the restaurant and he saw Renee laughing about something her mother had said, he’d been awestruck.
She was beautiful, certainly, but no beautiful woman had ever made his jaw drop like that. It was also the first time he’d actually felt nervous when meeting someone. He never felt anxious, even that one time he’d asked out and been summarily dismissed by that supermodel. Aaron had laughed about that one for weeks. Somehow, Renee cut right through what Jessica called his “devil-may-care attitude” and left him feeling awkward and uncertain.
There was something about the way she laughed, the sparkle in her eyes, the way her light red hair fell over her shoulders, the freckles across her nose that made her look wonderfully fresh and happy, the sexy tilt of her chin that seemed to exude self-confidence. Whatever it was, something about her made it hard to think straight.
And even though they’d hardly talked, he had a suspicion that she might just be interested in him, too. When they’d been introduced, a light flush had spread up her neck, and she had let go of his hand just as quickly when they shook for the first time. Like she had felt the same jolt of electricity as he had.
Just the memory of her was enough to make his body jump to attention, and he felt an uncomfortable swelling in his jeans.
Jeremiah took another deep breath, trying to relax his body, and climbed out of the truck. If he could just get through the next hour without doing anything stupid, he would be able to keep his distance from her for the rest of the week and avoid the almost-overwhelming temptation to kiss her.
* * *
RENEE STEPPED INTO the airport restroom and went straight to the mirror, looking at the damage done by her flight and trying to put herself back together. She glanced at her skirt and blouse, trying to straighten out the wrinkles, ignoring the tiny voice reminding her that Jeremiah was off-limits.
Of course he was off-limits. She knew that, and he certainly wasn’t the reason she’d opted to ditch her comfy travel clothes and instead wear makeup, heels and her black skirt that hugged in the right places—not to mention the silky black underthings. She just thought it would be nice to look her best when she showed up at her sister’s house.
The voice laughed at her unconvincing lies.
After taking one last look in the mirror and trying to wish away the dusting of freckles across her nose that made her look like a Girl Scout, she gave herself one more silent pep talk. Remember, nothing can happen with Jeremiah, and he probably just thinks of you as Jessica’s little sister, so seeing him for the first time since Vegas is no big deal. There’s definitely no reason for your stomach to feel like this. So stop staring into a mirror like a crazy person and leave this bathroom.
She didn’t budge. Renee swore under her breath at her idiocy and steeled herself for what would assuredly be a very not-sexy week full of helping Jessica and staring at a guy who hardly knew she existed. Then she finally managed to walk out of the bathroom and through the terminal exit doors to baggage claim. She found herself standing in a cavernous room studded with numbered carousels slowly circling luggage.
Her first thought was that she’d never find Jeremiah in this huge area, but that lasted less than four seconds before she spied him standing about twenty yards away, looking at her. Their eyes met, and she froze for a moment like a deer in headlights.
He wasn’t as gorgeous as she remembered. He was even more so. Her daydreams hadn’t done justice to the way his slightly shaggy, dark hair fell across his forehead or how his shirt clung to his chest. Not to mention his low-slung jeans and what was sure to be underneath. The quivering in her stomach turned into melting, an ache that made her knees feel weak.
Then someone bumped her elbow as they tried to walk around her, and she realized she was blocking the doorway and staring like Meg Ryan in one of her romantic comedies Renee loved to watch. She could feel a blush start low on her cheeks as she imagined how ridiculous she must look to him. How was she ever going to get through an entire drive alone in the car with him without making a complete fool of herself?
Another person knocked against her. She adjusted the bag on her shoulder and started moving toward the sexy cowboy who was waiting for her. As she got closer, Renee smiled and gave a tiny wave, vividly remembering the first time they shook hands. If she was going to get through this, there had to be no touching, that was for sure. If she could keep things casual, everything would be fine and Jessica wouldn’t need to kill her for groping someone she hardly knew instead of helping with the wedding.
“Hi, Jeremiah. Thanks for picking me up,” she said, hoping she sounded normal.
He smiled back, a little stiffly, making her wonder exactly how inconvenient this errand had been. But then he shrugged and his lips softened. “No problem. I was coming into town anyway. Do you have a bag to pick up?”
She looked up and noticed that the carousel closest to them displayed her flight information and luggage was starting to slide down the chute. She nodded, and after an awkward pause that seemed to stretch between them, she was grateful to see her bag coming her way. Before she could do more than place her hand on it, though, he had it by the handle and was picking it up as if it weighed nothing. She briefly imagined him picking her up with the same strength before stopping herself.
No sexy thoughts, she reminded herself yet again. Jessica freaking out. Jeremiah not interested.
Except something in the way he looked at her made her think that maybe that second one wasn’t true.
She tried to shake off the thought as she followed him out of the airport and into the parking structure, where he stopped at a large silver truck that screamed cowboy. It was huge. Everything’s bigger in Texas, she thought to herself, sneaking a peek at Jeremiah, her mind drifting off into forbidden, jean-clad areas. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, a good-natured grin on his face as he broke the silence between them.
She blushed for the second time in as many minutes, a bad omen for their drive together. There was definitely no way she would admit where her thoughts had gone, so she thought up something else as quickly as she could. “Nothing. Just the sheer number of trucks. It’s all so very...Texas.”
He smirked, and her heart skipped a beat. He said, “Most people in the city drive them for that reason. They don’t actually get used to haul stuff around.”
He settled her suitcase into the truck bed, among a variety of boxes, some plants, a bunch of metal rods and a number of other things Renee couldn’t identify. Before she could reach for the door, he had it open for her and helped her climb in, making her fingers tingle where they touched. She tried to keep her mind on acceptable topics. “You clearly use yours to haul around plenty. What is all that stuff?”
He gave her a crooked grin. “Most of it’s for your sister, actually. She had a whole list of things she needed to pick up, and I volunteered since I was coming into town to replace a broken generator.”
She looked out the back window and tried to identify the wedding items. “Those metal rods are some kind of arch thing, I’m guessing?” He nodded. “And the plants, of course. And me. She’s really putting you to work,” Renee finished, laughing.
Jeremiah chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “I’m positive it’s nothing compared to what she has in store for you.”
Renee laughed again. A little of the awkward tension was gone and she felt lighter than she had since seeing him, but that ache didn’t go anywhere.
