Montana Reunion by Soraya Lane

else and
was taken from her?
    She shook her head, forcing the
thoughts away. “I, ah, need to check the chicken.”
    Jack shook his head too, but his
was a slow side to side movement, a wicked smile curving his lips. “No,” he
said, walking slowly toward her, “you don’t.”
    Her heart was starting to race.
“I’m scared,” she blurted.
    That made him
stop . Jack’s arms were hanging at his sides, feet spread hip-width apart
as he stood, staring at her. “Of what?” His voice was
low, deep.
    “Of you,” she whispered, finding it
hard to maintain eye contact with him.
    Jack slowly moved closer, his hands
rising and catching her arms behind the elbows, holding her in place. When she
didn’t meet his gaze he used one hand to tuck under her chin and gently tilt
her face up.
    “I scare you?” he asked, whispering
now.
    Maddison swallowed. Hard. “Yeah.” It
was as if the word came out on a breath.
    “You scare me a little, too,” he
admitted, shuffling closer.
    Maddison shut her eyes, took a deep breath before opening herself up to him again. “I
don’t want to be hurt again, Jack. I
can’t be .”
    “I don’t want to hurt again either, Maddison . It’s why I don’t want a family. Because I don’t want to hurt anyone else, either. More than
not wanting to hurt myself, I don’t want the burden of not being there for
someone.”
    Could
she deal with it just being the two of them? With never being
a mom?
    She stared into Jack’s eyes, braver
now. Yes, she could. For
her dad. To protect her family’s ranch in the future, and let her dad
see her with a man he already loved like a son.
    Maddison stood on tiptoe, hands on Jack’s shoulders as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“If we do this, I want to take it slow,” she said into his ear, voice almost a
whisper even though there was no one else in the room. Even
though it was just the two of them.
    He nodded and wrapped his arms
around her, giving her a warm, gentle hug. Maddison relaxed into it, arms around his neck, head pressed to his chest as he held
her. It was like every bone in her body softened, her
muscles relaxing as if her entire body was exhaling.
    It
was what she’d needed . To just be held, to feel loved, to make her feel like everything was okay in the world even though she knew it
couldn’t be further from the truth.
    “I don’t want to ruin our
friendship, Jack,” she said, still holding on to him, her cheek firmly against
him.
    “Me neither.” His response was
immediate, mouth against her hair.
    “So what do we do?” she asked, not
wanting to let go of him. Not ever.
    “We take it one step at a time,
starting with dinner,” he said.
    Maddison shut her eyes, but they popped open less than a second later. “Shit! The rice.”
    She bolted to the pot, turning the
gas down and pulling the lid off.
    “Shit!” It was boiling like mad.
She spun around to get a spoon, only to find Jack right behind her, a big smile
on his face and a wooden spoon in his hand.
    “Looking for this?”
    She laughed. “Yeah.”
    Maddison turned back to stir the rice, stiffening when his arms encircled her from
behind. “Shall we go back to slowing down, now?”
    She nodded. And
at the same time wondered if she should have disagreed and asked him to go
faster.
    “Uh-huh,” she said, trying to keep
her hand steady as she stirred the rice.
    Funny,
she hadn’t even thought about her ankle with Jack by her side in the kitchen.

 
    CHAPTER SEVEN
    JACK put down his utensils. “That
was amazing.”
    Maddison smiled at him, but she was avoiding his gaze. She had been ever since they’d
sat down. “Not bad for making it from memory, I guess. Plus,
being without a few ingredients.”
    Trust
her to be modest.
    “So you didn’t answer my question
before when I asked how long you’d actually be here for. Do you have a date to
head back?”
    That made her
eyes connect with his. “If I want to keep my job? I don’t know, maybe a few days.” She