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“Hey—if you two ever got married, you’d be Jax and Jill.” Ren laughed and walked over to where Gander was playing, scratched him behind the ears. “Wanna play fetch, Gander?”

“Did you tell him?” Jill whispered. “About us kissing?”

Jax shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “Nope. He came up with that gem all on his own. I don’t think he meant anything by it, though.” Why, then, couldn’t Jax get rid of the image of Jill in a white strapless dress heading toward him at the end of the north field?

“Okay. Well, he’s amazing. Like his dad.”

Stealing a quick glance at a preoccupied boy who’d found a ball to throw for Gander, Jax leaned in and gave Jill a perfunctory kiss on the lips.

Except there was nothing hasty or chaste about it. Even just a simple peck tied him up in warm knots that pulsed with desire.

“See you later,” he said. Why did the few short hours until he’d see her again seem so long all of a sudden?

When he and Ren were almost to where the creek side met the narrows of the canyon, Ren stopped.

“Is Jill your girlfriend?”

“Wha—” The word stuck to his tongue. “Um, how could you tell? Or, uh, what do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m fifteen, not five. I can tell you two like each other. You’re making googley eyes at each other and you could barely keep your hands off her. Plus, both your voices change when you talk to each other. My buddy Tommy got that way with this girl in our class, and he sounds like you, all sappy and squishy.”

Jax laughed and put his arm around Ren’s shoulders. The boy was almost as tall as him already.

“Man, you’re too smart for your own good. Anyway, she’s not my girlfriend, but I was making googley eyes or whatever you called them at her. She’s a heckuva woman and is becoming a really good friend. And that’s enough.”

“If she’s that cool, why don’t you put a ring on it?”

Jax doubled over with laughter. “Oh, kid. You’ve got your dad’s number. I think I wanna concentrate on our relationship before I bring another person into it. Sound fair?”

Ren shrugged, and it was like looking in a mirror. Bennett, his mom, even Maggie and Jill all told Jax that was his signature move. He knew why—it was born out of not allowing himself to care too much about anything. Now, he ran the risk of swinging the other direction and caring for everything a little too much.

“It sounds fair, but if I learned anything from Tommy, don’t wait or someone else might see how awesome Jill is. Wouldn’t it be worse to lose her because you couldn’t commit than to try it out?” Ren shrugged again and skipped a rock across the calm depth of the river bend.

Jax stopped at the water’s edge, his mouth hanging open like he was waiting to catch flies for bait. What could he say to that? His fifteen-year-old son had a better handle on relationships than him. But even if Ren was right, Jax just wasn’t wired for long-term relationships, even if he did like the heck out of Jill.

“Holy crap. Is that the bear Jill was talking about?” Ren asked, pointing across the creek. Sure enough, the momma bear was there, her son close behind.

Given the choice between a persistent image of Jill in a white dress walking down the aisle to him or facing the black bear and her teenager, Jax knew what choice he’d make.

Chapter Ten

Jill turned in the mirror, admiring the cut of the sundress atop a special two-piece lace number she’d made that afternoon. The thin, white straps led to a sweetheart neckline made of the softest robin’s-egg blue and white fabric she’d ever worn. The chevron pattern and sculpted boning was flattering to what she’d used to think of as inadequately sized breasts.

In this dress, they looked curvy, shapely, and more than perky. Her legs—and everything else that mattered—was shaved and groomed, lotioned and perfumed. Her lips bore just a hint of shine, and her eyes were framed in subtle mascara and only a touch of gold-brown eyeshadow to bring out the flecks of color in her irises.

The whole shebang had the effect of making it look like she hadn’t tried too hard but somehow was dressed to kill also.

She nodded her approval at the confident, well-dressed woman staring back at her.

This was a world she knew, one where she was comfortable. Fashion and fitting clothes to her size and shape was a city-girl’s game and she’d always been a star player. As she followed the silhouette down to the hem, which sat just above her knees, she broke into a grin.

It was almost unfair to Jax, like she’d cheated on a test or something to get this kind of upper hand, but it wasn’t like he came to the table without his own set of advantages.

The man had shown up with Ren to the south fields clad in a tight black T-shirt, worn jeans that somehow both hugged his strong—and delicious, if she could say so—backside and thighs while also managing to have some give. His backward hat made him look like a country singer about to take the stage.

She’d gulped back a fresh wave of desire that only increased as she watched him teach his son how to get onto a horse outside of the arena, then walk the fence line to look for repairs that might be needed. His voice had been calm, his laughter big when Ren said something smart, and his demeanor comfortable.

If she hadn’t known the man better, she’d have said he looked at home out there on the ranch.