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His lips curved slowly. “Are you saying I’m sexy? Or I think you’re sexy?”
Oooh, that sounded like a trap. But she’d had enough beer that she stepped into it anyway. “Both?”
“Huh.”
She waited, but he didn’t add any details to that frustrating “huh.” “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”
“For now.” He shrugged. “It’s hardly big news that I think you’re sexy.”
He was wrong there. Her eyes widened. “It’s not? Since when?”
“I always thought so. Ever since I knew what “sexy” meant. It’s not so strange. Look at you.” The warmth in his eyes embraced her, made her feel like a goddess. “I never thought it went the other way, though.”
“Well…” She thought about it. Took another sip of beer. “It did. Sort of. I mean, I didn’t think of you that way. But if I’d thought about it, I would have said you were sexy.”
He tilted his head back and laughed. “Talk about a compli-sult.”
She liked the way his throat muscles moved. He had a healthy layer of dark scruff covering his jaw. What would he smell like, right there, between his collarbone and his neck? Something told her that scent would please her. He pleased her, on a purely physical level.
But there was so much more to relationships than the physical. Your goals had to be aligned. You had to click on a mental level.
Not for a rebound.
He finished his beer, then grabbed his jacket and stood up. “Should we get out of here?”
“Wait. No. What are you saying? Don’t you think that’s a little presumptuous?”
He shot her an odd look. “I need to get home and make sure the intervention didn’t turn into an emotional bloodbath. I can only handle so many sobbing teenage girls at a time.”
Right. Of course. Her face felt warm again.
“I’ll call you in a couple days. I’ll pick Thomas’ brain about the town manager job and let you know what he says.”
She shook herself back to sanity. This rebound idea was absurd. Also, very bad. Rebounds were trouble. She didn’t believe in them. Someone always got hurt. She didn’t want that to be her, and she didn’t want that to be Jason, either.
“Thanks, Jason. I owe you one. Stop by Alvin’s any time and I’ll set you up with a burger.” She got to her feet as well, and edged her way past the table. They both headed for the exit.
Should they time their departures so that no one thought they were leaving together? No, there was no need for that. No one would put her and Jason together. They were two high school locker neighbors catching up, nothing more.
A tourist who’d had too much beer stumbled into her. Jason put his arm around her shoulders to pull her out of his path. A spray of heat shot through her body. It settled in her lower belly, a throbbing knot of awareness.
“I’m fine,” she told him, trying to sound irritated. Did he notice the unusual shakiness of her voice? “Watch your step, mister,” she told the tourist.
“You better watch your—”
“Okay, okay.” Jason intervened, keeping his body between the two of them. “Lake Bittersweet Fire Department here. Keep it cool.”
“Whatever.” The man gestured recklessly as he turned back to the bar.
It wasn’t until they got outside that Kendra realized he must have accidentally made contact with Jason’s face. His lower lip was swollen.
“Jason Mosedale.” She tugged him to a stop and touched his lip. “You have to stop getting injured on my behalf.”
“Yes ma’am. I’ll do my best. Wait. Does this mean you owe me another kiss? Because this’ll be gone by tomorrow.” He pointed at the bump on his lip and grinned.
“You’re pushing it, Jaybone.”
Five
