin was evil. “I just have to decide whether I throw the rice away afterward or use it.”
He shuddered.
Tansy outright laughed. “Sorry. I’m kidding. I promise to put the rice in the compost. But in the meantime, I’ve been having a tech-free day.”
“Sometimes that’s not a bad idea.” He tipped his head toward the door. “If you’re ready to go, we can head out now.”
She shot to her feet and threw off the soft beige blanket, revealing a crimson red sweater over formfitting black pants. “I am not yet starving, but I will be by the time we get there. Is everyone else meeting us at the restaurant?”
Jake froze in the middle of reaching for her coat.
He turned back to her. “Everyone else?”
“Petra and Aiden. Kevin. Declan. You know.” She slid her feet into a pair of high-top leather boots then stood, frowning back at him. “They’re not here. I assumed that they had things to do and were going straight to the restaurant.”
He hadn’t seen this one coming. “There’s no one else headed to the restaurant. Just us. Well, I assume there will be other people at the restaurant, but nobody from High Water.”
It was her turn to freeze. She blinked, confusion slipping over her face before her cheeks flushed slightly. “Oh.”
If she’d said it with any sort of disgust, he would’ve changed tactics right then and there. But that single word, combined with her body language, were less about being uncomfortable that she was getting stuck alone with him for the night. More about being a little off balance in a good way about them being alone.
A sentiment he could understand completely because, again, he was far too old for the nerves kicking up a riot along his spine right now.
“I think we had a bit of a misunderstanding, but that’s okay. Let’s start again.” May as well do it the right way. Jake cleared his throat. “Tansy, I want to take you out on a date to celebrate your first successful weekend as head chef at the High Water Artists’ Retreat. Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
He stepped forward and held out a hand. Tansy stared at it for the longest time. His heart pounded so hard he was worried she’d be able to hear it.
“Okay. I’d like that.” She placed her fingers in his, lifted her gaze, and offered a sheepish smile. “How about that new Korean restaurant in Diamond Valley?”
For a guy she’d thought was pretty easy to read and far too regimented, Jake Skye was zigzagging often enough to keep her on her toes.
He walked her to his truck and opened the passenger door. Tansy climbed in and got settled, running a hand over the soft leather interior. He started it, glancing over when she reached down beside the door to play with the adjust the seat back and distance from the dash buttons.
“Make yourself at home,” he said with amusement.
“I usually do.” Nice, automated controls. A newer vehicle than her’s, that’s for sure. Now she wondered. She leaned forward and checked the dashboard more closely. “Sweet.”
She stabbed the heated seat button for both of them, easing back into her chair and sighing as the cushioning beneath her butt warmed.
“Heated steering wheel as well,” Jake informed her. “In case your hands are cold.”
“You’re my chauffeur today. I have other ways of keeping my fingers toasty.” She raised her hands in front of her and showed them off. Mickey and Minnie Mouse grinned from the back of her mittens.
“Very chic.”
She examined him a little closer. “Not my usual style,” she confessed. “But Fern won them for me, so that makes them perfect.”
“She won them for you? Like at a fair ball toss? Which is totally rad except if she’s got some sort of guided missile program on her prosthesis that I don’t know about.”
A snort escaped before Tansy could stop it. “She’s right-handed, most of the time. And she would never dream of using mechanical advantage when it’s inappropriate. No, she won these beauties by knowing what was special about the word screeched .”
She didn’t have to wait long. Jake raised a brow at her as he took a quick glance. “And what is special about the word screeched ?”
“Longest single syllable word in the English language.”
He chuckled softly, easing around a slow driver on the highway. “Is this the sort of thing that your sister knows automatically, or is she a word geek?”
“Not a word geek, but she definitely knows bits and pieces about an awful lot of things.” Tansy peered out the window, admiring the way the approaching car lights glittered off the fresh snow, turning the fields around them into sparkling wonderlands. “If you’re ever playing a trivia game, she’s a good one to have on your side.”
“Good to know. What about you?”
Tansy shook her head, readjusting position until she could admire him more thoroughly. “I do really well in a few categories, and really badly in a lot of others.”
“I’d still pick you for my team.” Jake cleared his throat. “Although we better make sure Fern plays with us, because I too have my strengths and weaknesses.”
“What categories would you kill it in?”
“Security, sports, gardening, and R&B songs.”
Too funny. But also a little too practiced a response. Tansy watched him for a minute. “Sounds as if you had that list ready to go. Did you preplan a set of topics for us to discuss this evening?”
Jake swore softly then made a face. “I can’t stop myself. The being prepared bit.”
“We’re not helping you with your spontaneity goal. Not if we follow a predetermined conversation list.”
He nodded, far too serious. “It’s a habit. And it’s my fallback when I want to make a good impression on somebody.”
There they were, finally at the biggest item that had been ringing bells in Tansy’s brain since the moment he’d announced he wanted to take her on a date. “Maybe we need to talk about that part, just a little bit.”
“The fact that I fall back on making lists?”
“The idea that you want to impress me.” Tansy shrugged. “I mean, I like it that we’re getting along, and I’m no longer dreaming up ways to make your head explode. But I?—”
A loud laugh burst from Jake. “You were deliberately tormenting me.”
“Torment is such an extreme word. But yes, I’d go with deliberate in a heartbeat.” Tansy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why did you ask me out?”
“Why did you let me kiss you on New Year’s Eve?”
That was easy. “Because you are one hot number and infinitely better than the dude who was kicking my ankles every other step.”
His amusement was not dying down, judging by the assorted chuckles and snorts escaping him. “You’re top notch at delivering compliments that then whack my feet out from under me and leave me sitting on my ass.”
