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“Wow. And I thought mine was bad. I just got the job last week, and here I am about to lose it so I can help Bennett. Again. How’d your folks react when you quit? I can’t imagine they were too pleased to lose the heir to the empire.”

“About how you’d expect. Told me I was wasting my talents with Maggie, that I had a sure thing with them, I’d regret it for all eternity, blah, blah, blah.”

Like Bennett would feel when Jax gave his notice.

“Sounds about right. So, how do you feel now? I mean, since it’s going to be harder than you thought to get to your goal?”

Jill scraped her spoon across the ice cream that had begun to melt and licked it off. Jax adjusted in his seat to account for the swelling behind his zipper.

“I never cared whether it was difficult or not, just that it was within reach. I’ll keep working at it until the day I find out it isn’t anymore.”

Hmm. He liked that answer. He also liked Jill a whole lot more than he’d expected to.

“And you won’t mind doing that here? In Deer Creek?”

She bit her bottom lip and dropped her gaze. “I’ll do it whether or not I mind it. It’s what the job dictates for now.”

“What about making the most of it while you’re here?”

“I don’t see any reason to get involved with Deer Creek to get the most out of my time. I’m here to work and so that’s what I’ll do. Making friends and hanging out in the community isn’t on my to-do list.”

“Isn’t that counterintuitive to what you’re going to need to succeed with your plan, though?”

“How’s that?” She put her spoon down and met his gaze. Even in the dim light he could see a rim of sky blue around her irises. Had anyone else looked long enough into her eyes to notice that? Had Liam?

“You’re a salesperson.” He held up a hand for her to wait before she jumped down his throat like she looked ready to do. “You sell a product. And yeah, I know you design them, work with manufacturers locally to produce and ship them and all that, too. But at the end of the day, none of the other stuff matters if you don’t sell them to customers, right?”

Jill nodded. “So?”

“So wouldn’t it be prudent of you to immerse yourself here, get to know people and what makes them tick so you can do what you did with Steiner a minute ago?”

“I—” She swallowed and cleared her throat. He could see her working through something in her head. “I know food and I know restaurants. It’s one of my favorite things about the city. That’s all that was.”

He sat back in the booth. “Exactly. You’re proving my point for me.”

Her scowl said she didn’t appreciate that very much.

She picked up the spoon again and took a giant bite of brownie, leaving a crumb at the corner of her mouth. Jax slid the pad of his thumb along her lip, removing it. She inhaled sharply at his touch, then, in a move that surprised him, leaned into his hand so that her cheek rested in his palm.

He froze, unsure of what to do next. Things were so hot and cold between them, his whole body tingled with the changes in temperature.

And then his thumb acted of its own accord and stroked her cheek. Her eyes went wide and the air around them shifted. He couldn’t be sure the whole universe as he knew it hadn’t tilted off its axis as she closed the gap between them, her hand firmly resting on his thigh.

When her gaze dipped to his lips and she wet her own, he pulled back. And not a moment too soon. She’d closed her eyes and was a breath away from kissing him.

Jax sent up a prayer of thanks that the night hadn’t gone the way it was headed in the first five minutes of Jill showing up at the restaurant.

That didn’t mean he was comfortable taking advantage of the woman with a few drinks in her, though.

“I—” he started, the flush of color on her cheeks a temptation almost stronger than his morals. “I can’t. Not like this, when we’ve had about half a cask of whiskey apiece.”

He chuckled, trying to add some levity.

Now, if she came up to him sober as a church mouse and planted one on him? Yeah, he’d see where that kiss led. It was better than hating a woman he was forced to hang out with.

She frowned, the pink deepening to a crimson and spreading down her neck. His fingers itched to feel if her skin had a heat to it. Hell, his fingers and other parts of his anatomy wanted more than that. They wanted to roam and dive into her unexplored territory, eliciting more of those little sighs of delight she’d expressed over her steak and lobster mac, or the giggles she let loose when he teased her.

A swirling in his stomach made him lightheaded. “But can I—can I take you out again? Maybe on a ride through the properties this week—”