Page 36 of Worth the Trouble

He nodded. “There’s a need which is important. But then there’s the initial overhead which I could take out a loan for. Then there’s the advertising and marketing. There’s the word of mouth. Heck, I’m not even sure people would realize I have a knack for it without showing proof.” His warm gaze trailed over her. “Not like you.”

“What do you mean?”

Jason settled in his seat, admiration plain on his face. “You’ve been at your job for a long time. You’ve built a foundation of proof. There would be no need to ask for trust when your work shines for you. Sure, you might not have the clientele base in a place like this, but from what I understand, you wouldn’t need it. With some well-placed ads, you could find clients all over the country.”

“And you couldn’t?”

That caught him off guard. His smile faltered as he started putting two-and-two together. She leaned forward again, speaking low, her eyes stern.

“Jason, people with your gifts travel the world. They’re called to different cities, towns, countries when they’re that good. A few hard cases and you’d have the world eating out of the palm of your hand.” Goose bumps rose on her arms, and she settled back in her seat. She wanted to push him right then to go after his goal. Heck, she wanted to offer her help in getting him seen and noticed by the right people. But who was she to tell him what to do? And for a venture like that?

Well, neither one of them were exactly in the right place financially. And knowing Jason like she did, she couldn’t see him being willing to bite off more than he could chew. He’d want to start small and grow. It was smart, and she couldn’t fault him for it.

She changed the subject, sort of. “I’m going to talk to my dad about reconsidering his stance.”

Jason’s eyes widened with interest, and she laughed, excited. “I’m going to present him with evidence that will support my case.”

“That’s really great, Cece,” he murmured. “I can’t wait to see what you do with the opportunities.”

The thought of being an investor of his crossed her mind and it nearly spilled off her tongue, but Cecelia refrained. She was getting ahead of herself. And now was not the time to lose sight of what they were building.

The rest of the evening was filled with more conversation than she remembered Jason ever having with her. He opened up about his brother and his brother’s new wife. He talked about his sisters and it became all too clear how close they were to each other. When he talked about training horses rather than people she could see how that idea lit him up.

Jason was restless in his current job and she made a mental note to make sure she gave him that little push before she left Rocky Ridge for good.

When they returned to her hotel room, the charge between them skyrocketed. Each brush of his fingers against hers. The low rumble when he chuckled at a joke of hers. His warmth. His smell. Everything collided together to create the most intoxicating creation, one she didn’t want to risk losing.

Cecelia leaned against her door and peered up at Jason. He rested a palm on the wood just above her shoulder and smiled down at her. There was a hunger in his gaze she hadn’t caught before. Or perhaps she had and she’d been too nervous to acknowledge it.

She wasn’t nervous now.

All she wanted now was to get the kiss he’d promised her when he’d asked her out.

“Cece,” he murmured, low and guttural.

“Yes?” she asked in a hushed whisper.

“You don’t know what you do to me. Every second with you is magic.” He reached up with his free hand and grasped a lock of her hair between his fingers. He studied it as if it held the mysteries to the universe before he dipped his focus to her eyes, her mouth, then back to her eyes once more.

She shivered under his stare. “The feeling is mutual.”

That desire she could see in his dark brown depths flared and flashed. The fingers that toyed with her hair moved to grasp her chin. Then without further warning, he crashed his lips over hers.

This wasn’t how she expected their first kiss to go. It was firm and unyielding. It stole her breath and her thoughts. She was a muddled mess only capable of melting beneath his electric touch.

Everything else faded away, leaving only one thought behind.

She wanted more.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Jason allowed himself to get lost in Cece’s touch. In how her lips explored his own. This was more than he thought was possible. Horses never lied to him.

But people? He trusted animals more than people. Most of the time he liked horses way more than he liked people.

That wasn’t the case with Cece.

When he was with her everything made sense. She made him want things he didn’t think were feasible, but it was more than that. She made him believe in the impossible. She made him want to be better, to take what he wanted, and revel in the joy that brought.