“We all have to be good at something.”
He pulled to a stop in a free spot half a block from the restaurant then twisted toward her. “I asked you out because, while we might’ve gotten off on the wrong foot in the beginning, the longer I’m around you the more I’m intrigued. I’d like to get to know you better. I hope, as annoying as I am with my lists and unnecessary preplanning, that you like me too.”
Tansy examined his face. Such earnestness there, and yet as he dipped his chin slightly, a flash of mischievousness hit her as well. Maybe he could be somebody she could enjoy more than just dirty dreams about.
“I wasn’t planning on getting serious with anyone,” she started.
“Me neither,” he agreed. “I was married once, briefly. It didn’t go well, and since then I’ve pretty much only dated casually.”
May as well shock the hell out of him. “Let me finish that sentence. I wasn’t planning on getting serious with anyone, but then Rose found Chance. Ever since, I’ve been thinking that maybe I’m okay with risking the idea of one guy forever.”
Jake dipped his head slowly. “It does feel like a risk, doesn’t it?”
“Absolutely.” Going for broke. “So, the whole getting to know me better, and being intrigued by me—are you serious about maybe getting serious?”
Jake laughed, shaking his head slightly. “Every time I think I’ve got things under control, you come out of left field and make me have to reopen my eyes and man up. Yes, Tansy. The reason why I asked you out was because I’m ready to take some risks and go looking for something like what Aiden and Petra have. I don’t know if that’s going to be with you, but I feel as if there’s a chance. So this isn’t casual, and I’m not just looking for a good time. This is honest-to-God dating. Finding out about each other and seeing if what we want in the future makes us a good match. A good fit.”
“How spicy do you eat your food?” Tansy asked.
His lips twitched. “Try me.”
She grinned back. “Just to be clear, yes, I heard your answer. We’re both willing to risk to see if there’s a chance for more. And while you’re not just looking for a good time, I hope we can have some. Sex, that is.”
It looked as if he wanted to swear but mostly his lips moved without any sound coming out.
Finally, Jake cleared his throat. “Blunt.”
“I tend to be. I’m not talking about jumping into bed with you tonight. I enjoy teasing my sister Rose too much that she had a one night stand with Chance. I can’t go and basically do the same thing, or I lose the moral high ground. Plus, it would remove any chance to poke Petra and Aiden that they did it the first time they met. But I am interested?—”
“Hang on.” Jake’s eyes were wide. “What the hell? I mean, the part about my brother and Petra.”
“Really? You haven’t heard this one?” It absolutely was not a secret. “Petra was teasing Aiden about it in the living room a few nights ago, and you and Declan were right there.”
Jake shook his head. He opened his door and came around to the other side of the truck, the cold air sweeping in, making Tansy all the more eager to take his hand and head toward the restaurant. “Let’s order the food, medium to hot, then you can tell me more about the gossip right under my nose that I was unaware of.”
Which is how they ended up with six dishes on the table in front of them, one a little too spicy even for Tansy’s tastebuds. After spilling the dirt on Petra and Aiden, conversation continued to flow about food and their long-ago high school classes, of all things.
It was as if both of them were very deliberately keeping away from serious topics, at least for tonight, and just appreciating each other for who they were. Two people feeling out the future and seeing if there was more than the physical attraction bubbling between them.
Although the attraction was there. Absolutely.
At the end of the meal, as they stepped outside, Jake slid his hand around hers. A shock wave rolled through Tansy from fingertip to toes.
So weird. They were just holding hands for heaven’s sake.
Outside the truck, Jake tugged her to a stop. “We have to nab Jinx at the Stones on our way home. Which means we should conclude our first date here. If that’s okay with you?”
Tansy slid her hands up his chest until she could curl her arms around his neck. “Considering how cold it is outside, we will obviously not be getting beyond first base.”
She really liked his snicker. She liked it even better when he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. A slow, delicate kiss. A gentle nibble at her lower lip followed by a sweep of his tongue. Nothing demanding, and yet from the way his arms wrapped around her torso, holding her against him, she was not getting away anytime soon.
Which was more than fine. She didn’t want to get away.
They stood there as the icy cold air around them heated a few degrees and a low rumble of need built in her belly.
When he broke the kiss, she smiled into his eyes. “Would it be really terrible to tell you that I plan to use my vibrator tonight and think about you?”
A look of utter pain crossed his face, and Jake squeezed his eyes shut briefly. When he opened them again they were filled with heat and amusement. “You are one ball of trouble.”
“Think of me when you stroke one off,” she suggested.
Jake swore. “Get in the damn truck.”
She leaned in and gave him a final quick kiss then scurried into the passenger seat. When he settled in the driver’s seat, she slid into the center, hip tight against his, and left hand resting gently on his thigh.
He glanced at her in surprise.
Tansy shrugged. “Jinx will need room to sit. And if we’re doing this dating thing for real, it’s not as if we’re keeping a secret.” She eyed him, narrowing her gaze. “You weren’t thinking about keeping it a secret?”
“Absolutely not. In fact, only the fact that your phone went for a swim kept Petra from informing you that she knew I was taking you out tonight alone. She threatened me, as any good best friend would, but didn’t actually hurt me.”
Huh. Tansy thought that one over as Jake got them back on the highway, headed toward Silver Stone. “It’ll be okay. Petra and Sydney like you. Mostly.”
He laughed again and draped his arm around her shoulders as he drove. “This is going to be quite the adventure.”
“Should be fun.”
A shiver stole over her. Was it possible to have one more dream come true? Too soon to tell, but in spite of herself, a tiny flame lit in Tansy’s chest and refused to be extinguished.
Pulsing a small steady beat in time with her hopeful heart.