Seeds of Desire Read Free Page A

coolly.
    “Prickle, prickle.” He grinned. “So, dinner? I promise not
to make you think I’m a jerk if you promise not to act like I am one.” He
hesitated. “What happened earlier? Didn’t happen. Don’t worry. I’ll never
mention it again.”
    She barely stifled a sigh of relief. As long as they were in
agreement, she’d at least be able to sit in the same room with him—and the same
car—without feeling so awkward she couldn’t even look at the man.
    Her stomach growled, reminding her that she’d been too
nervous to eat before the town meeting. She wouldn’t turn down a free meal,
even if it did mean having to spend time with Jared.
    At least the view would be good. Spending enough time for a
meal with him might be uncomfortable, but her imagination would keep her
company. When she looked at him in that T-shirt, her fingers itched to creep
under its hem, to stroke the bare skin above the waistband of those jeans.
Fantasizing about that would definitely make the meal tolerable, if she just
managed to keep her thoughts hidden from him.
    Hell, she didn’t even want to admit to herself that she lusted
for him. She damn sure didn’t want him to catch on. It would only make him more
insufferably cocky. And would practically guarantee another grope session when
they returned to the motel. No matter how horny he made her, she wouldn’t let
that happen.
    Even though her nipples and clit perked up at the thought.
    She picked up her cardigan in case the weather turned cold,
always a possibility in spring in this area, and trailed him out to the car.
    Even in the middle of nowhere, apparently, people liked going
out to eat. Maybe because there was nothing else to do. Within a few miles of
the hotel, they found three restaurants, including one that billed itself as
“family-friendly”. That apparently meant that, unlike the other two, it didn’t
have a bar, according to the sign out front. Jared chose it, which surprised
her. He seemed like the kind who’d want to chug down a few after a day of
rallying the locals.
    He pulled into the parking lot and said, “This looks as good
as anywhere.”
    “No alcohol,” she pointed out.
    He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Do you drink? I
didn’t think you did. If you want, I can find somewhere else.”
    She didn’t drink. The stuff tasted horrible to her. Not to
mention the whole thing about alcohol lowering inhibitions, something she couldn’t
afford around him right now. She hadn’t expected him to know that, though. “No,
this is fine,” she said. “You’re right, I don’t drink.”
    He nodded. “Me neither. Not for the past five years, anyway.
Let’s see if they have a table available.” He snorted at his own joke. Only one
other car sat in the lot.
    Inside, one family sat at a table near the door. A mother,
father and two kids in the toddler range, one of whom was throwing a minor fit
about being confined to a highchair.
    “Ah, domestic bliss,” Jared muttered. He led Cassidy to a
table on the other side of the restaurant.
    So he didn’t like kids. Cassidy made a note of the fact,
even though it would never be an issue for her. As soon as the tree-planting
ended, she would probably never even see him again.
    It took only a couple of minutes for a waitress to bring
menus and within a surprisingly short amount of time, hot meals sat on the
table in front of them. The food tasted decent.
    To Cassidy’s surprise, the company wasn’t bad either. Away
from his role as the public face of JaBro, Jared was surprisingly funny and
charming, and he entertained her with stories about his father and other
relatives who worked for JaBro. They’d never had a social conversation before,
she realized. Only chatter and banter during drives and while preparing
presentations for the various towns they’d visited. Those conversations usually
ended with some snide, sarcastic comment from him.
    Here, with no pressure and no one but her to impress, he
actually