“But I might get another hug if I did,” she flirted, even though she knew she shouldn’t.

He looped her arm in his, and the instant electricity between them was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. She reasoned that it was the result of her not having gone out with anyone in almost a year, but her heart told her it was something more than that. She’d been with men, both in a fairly serious relationship and on lots of platonic dates, but none of them had affected her like Jackson did.

It didn’t take long to cover the distance from the fork in the road to the porch since it was only about thirty yards. When they reached the bottom step, she pulled her arm free. “Thanks again,” she said as she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek for saving her twice.

The next few seconds became a blur, and yet everything felt as if it moved in slow motion. Tex came from the back of the house in a dead run and reared up on Jackson’s leg. Jackson turned to push him away at the same time Nessa leaned in to kiss Jackson on the cheek. Instead of landing where she intended, the kiss landed square on his lips. He wrapped her up in his arms for the third time and kissed her back—long and slow, sending tingles all the way to her toes.

When the kiss ended, she took a deep breath and said, “That’s to thank you for saving me, but I really only intended it to be a sweet kiss on the cheek.”

“I’m glad it was more,” he said. “I guess this was a date since I got a goodnight kiss at the door. Maybe we’ll go out again sometime.”

“You’ve got the number here at the O’Riley house.” She figured he was joking, but down deep inside she hoped he wasn’t.

“Night, Nessa.” He waved over his shoulder as he and Tex disappeared into the darkness.

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

April was watching a rerun of NCIS when Nessa came into the house. Her cousin had a glow about her that begged for answers, so April asked, “What have you been doing? You look like you just kissed a frog, and he turned into a prince.”

Flynn came down the hallway and stopped at the edge of the living room. “You’ve been with Jackson, haven’t you? He said he was going to the falls when we knocked off work today. You been out there making out with him? Don’t you dare lead him on and then dump him, Nessa. I like working for him, so don’t ruin it for me.”

“Are you judging our cousin by your own half bushel?” April asked.

“I’m not talking to you,” Flynn smarted off.

“You are now, and you didn’t answer my question,” April said.