My eyebrow quirked, and I shot him a dubious look. “What exactly are you apologizing for?”
Last I checked, that kiss was the hottest thing I’d ever experienced, and he had no need to apologize.
“Everything apparently,” he said. “I realized that my advances must have been…unwanted. I think I might have pushed you and made you feel…uncomfortable, which was not my intention.”
Ha! Uncomfortable was not the right word. I’d felt like my body had a different brain. One that was screaming yes when I knew no was the right answer.
“You didn’t push your luck. It’s fine,” I said with a wave of my hand.
What I wanted to say was, Kiss me again. God, please, kiss me again. I won’t run this time.
And the look in his eye said he knew.
“I assume you’ve figured out who I am.”
“Emery Robinson,” he drawled. “Yes, I know who you are.”
“And see, now, you’re not interested,” I said before tacking on a shaky laugh.
“Oh,” he said, his eyes intense and commanding, “but I am.”
My mouth popped open into a tiny little O of surprise. Jensen knew I’d dated Landon, and he was still interested in me? No way. He must be mistaken.
His eyes dropped to my mouth, and he swallowed. We both seemed to be having the same damning thoughts.
He took a step toward me, entering my personal space, and leaned in near my ear. “Perhaps we should take this conversation outside. I try to avoid impure thoughts in church.”
A small gasp escaped my lips, and then I covered my mouth with my hand. My eyes slid from his to survey the church as I was slammed back into reality.
Jensen Wright was having dirty thoughts about me in church.
Oh, hell yes!
“Okay,” I found myself saying.
He even seemed surprised that I had agreed. Last night, I’d dashed away from him and into oblivion. Found Heidi and disappeared entirely. Now, I was saying yes to talking to him again.
“Okay then.”
“Hey, Kimber,” I said, turning to face my sister.
Her eyes were as wide as plates when she looked at me.
“I’m…I’m just going to go outside, all right?”
“Sure,” she said.
“Just, um, come find me when Mom is done.”
“Will do. But…if you get another ride home, that’s okay, too,” Kimber said boldly.
I rounded my eyes in exasperation, but Kimber stifled a laugh behind her hand. Between Kimber and Heidi, they were determined to set me up by Christmas. As if I hadn’t just gotten out of a sort of three-year relationship with Mitch. God, thinking about that made my head hurt. What a huge mistake.
“Good to go,” I said, snatching up my cell phone.
Kimber had my wallet in her purse since I hated carrying one.
“That’s it?” he asked.
“What? Oh, my phone? Yeah. Purses are annoying.”
He laughed and cocked his head to the side. “Interesting. Why do you think that? I thought most women loved purses.”
I fell into step beside him. “Yeah, well, I’m not most women. I think they’re pretty, but why would I want to lug something around full of junk that I probably won’t need, only to hurt myself by carrying the weight around?”
“Fair point,” he said with an amused smile on his face.
We passed through the narthex and went out into the Texas sunshine. I stripped off my cardigan since the weather was in the seventies. It never stopped amazing me, how bizarre the weather patterns were here. But I would take it if I got to wear a short-sleeved dress in December.
“This is a little strange,” I said.
“Why?”
I chewed on my lip and shrugged. “I don’t know…because I dated your brother?”
Jensen shifted his feet and then stared down at me like I was his next meal. “That was a long time ago, right?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “You’re right. It was forever ago.”
“And you’re away at school right now?”
I narrowed my eyes, wondering where he had gotten his information. Not that I wanted to tell him that I’d just quit pursuing my degree. Only my mother, Kimber, and Heidi knew that.
“Away is kind of a loose phrase for someone who hasn’t lived in Lubbock in almost ten years,” I said nonchalantly.
“That’s true, I suppose. It’s not like many people move back once they’ve seen the big wide world,” he said with a grin.
“Yeah. There’s a reason for that.”
“What would that be?” he asked, genuinely curious.
But he had to know. Lubbock was suffocating. Big enough to have an airport, small enough for the airport to have to reroute you everywhere you really wanted to go. It had improved in every way since I left in high school. Better restaurants, better shopping, better amenities. But it was still Lubbock—dry, dusty, and flat as hell.
“Because not everyone has a private jet that can fly them wherever they want,” I said. Then, I covered my mouth in horror. “Oh God, you know what? That was really rude. Definitely rude. I don’t even know if you have a private jet.”