Her outfit, an electric-blue wrap dress with a flattering scoop neckline and a hem line that hit just above her knees greatly emphasized her small waist, firm breasts and shapely legs, and looked stylishly perfect on her. He would admit that his heart had slammed hard in his chest the moment she’d entered the room.

“Well, dinner is about to be served. You better hope you get a seat close to her. It won’t take much for the others to boot you out the way.” She then walked off.

He glanced back over to where Bella was standing and thought that no one would boot him out the way when it came to Bella. They better not even try.

Bella smiled at something Zane had said while trying not to glance across the room at Jason. He had spoken to her when she’d first arrived but since then had pretty much kept his distance, preferring to let his brothers and cousins keep her company.

You would never know they had been two people who’d almost demolished the mouths right off their faces a few days ago. But then maybe that was the point. Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know. Come to think of it, she’d never asked if he even had a girlfriend. For all she knew he might have one. Just because he’d dropped by for tea didn’t mean anything other than he was neighborly. And she had to remember that he had never gotten out of the way with her.

Until that day in his office.

What had made him want to kiss her? There had been this intense chemistry between them from the first, but neither of them had acted on it until that day. Had stepping over those boundaries taken their relationship to a place where it couldn’t recover? She truly hoped not. He was a nice person, a charmer if ever there was one. And although she’d decided that distance between them was probably for the best right now, she did want him to remain her friend.

“Pam’s getting everyone’s attention for dinner,” Dillon said as he approached the group. “Let me escort you to the dining room,” he offered and tucked Bella’s arm beneath his.

She smiled at him. The one thing she noticed was that all the Westmoreland men resembled in some way. “Thank you.”

She glanced over at Jason. Their gazes met and she felt it, the same sensations she felt whenever he was near her. That deep stirring in the pit of her stomach had her trying to catch her breath.

“You okay?” Dillon asked her.

She glanced up and saw concern in his deep dark eyes. He’d followed her gaze and noted it had lit on his brother. “Yes, I’m fine.”

She just hoped what she’d said was true.