“It’s Valentine’s Day.”
“It is?” But of course it was. The fourteenth. She’d lost track. Valentine’s Day.
“You don’t have to take it. I understand if you can’t. But I want you to know how sorry I am. And—”
“You?”
He flinched. “I was out of line. And when I came over, I wasn’t as up-front as I should have been. Then yesterday at the cabin… Shit, Jenny. Can you forgive me?”
She couldn’t process what he was saying and found herself simply staring up at him until his shoulders slumped.
“I get it. Maybe we could talk in a week or two.”
“No, I—”
He pushed the box past the window and she grabbed it automatically. “I understand. But the chocolate is yours. And this.” He presented a smaller box he’d tucked under his arm. “It’s for you, too. I’m really sorry.”
She took the smaller box, then watched in utter confusion as he walked back toward his vehicle. “Wait!” She let the box of chocolates slip to the floor of her car as she shoved open her door and scrambled out. “Nate!”
He paused near the flashing lights in the grill of his truck and watched her approach.
“I swear I didn’t know what Ellis was doing!” she said on a rush. “And I’m so, so sorry I got caught up in it, and your coworkers saw that. I was just following him. That’s all. I wanted to find out if—”
“Jenny!”
His exasperated voice snapped her thoughts in half. What did he want from her? His mouth was so tight and serious, his jaw working like a beating pulse. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to apologize,” he groaned as his hands closed over her shoulders. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I pulled you over because I needed to tell you that, and…”
“And what?” she asked softly, afraid if she spoke too loudly it wouldn’t be true. She’d realize she’d misheard him. He’d shake his head and change his mind.
His hands slipped slowly up her shoulders, to her neck, to cradle her jaw. “It’s Valentine’s Day, Jen
ny. And I wanted to tell you that this means something to me. You mean something. Even if you never want to see me again. You make me feel a little…lost. When you’re not around, I feel lost. But then when you touch me… God, when you touch me, I feel found again.”
“Oh,” she breathed, staring into his beautiful eyes until her vision blurred and she had to drop her head.
“Don’t cry. Please. Yell at me. Or tell me to go to hell. But don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry.” She sniffed, but the tears flowed harder when he kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her. Jenny buried her face against his neck, and the scent of his skin finally stopped her tears. The warm smell of him invaded her like a soul sneaking inside her own.
She wanted him. She didn’t want to give him up. He was part of her home now. “This means something to me, too,” she said into his skin. “It means something…good.”
He squeezed her harder, and whatever words he whispered beneath his breath, she couldn’t understand. Spanish, maybe, or—
“Ow.” Something poked her in the ribs and she pulled back to look at the box she still cradled. “What is this?”
He let her go and gestured to the box, then shifted back and put his hands on his hips.
For the first time since she’d met him, he looked genuinely nervous. He watched the box instead of watching her. Jenny, never one for savoring the process, tore open the beautiful silver wrapping paper and pried open the box. Inside was a card.
She flipped it open.
“It’s good for two sessions. At a racetrack. It’s over near Pinedale, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it. But you can take your Camaro there and go as fast as you want. But you have to promise to wear a helmet, okay?”
“Oh, Nate,” she said. “Oh, God.”
“Or if you don’t like that, I’ll get you something else. I was going to buy you flowers, but I didn’t know… You’re into cars. I didn’t know if—”