Page 35 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
I got chills at the sight of the now dead reptile.
If Jess put that thing in my garbage can, he’d buy himself garbage duty for life. I’d never go near that trash can again. Ever. Even after it had been emptied a hundred times.
Thankfully, they deposited the corpse into the back of Silas’s truck.
I waited until it was out of sight, not wanting Rowen to look over and see it, then I called out to Jess, “Might as well send that shovel with Silas too. I’ll never touch it again.”
They both grinned while Jess handed Silas the shovel.
“Nice to meet you, Gigi,” Silas called, raising his hand to me. I waved back before he shook Jess’s hand and drove away.
“Captain Lewis,” Rowen said to Jess. He had just stepped onto the porch and she immediately lifted the boy kitten in the air.
“What?” Jess asked.
“His name. It’s Captain Lewis.”
Jess bent at the waist and grabbed the kitten. It looked even smaller in his large hands. “Captain Lewis.”
“It’s getting late, sweetie. Time to get ready for bed. Say good night to Jess,” I said.
“What about the kitties?” she asked.
“I’ve got them. Their mother is around the side of the house. I’ll move them there and put out some food. They’ll be ready for you to play with in the morning,” he said.
“Thanks, Jess,” we said in unison before I shuffled Rowen inside to get into her pajamas.
Rowen fell asleep quickly and when I came downstairs, Jess was sitting on the living room couch, checking something on his phone. His eyes followed me as I sat next to him.
“Would you like something to drink?” I asked.
“Water.”
“Okay,” I said, unwinding my legs to stand.
“Just bring it to bed, Georgia.”
“Uh . . . what?”
I sank back into the couch, now panicked at the prospect of him spending the night.
“I’m staying here tonight, Freckles. You had a traumatic day and were in the hospital. I’m not leaving you alone to have a nightmare.”
“Jess, I appreciate that but Roe’s room is right across the hall from mine. And I don’t have a guest bed yet. I’ll be fine. You made everything better tonight so I won’t have a nightmare. Go home.”
“I’m staying,” he said and stood, grabbing me under the arms and hauling me up.
The second my feet hit the floor, his mouth came down on mine and his arms circled my back, pulling me close. The kiss was long, hot and wet with lots of tongue. When he finally broke away, my lips were puffy and I was dizzy.
“Water,” he said. “Meet you upstairs.”
He walked around me, and then his footsteps echoed up the stairs.
Damn.
If he kissed me during every debate, I was never going to win.
I unfroze and walked to the kitchen, getting us both a glass of water and taking them upstairs. He had turned off my bedroom light and switched on both end table lamps.
