Jane's Gift by Karen Erickson

woman? It made no sense.
    This might be the excuse you need to stay away from him and protect yourself. The nagging little voice inside her head sounded surprisingly like her mother. She bet her mother wouldn’t approve of her seeing Chris, despite the fact that he was one of Mac’s friends.
    Then she thought of Stephen and wondered if she was moving too fast. He was the very last person she wanted to think about, but he was there, a constant reminder when she looked at the faces of her children. Logan looked the most like him, though Sophia was a close second. Even Lexi resembled him, too.
    The urge to see them, to be with them and breathe in their sweet scent was suddenly overwhelming.
    “Could you drop me off at Mindy’s, please? I need to pick up my children.”
    Chris looked at her, his brows furrowed in confusion. She met his gaze for the briefest second before she looked away, uncomfortable with his scrutiny.
    “Yeah, I can do that. Do you need a ride to your house once you pick them up?”
    “No, it’s okay, they’ll already be asleep. Mindy invited me to stay the night, anyway.” This new need to get away from Chris clawed at her gut. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts, to try to compartmentalize them, to figure out what just happened this evening.
    She had told him she wanted to be just friends, yet she’d allowed him to kiss her, to touch her in the middle of a dark movie theater. The way he’d looked at her before he left her standing on the curb, the heat and passion swirling in his golden eyes. Audrey’s fake concern and mocking gaze…
    All of it was just too, too much.
    She remained silent the rest of the drive—a solid fifteen minutes—and Chris was, too. He turned the radio on, drowning the silence with a classic rock station, and she caught him tapping the edge of the steering wheel more than a few times.
    So he liked music, big deal. She happened to enjoy all sorts of music as well, had coveted a new iPhone for so long and finally received one as an early Christmas present two years ago. A new version had been waiting for her when she’d come out of the coma. Her sister told her they’d played music for her, slipped the buds into her ears and let her listen while she’d been asleep to the outside world.
    The memory made her heart ache, and she blinked back the tears that threatened. Stephen hadn’t been much of a music lover and so she’d denied herself of it for most of their marriage. Now, it felt silly. It wasn’t like he would’ve disapproved. Stephen hadn’t been that kind of man; he’d always encouraged her outside interests.
    A fresh wave of guilt hit her, swift and cutting. Thoughts of her late husband didn’t feel right when she was out with another man. A very handsome, virile man who kissed her like he never wanted anyone else. How he’d held her face with his big hands so gently he almost made her forget the scars there, the ugliness she felt.
    Jane bit back the sigh that wanted to spill. He was so attractive, so kind, and such a wonderful kisser. No man could be this perfect.
    Resolve straightened her spine. She would not see him again after this night, not like this, in what basically amounted to a date. No, if she saw him around town or with Mac she’d be polite, friendly. But she wouldn’t take it any further.
    She couldn’t. Her mind wouldn’t let her. It wasn’t right.
    Her gaze lingered on his mouth, noticed that it was straight and firm, his expression intent as he drove. He handled the truck with quiet efficiency, considering how the wind howled outside. She was duly impressed.
    Again, too perfect for words. There had to be a flaw inside there somewhere—most likely a big gaping one, too. The player thing came back to her mind, and the more she thought about it the more she realized it was probably true.
    No unattached man as gorgeous as Chris would not play the field.
    “I leave Monday morning for a conference in Sacramento,” he said once he’d