Moonlight Cove by Sherryl Woods Page A

focusing on what the kisses really meant,” he suggested, looking directly into her eyes in a way that disconcerted her.
    Jess shook her head.
    “Why not?”
    “I’m not ready to start analyzing what happened,” she said.
    “You’d rather pretend that nothing did?”
    “I’d like to try,” she admitted wistfully. “But I’m pretty sure that’s going to be impossible.”
    Will tried to conceal a smile but didn’t quite pull it off.
    Jess scowled at him. “Don’t let that go to your head. I’m just saying it’s not so easy to un-ring that bell.”
    “I wouldn’t dream of trying,” he said quickly.
    She gave him a plaintive look. “Why did you come here today?”
    He held her gaze for a long time before he said, “For your grandmother’s chicken and dumplings, of course.”
    “You know Kevin cooked, right? It might not be the same as Gram’s.”
    He laughed. “It’ll be close enough, I imagine. And it’s bound to be better than anything in my freezer.”
    Jess felt guilty at even hinting that he shouldn’t have come. “Sorry. I’m being selfish. I’m just not ready to deal with any of this, I guess. Whatever this is.”
    Instead of trying to define it for her, he plucked a white rose from the arrangement of hydrangeas and roses and held it out to her. “I don’t think Nell will miss it.”
    She frowned, ignoring the flower. Maybe it was a sweet gesture, but suddenly she wasn’t in the mood for sweet gestures. “Thanks, but even that’s likely to arouse questions, Will. Just take the flowers inside and get them into water.”
    He studied her quietly. “Jess, do we need to talk? We could leave and go somewhere else, if you want to.”
    “What could we possibly need to discuss?” she said, not entirely sure why she was so annoyed. Nothing about this encounter had gone the way she’d expected it to. Truthfully, she wasn’t even sure what her expectations had been.
    Will looked justifiably confused. “I’m not sure exactly what we need to talk about. I just know that you seem angry all of a sudden.”
    “I’m not angry,” she said. Hurt, maybe. Confused, for sure. But not angry. Had that blasted kiss meant nothing, after all? Will was all about honesty and being direct, but he hadn’t said a single word to indicate that the kiss had affected him at all. She’d opened herself up—well, a little, anyway—but all he’d done was make light of what had happened.
    Though he didn’t look as if he believed her denial about being angry, he simply nodded and stood up. “Then I’ll see you inside.”
    After he’d gone, Jess sighed. This was going to be a whole lot harder than she’d anticipated. It was as if the kiss had unleashed all sorts of unexpected emotions, and now she was supposed to stuff them back inside and pretend they didn’t exist, not just in front of her family, but in front of Will, too.
    A part of her wanted to march inside and throw caution to the wind, but she knew better, at least in this setting. Because if she did what she wanted to do and kissed Will in front of her entire family just to see if the experience was still magical, there would be no turning back.
    And though she might not know much these days, she knew with every fiber of her being that she wasn’t ready for that.

6
    W ill didn’t have too much time to worry about Jess’s odd mood once dinner was over. They’d barely finished dessert when Susie appeared at his side.
    “We need to talk,” she announced, her usually animated expression dejected. “Outside.”
    Will glanced across the room, saw that Jess was slipping out through the kitchen and knew that she wasn’t likely to welcome him chasing after her. He forced a smile for Susie. “Sure,” he said. “Want to go for a walk on the beach?”
    Though the fall day was surprisingly hot, there was a good breeze off the water. They fell into step and walked along the narrow strip of sand in silence.
    He glanced over at her eventually. “You