“Right.” Kara snapped her fingers. “You own the amazing animal sanctuary just outside of town. I’ve been meaning to head out there. Not that I can afford to bring anything home with me, but…” She shrugged. “I can look.”
Carrie nodded. “Speaking of knowing what you want, have you guys decided?”
“Two of tonight’s specials,” Conner responded.
“Great choice. I’m taking a few specials home when I get off shift.” Carrie wrote down their orders and added their drinks and left.
Conner leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “A little hint; always order the special. It has never steered me wrong when I don’t know what I want.”
“Good to know. I’ve had lunch here plenty of times, but not dinner yet.” Kara glanced around. “For some reason, I was thinking people would waltz in here in formal attire.”
He held in a chuckle. “Only on Saturdays.”
Her eyebrows shot up and he could tell that for a split second she believed him. Then she relaxed and shook her head as she continued to look around.
“I hear that your great-grandmother painted most of these.” She motioned to the large oil paintings covering the walls.
“Yes.” He smiled and followed her gaze. “The mermaid is everyone’s favorite.”
“That’s your mother’s.” She motioned to a painting of a small boat.
“Yes.” His smile slipped a little. “The Dawn-Treader.” He sighed. “It’s my mother’s gift to my dad.” His eyes met hers. “It’s the sailboat he and my grandfather were in when my dad lost his hearing and George Jordan lost his life.”
“I’m so sorry. It’s still a lovely painting,” she said softly. “And my favorite in here.”
His full smile returned. “My father proposed to my mother standing right there, in front of that piece.”
Kara’s eyebrows shot up, and she glanced at the art again. Then she slowly smiled, and he could see her eyes soften.
“How wonderful.” She practically purred it. The low sound caused his body to vibrate with want.
He’d meant the kiss he’d given her to be light. He’d wanted to taste her from the moment he’d pulled her out of the water, but he hadn’t expected to be hit by a lightning flash of desire when she’d responded in his arms. Even now, he wanted to taste her again. Wanted to feel her soft body up against his.
He tried to focus on their conversation during dinner, but his mind and his body kept returning to that kiss. Even though he was gloriously tired from the long day’s work, he still had the energy to climb a mountain if he knew he’d be rewarded with another kiss from Kara.
It was stupid. He was stupid. He knew his heightened libido was due to the fact that it had been a few months since he’d been out on a date. Longer than that since he’d been with anyone. Sure, he knew the rumors going around town about the Jordan men. Some of them were true, others weren’t.
He wasn’t like his cousin George, who had a different woman on his arm or in his bed each time he talked to him. Out of all the Jordan men, George was the biggest player.
The running family joke was that it would take a freight train to tie George down. That or a woman that could knock him on his ass and hog-tie him.
“You’re deep in thought,” Kara said as he drove them back to the cottage.
He chuckled. “Thinking about my cousin George.” He shook his head.
“Which one is he again?”
For some reason this made him laugh even more. “Probably the one who’s hit on you.” He glanced at her. “Multiple times.”
Her eyes narrowed, as if she was trying to remember all the Jordan men.
“Not married?” she asked.
He laughed harder. “No,” he said between the laughter.
“Lighter brown hair? Haunting silver eyes?” she asked slowly.
“Yup, that’s the one.”
She smiled as he parked beside the old truck.
“He hasn’t hit on me,” she said, surprising him.
Shutting off the truck, he turned to her. “He hasn’t?” He frowned and ran his eyes over her as she shook her head from side to side slowly. “Why the hell not?”
This time it was her laughter that filled the cab of the truck. “Guess I’m not his type?”
“Every woman is his type,” he responded quickly.
“Now, your bother on the other hand…” she began, and he felt his entire body stiffen.
“What?” He almost growled the word out.
She lifted her shoulders slightly in a shrug.
“He asked me to dance at your cousin’s wedding,” she said, glancing over at the small cottage.
“Did you dance with him?” he asked between clenched teeth.
Her eyes moved back over to his, and the corners of her mouth curved up.
“Why? Are you the jealous type?” she whispered.
His eyes moved to her lips, and he watched her tongue slowly play over her bottom lip. He hadn’t realized he’d groaned out loud, but when her eyes darted to his lips, he reached for her. He came up short when his seatbelt jerked his shoulder back.
The soft chuckle of hers had him groaning at his stupidity.
Yanking off his seatbelt, he reached to undo hers and then pulled her across the space until she was pressed up against him.
“Normally, no,” he said, cupping her chin with his fingers. “But the thought of you dancing with my little brother irritates me.”
Her smile grew. “I turned him down. Employees aren’t supposed to dance with guests.”
He relaxed slightly and ran his eyes over her face slowly.
“I’d like to kiss you again,” he said softly.
“I’d like that,” she whispered. She leaned into him as her hands moved over his shoulders.
She tasted better than before, felt better than before. Her entire body melted against his. His hands roamed over her hips, her back, as she lightly dug her nails into his shoulders.
When the porch light flashed on, Kara jerked free of his hold and sighed.
“I’d better go.” Her eyes were glued to the cottage.
“I’ll come in and hang the doors. They’re bound to be dry by now.” He got out before she could say no. He raced around the truck and helped her out, and they walked into the cottage together in silence.
Robin was sitting on the sofa, engrossed in a book. Or so it appeared. When they walked in, she glanced up and smiled at him.
“Evening,” she said in a soft tone.
“Hi.” He nodded to her. “I’ll get these doors hung and get out of your hair,” he told them.
“Thank you,” Robin said. “The place looks so different.” She set her book down. “I guess it was lucky that Kara ran into you today and lucky that you had time to help out.”
He felt Robin’s eyes running over him, assessing him.
“She helped me avoid helping my brother out,” he said with a shrug before turning and disappearing into the kitchen.
“Wow,” Kara said after he’d hung the first door up. “They look brand new.”
He had to admit that the cabinets looked amazing. “I didn’t have one that would fit this one above the refrigerator, but I figured I could take measurements and cut one down. I can drop by later this weekend to hang it.”