Chapter Thirteen #3
“I would move, you know. If it came to that.” Meg continued to fiddle with the folds of her skirt. “I’d hate it, but, you know, if necessary …” Her voice trailed and then she sighed.
Lil wanted to say that she wouldn’t move, but at this point she simply didn’t know what she would do. Her feelings for Jordan were shifting her perspective.
Meg accepted her silence without prodding at the matter and might have even been nodding off when a thunking noise at the front end of the truck jerked her upright.
“Shit.” Lil pulled to the edge of the road and pushed open her door.
Meg also got out and came around the hood to stand beside her as she inspected the driver’s side front tire.
“I’ll get the jack,” she said.
Lil looked down at her favorite dress, which was probably going to be covered in black rubber stains and dirt, then figured that was what detergent was for.
*
Jordan had barely tapped out the text that he suspected Lil would not welcome—“Everything OK?”—when a flash of headlights in the aspen grove showed through the trailer window and his shoulders sagged with relief.
It was only a little after one o’clock and for all he knew, Lil and Meg may have chosen to stay in town. It wasn’t his business where they were, but that hadn’t kept him from being concerned. Shit had gone down on this ranch.
He deleted the text and put the phone back on the table then opened the trailer door as they pulled to a stop near the barn.
“Hey, Jordan,” Meg called before heading toward the house.
Betty ambled out of the dog door in the barn and followed her.
Jordan felt a little stupid standing in the driveway in his sweats, like he’d been waiting up for them, but he did have news to impart. Lil moved closer and when she stepped into the light cast from the yard lamp, he did a double take. Dark muddy stains covered the front of her dress.
“What happened to you?” Was he going to have to hurt someone?
“Flat tire. The spare was covered with dirt and mag chloride.” The stuff used to keep dust down on gravel roads.
“Hell of a way to end a night,” he said, moving closer. “Maybe I should have come.”
Lil put her hands side by side on his chest and he took a light hold of her shoulders, glad that she was home. “I’m good with a jack. Tell me that you didn’t wait up for us?”
She didn’t need or want a keeper. He was aware, but he had a hard time tamping down his protective instincts.
“Couldn’t sleep. Libby Weston contacted me.” Lil’s hand fell away from his chest and she blinked at him. “We have a meeting tomorrow morning in Livingston. Connery’s office.”
“Sunday?”
“I believe she wants to settle this once and for all.”
“How?” she asked softly.
“Damned if I know. That’s why I can’t sleep.” That and wondering where Lil was.
How she was.
She pressed her lips together briefly as if considering next moves. Then she said, “Meg and I talked.”
“Yeah?” He folded his arms over his chest, sensing this was something he wasn’t going to like.
“Breaking the lease is not out of the question.”
His eyes narrowed. Where was this coming from? “It’s expensive to move.”
“Someone offered me a generous buyout that would cover costs.”
“I don’t want you to move,” he said flatly.
She pushed her hair over her shoulder. “That would apply even if we weren’t …”
He was curious as to how she’d describe their relationship, but she gestured instead of using words. “Yes, it would apply even if we weren’t. It’s a matter of principle.”
The fact that he was falling for her wasn’t a factor. Oh no, not at all.
“Well, truthfully,” she said, “I don’t want to move.”
“And truthfully”—he wrapped his arms around her—“I don’t want you to go.” He leaned down to kiss her, taking her lips in a way that was a touch more possessive than he’d intended, but he found he couldn’t help himself.
“Don’t want to lose a good tenant?” she asked with an arch of her eyebrows.
“Don’t want to lose you.” The ring of gut-level truth to his words startled both of them.
Lil’s lips parted, then she closed her mouth, pressing her lips flat, as if afraid of what she might say.
“Hey,” he said gently, leaning back to give her space, and tilting his head so he could meet her eyes. “I’m not making any demands or declarations. It’s just that you’re important to me.”
She smiled a little, but it wasn’t the genuine smile he’d had moments ago. “You’re important to me too. Obviously.” The words were stilted and, maybe in an effort to soften their effect, Lil moved closer, resting her cheek against his chest.
But something had changed. The melt-into-him aspect was gone. Jordan wrapped his arms around her, more loosely this time, so she wouldn’t feel trapped, then closed his eyes and drew in the comfort of her scent, as he fought the idea that she was going to slip away.
Crazy how things could change in a heartbeat.
“It’s been a night,” she murmured against his chest.
“Yes.” There were so many things he wanted to say in the way of damage control, but he knew Lil well enough to realize that this wasn’t the time to either make excuses or to press his case.
So instead, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and stepped back, setting her free.