‘Fine. If the only place I can use my phone is at the top of a hill then I’m going to have to walk up it!’ Making a frustrated sound in her throat, she stalked away.
Jenna opened her mouth to say be careful and then closed it again, leaving the words unspoken. She knew from experience that too much maternal anxiety was counterproductive.
But the guilt was back, eating away at her like acid, corroding her insides. She might have fallen in love with the cottage, but she knew this wasn’t what Lexi wanted.
‘It must be hard, letting them grow up.’ Ryan was standing in the doorway, his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his trousers, a speculative look in his blue eyes as he watched her.
‘You have no idea.’ Keeping her tone light, Jenna walked past him into the garden, her gaze on Lexi as her daughter sauntered across the road and started up the hill. A dozen nightmare scenarios sped through her overactive maternal brain. To control them, she used black humour. Say it aloud and it might not happen. ‘Are there any scary, dangerous individuals at large on Glenmore at the moment?’
‘Well, you’ve already met Mrs Parker—they don’t come much scarier or more dangerous than her. She’s wanted in five counties.’ His arm brushed against hers and Jenna felt her whole body tingle.
She stepped away from him, keeping her distance as she would from an electric fence. ‘I was thinking more of axe-wielding murderers and rapists.’
‘We had dozens of those last summer, but Mrs Parker saw them off. It’s hard to commit a crime in a community that knows what you’re planning to eat for supper.’
As Lexi’s figure grew smaller, and then vanished from sight, Jenna felt a moment of panic. Catching his eye, she gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘Yes, I know—I’m overreacting. It’s hard to forget this isn’t London. You must think I’m crazy. I think I’m crazy!’
‘That isn’t what I’m thinking.’
‘It would be if you knew what was going through my mind. It’s taking all my will-power not to charge after her and follow her up that hill.’
His gaze shifted from her face to where Lexi had disappeared. ‘I don’t know much about teenagers, but at a guess I’d say that probably isn’t the best idea.’
‘Well, I’d have to be discreet, of course.’ She made a joke of it. ‘I’d probably start by sprinting up the hill and then drop to my stomach and crawl so that she couldn’t see me.’
‘You’re going to have a hell of a job beating off an axe-wielding murderer if you’re crawling on your stomach.’
‘Never underestimate a mother protecting her young.’
‘I’ll remember that.’ He had a deep voice. Deep and male, with a slightly husky timbre that made her think things she hadn’t thought for a long time.
Jenna breathed in slowly and stared at the ridge, trying not to think about his voice. ‘I can’t believe she made it up there so quickly. Lexi isn’t really into exercise. It’s amazing what the lure of a mobile phone signal can do to cure teenage lethargy. I hope she’ll be OK.’
Ryan turned to her, and she noticed that the passing hours had darkened his jaw again. ‘She’s crossed the only road and she’s still alive. She’ll be fine. I’m not so sure about you.’
Her gaze met his and their eyes held.
The rhythm of her heart altered and the oxygen was sucked from the air. The world shrank to this one place—this one man.
Everything else was forgotten.
Mesmerised by those blue eyes, Jenna felt her body come to life, like the slow, sensual unfolding of a bud under the heat of the sun. Not the sultry, languid heat of summer sunshine but the fierce, rapacious scorch of sexual awareness. Like a volcano too long dormant after centuries of sleep, it exploded violently—blowing the lid on everything she believed herself to be. Excitement ripped through her like a consuming, ravenous fire, and in her newly sensitised state she found staring longingly at the firm lines of his mouth.
If she wanted to kiss him, she could…
She was a free woman now.
The shriek of a seagull brought her to her senses and Jenna took a step backwards.
What on earth was she thinking? If she did something crazy, like kissing him, he’d fire her from her job, Lexi would have a nervous breakdown, and she’d be more of an emotional wreck than she was already. And anyway, if she hadn’t been able to trust someone she’d known for fifteen years, what chance was there with someone she’d known for fifteen minutes?
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