Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jason didn’t believe in fate.
Or at least he didn’t think he did.
Not until he was driving along the highway and saw a familiar figure.
What in heaven’s name was Cece doing out in the middle of nowhere alone? He slowed his truck as she stumbled then scrambled forward.
He didn’t know what she was looking for until she rose to her full height, phone in hand and her face a mask of frustration and surprise.
“Jason?”
His brows creased and he looked around the immediate area. There was a road that veered off a little way back. It led to a property of someone he wasn’t familiar with. Was that where she’d come from? “Cece, what are you doing out here?”
Her shoulders scrunched up then dropped. “I guess I was getting a ride?”
He arched a brow.
She sighed. “I left a party early and I didn’t want anyone to see me leave. I didn’t want to make anyone mad.” Her face flushed a pretty pink color. “Anyway, what are you doing out here? Were you on your way to the party?”
Jason shoved his hands into his pockets and strode toward her. “No.”
“Then what are you doing out here?”
He quirked a grin at her. This road was the only one that led to the lodge. He hadn’t messaged her. He’d planned on stopping in to see her like he had last time. It hadn’t even occurred to him that she might not be home.
At a party no less.
Cece glanced down at her phone, then back to his face, expectant.
He took another step closer then stopped a few feet before he reached her. “I thought it might be nice to see you.”
She snorted. “What if I wasn’t home?”
“That was a risk I was willing to take.”
This time she laughed, but it was more of a sad-sounding laugh than anything else. “Who are you?”
That question caught him off guard. “You know who I am.”
When her eyes didn’t lift to meet his but remained glued to her phone she sighed again. “I’m going to have to order a replacement. That’s really going to suck.” When she lifted her eyes to meet his, the two of them were locked in a world of their own making.
This woman always had his body going haywire. It should scare him, but it didn’t. If anything, it drew him in.
He was a rabbit chasing after a carrot, and he couldn’t care less if he never caught it.
He simply wanted to revel in the experience of it all.
Jason drew his thumb over his lower lip as he studied her.
“You were at a party.” It wasn’t a question, only a way to continue this conversation.
A way for him to eventually ask her if he could take her home.
“Yeah,” she groaned. “And I didn’t tell my—” Her eyes darted away for a moment. “I didn’t tell the guy I came with that I was leaving.” She glanced over her shoulder toward the road. “Mind if I use your phone to send him a message?”
He didn’t hesitate before pulling out his device and handing it over. He smiled when it dawned on her that she didn’t have his number memorized.
“Well, shoot. This isn’t good. Maybe I should go back—”
“Nah,” Jason murmured, drawing her attention once more. “If he hasn’t come looking for you yet, then he probably isn’t expecting to hear from you.”
She rubbed at her temple with her finger and thumb. “But he’s supposed to help me with something, and I don’t want to get on his bad side.”
She was spiraling, and he couldn’t take the distance between them any longer.
Jason reached out and took that hand in his and clasped it between his own.
“I’m sure it’s going to be okay.” He kept it calm and soothing.
She was worried about work. He didn’t want to think too hard on that subject seeing as they were on different teams when it came to the development of the property that lined his own. “Do me a favor?”
She was breathing a little faster than he’d like. It wasn’t often that she was frazzled. Chatty, maybe, but not worried like this. Cece lifted her eyes, her lashes fluttering for a moment before she nodded.
“Breathe.”
How she wrinkled her nose and peered up at him made him not care what she did for work or who her father was. He simply wanted to spend time with her because of how she made him feel. “I’m fine,” she insisted, already brushing off his request like she didn’t need any coddling.
When she made to move away from him, he took her face in his hands. His thumbs trailed across her cheeks, unable to wipe off the now dried muddy water, but his touch soothed her anyway.
Cece’s eyes widened and locked with his.
He searched her gaze. Was she as affected by his presence as he was by her?
The faintest scent of her perfume reached him.
Her pulse fluttered beneath his pinky where it had slipped just below her jaw.
It wouldn’t take much for him to close the distance between them and steal a kiss, and he couldn’t deny he’d obsessed over that since their movie night.
For countless seconds they stood like that on the side of the road until she finally expelled a shuddering breath.
He grinned, letting his hands slide down to her jaw as he cradled her head between his hands more gently. “Good. Now, tell me why you’re here. A party? Why did you leave?”
It was the strangest sensation, the heat beneath her skin spreading under his palms. Cece closed her eyes and shook her head, but he still didn’t release her. “I didn’t even want to go.”
Frowning, he studied her a little longer before he released her as she stepped back.
