The thought didn’t send him careening into a dark abyss in his mind. Maybe hedidmerit a family. Maybe he did deserve to be happy with a good woman like Nora.
“Jack, why does it matter what I wish for when no one is watching?”
“It matters to me,” he replied truthfully.Because we might just be wishing for the same thing, deep down, where no one can judge us for wanting such simple but forbidden things.
“It matters to you,” she repeated.
He nodded. “Yup, so come on, spill.”
Nora studied his face for a few moments. She didn’t say anything, but she did push away from him. “Before I go spilling all of my heart’s desires, I need to tell you something.”
He straightened his back, a sign that he was giving her his undivided attention.
Nora closed her eyes and took another deep breath as if preparing to go to war. “I’ve never been with a man,” she blurted, opening her eyes just in time to see his reaction.
Thankfully, he had no outward reaction. He kept his face mostly clear but a tiny pucker of his brow. “How is that even possible?”
She shrugged. “It just never happened. It’s not like this town is crawling with eligible bachelors. Most of the men here have known me my whole life. They knew how shy I am, and that doesn’t make me very desirable.”
“I find you desirable,” he argued.
Nora giggled and snorted. “I am so sure.”
“No, really,” he insisted, bringing her closer to him. “I’m not lying.”
She arched a brow at him, skeptical. “Well, of course. That’s why it took you so long to ask me out, huh?”
He laughed. “I’m gonna tell you something, Nora. When I came to Half Moon Key, I didn’t really know why I was here. I came because I had to leave my life behind. Mrs. Francis promised me that this was a good place to settle down, away from all of the noise and bustle of the city. My uncle was looking to retire, and he needed someone to take over the rental business. No one else in his family wanted to move to this small, secluded town, so I jumped on the chance.”
“What did you leave behind?”
Jack heaved a heavy sigh. “Nothing but bad memories. I fell in love with Half Moon Key right away. My uncle took me to this adorable little ice cream parlor on my very first day here in town. Behind the counter, there was the hottest woman I had ever seen, but she couldn’t even spare me a single look. She barely even spoke to me.”
Nora gasped. “You are not remembering that correctly,” she argued.
“Sure, I remember. That first time I saw you is engraved in my mind. You were wearing a little white denim skirt with a light blue tee.”
Her eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped down. “How do you remember that?”
“How do you?” he shot back without missing a beat.
Impossibly, her cheeks reddened, and she averted her eyes. “I’m not telling.”
He chuckled. “You don’t have to. I know now. I always thought you were a bit wary of people that weren’t from town. I thought you were passing judgment. Little did I know, you were stunned and speechless by the new guy in town.”
The shyness broke on his teasing remark, and she gently hit his shoulder. “Cool the ego, won’t you?”
He threw his head back with a laugh. “Sure, but only if you admit that you were smitten from the very first. I know I was. I was pretty devastated when you didn’t return my smile or greeting.”
“Oh, my! You didn’t think I was a snob, did you?”
He grinned. “Guilty, yeah. Now, I know that isn’t even remotely close to true. You’re just the sweetest, shyest woman in the world, and there are only a few people who get to see the real you. It’s cool being on that short list.”
She pursed her lips, but he could see the corner of her mouth turning up in a smile. “It helps that you like books and not just any kind of books, but the same genre I enjoy.”
“Well, then, I’ll let RJ know that you like their books and that I owe them a debt of gratitude for bringing us together. Now, about the actual beingtogether. I do want to take you out for dinner. A real date. I get that you’re not one for public displays of affection or anything like that, so I won’t take you to a restaurant. I am gonna invite you over to my cabin, and I’ll cook you the best first date meal of your life.”
He was going to make it good, too, because he had a suspicion that her first date ever would be her last first date ever.