Page 41 of And Now, Back to You

My laughter finally settles, a silly smile still stretched across my face. It’s the most honest Jackson has ever been with me, and I know it cost him. I can tell by the way he’s holding himself. How he’s firmed his shoulders, waiting for me to rib him some more.

“Well, you don’t need to figure it out alone,” I tell him gently. “We’re a team now, remember?”

Jackson glances over at me, a smile quirking his lips. Behind his head, rich, full evergreens blur past. Frost-tipped fence posts and open fields. A kaleidoscope of winter colors.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “A team.”

“Yeah.” My lips twitch. “And while your news debut didn’t go the way you wanted, you certainly made an impression.”

He winces. “Great.”

“Very Wizard of Oz.”

He palms his hand along his jaw. “I was too afraid to look at the screen. Was it just my head? Floating around?”

Another laugh rockets out of me. I clap my hand over my mouth, then spread my fingers to whisper, “You could see some of your shoulders too.”

“Oh, good. Glad my shoulders could make it.” His hands flex on the steering wheel, the lines of his body tensing and then relaxing.

“All of Baltimore now understands why you’ve stuck to radio.”

His eyebrows pop up. “Are you saying I’m too ugly for television?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“It sounds like what you’re saying.”

I eyeball him, holding himself still on the other side of the van. Glancing over at me every so often out of the corner of his eye.

“Jackson,” I hedge. “Are you fishing for compliments?”

“Maybe.” He pauses and clears his throat. “What would you say if I was?”

My attention drifts along the contours of his face and snags on his mouth. He has a faint scar, right below his bottom lip. I’ve never noticed it because I’m not sure he’s ever given me these smiles before. Scowls? Sure. Vague grunts in my general direction? Obviously. But this easy, playful grin? Never.

“Is this another team-building exercise?”

“It could be.” He shrugs. “I could even pull over, if you wanted. One of us could climb up to the top of the van and we could do trust falls.”

I snicker. “You would never.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I would never.” Another easy grin lights him up, transforming his face. All those severe lines, melting into something warmer. Is this how everyone else gets to see him? Does he save all his hard edges for me? “C’mon, Delilah. Tell me the truth. I can handle it.”

“What do you want to know?” I laugh.

“Do I have a face for TV?” His half smile tumbles into a full one. “The first time we met, what did you think of me?”

“I think the first time I saw you, you were climbing out from the trunk of your car.”

Pink touches the base of his throat. “That’s because you always park too close to my car door. Sometimes I can’t open it.”

“Sure.”

He mutters something under his breath. “All right, fine. How about later, then? At the start of this whole thing. What did you think?”

I remember his blue checkered shirt. The press of his body against mine. Too-sweet coffee and no air in my lungs. “I thought, Where did this man come from and why is he on top of me in this hallway?”

“When you found out you had to work with me,” he clarifies with a huff. “In Keith’s office. Or at the café, I don’t know.” He scratches roughly at the back of his head, some of the longer strands of his blond hair sticking up at odd angles. My fingers itch with the insane urge to smooth them back down.