“My dad suggested I spend some time with a guy who works at City Hall.”
This was getting dangerously close to a topic he would rather avoid.
“Anyway, he invited me and I just—” She blew out a breath then laughed, frustrated, and lifted the hand that held her phone before dropping it to her side.
“Turns out there are people even here in Rocky Ridge who remind me a lot of the people back home.” She peeked at him and grimaced.
“People that I never really got along with.”
He continued to listen. This was the best way to get to know Cece. She never had problems with sharing. He wouldn’t be surprised if it would get to a point where he knew everything about her while he ended up being more of a stranger. Jason would have to work on that.
“I know. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Honestly, there are people everywhere who have different views.
It doesn’t matter where people stand politically, religiously, or any of that.
No matter what state, what city or town you visit, you’ll always find someone who has different values.
It’s what makes this country the dream, right?
We get the freedom to live our lives the way we want. ”
Jason nodded in agreement.
She breathed out another sigh. “So, I left. I think I’m beginning to realize that there are just some places that I wish I could preserve in a little bubble so they don’t get touched by people who want to hit the fast-forward button.”
One side of his mouth quirked upward. “So, what you’re saying is that you want to turn back time?”
Cece laughed. “Now, I wouldn’t go that far. I definitely like certain conveniences. And I certainly wouldn’t want to return to a time where I wouldn’t be able to run my own company.”
His brows rose. “You want to run your own company?”
Her smile was blinding. They were still standing on the side of the road with only his headlights on them, but for all he knew they were in their own little world far away from everything and the only things that mattered were each other.
“Yeah. I went to college to get a degree because my father wanted me to. He paid for my tuition with the understanding that I’d come to work for him until I was ready to strike out on my own.
And when I’m ready, that’s what I’m going to do. ”
That threw him off guard. “When you’re ready?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Yeah. When I know that I’ll be successful.”
“You don’t think you’d be successful?” Confusion was hitting him hard now. He didn’t know Cece’s work well, but he’d done a little snooping. She was good at what she did. Her name had been mentioned in a couple of articles he’d found online. If anyone was ready to start a PR firm, it was her.
“My dad has been running his business for decades. I trust him to tell me when he thinks I’d be ready to strike out on my own.”
He fought the urge to shake his head. That didn’t sound quite right.
A parent shouldn’t be sheltering his child like that, right?
Well, not in some cases. This one was one of those situations where it would be better to push her out of the nest. Especially because she had plenty of successful experience.
“So, that’s the only thing holding you back? Your father?”
“Well, that, and—”
He ducked his head when she looked away so when she glanced back in his direction he could snag her attention. “And what?”
She blushed. “This is embarrassing.”
“I doubt that,” he murmured.
Cece drew in a deep breath then she smiled at him, small and almost unsure.
As if she didn’t want to admit to whatever it was.
Then she exhaled. “I have a trust. It’s being held for me until a time my father deems appropriate.
In normal cases, parents usually release it after an individual gets married.
In my case, it’s when I’m ready to start my business.
It’s enough to get my plans off the ground so I’ve got a safety net.
I won’t have clients right off the bat, but I’ll need some income. You know, stuff like that.”
He did know. That reason was one of the big ones as to why he hadn’t started his own business. Besides leaving his twin on his own, financial stability couldn’t be taken lightly. It was probably one of the big reasons most people didn’t start businesses these days.
Jason nodded. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re ready.”
She snickered and gave him a playful push. “And what do you know about my job?”
He shrugged, not prepared to admit how much he knew about her work. Unfortunately, he didn’t exactly have to say anything. Because how she looked up at him through narrowed eyes told him that she could read him better than he was prepared for.
When had that happened?
Cece stepped closer to him, a small smile teasing at her lips. “You’re really sweet, you know that?”
He couldn’t help it. When she was this close to him, when she looked at him that way, when she said things like that, all he wanted to do was take her face into his hands and kiss her.
Jason’s focus dipped to her mouth and he found himself taking a step toward her, eating up the distance between them until their bodies nearly touched. “Not sweet,” he murmured, “just honest.”
Her smile widened and he found he wanted to be the only reason she smiled like that. Her attention moved to his hat, and she reached up. He almost expected her to take the hat from his head, but instead she flicked it. “I like this look on you.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her what other look would she expect, but before he could, she stepped past him, her arm brushing against his. When he turned to face her, a question in his eyes, he found she’d spun around and was walking backward.
“Drive me home, cowboy?”
He gave her a curt nod. “Yes, ma’am.”