Gin Fling (Bootleg Springs, #5)(32)

“Same here. So what does that mean?”

“Well, with no set future, maybe we could still have a really good time in the present? Kind of like no strings?” I suggested. I could balance this. My dissertation, my research, my training. I could squeeze excellent sex into my schedule. It would be easier than trying to wedge a romantic relationship into the mix.

“See where it goes with no demands? No expectations?” he asked.

I was hypnotized by the firelight on his face. He could have asked me to donate both my kidneys to a black-market health scam, and I would have dumbly handed him a scalpel.

“No demands. No expectations. A fling.” I’d never had a fling before. And I liked the idea of one day reminiscing about my summer fling with the sexy, interesting, sweet personal trainer.

“A fling,” he repeated.

I couldn’t tell if he liked the idea or was horrified by my suggestion.

“Think about it,” I said.

“I will.” A smile curved his lips. “I have a feeling I’ll be thinking about it a lot.”

“There y’all are!”

I jumped, trying to extricate myself from Jonah. But his hands were caught in my hair.

“Ouch!” I yelped as my head whipped backward. The pain returned and roared through my system.

“Am I interrupting’?” Scarlett asked smugly. I’d never had murderous thoughts before, but if my eyeballs could shoot teeny tiny daggers, Scarlett Bodine would be bleeding from a million wounds.

“Need something, Scarlett?” Jonah asked, extracting his hands from my hair.

“I thought I’d give you your birthday present early,” she said.

“Now?” he asked. He glanced at me and reached for my hand. I swooned like a lovesick nerd drooling over the star quarterback. “We’re kind of in the middle of something.” I mentally swooned again, harder this time.

“While I’m real happy about what y’all are in the middle of, seein’ as how this was my plan all along, this present can’t wait,” Scarlett insisted. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder.

“Hello, Jonah.”

“Mom?”





17





Jonah





“Happy early birthday.” My mom grinned and opened her arms.

Jenny Leland was tall and lean with a short cap of blonde hair. She had a dimple in one cheek that was perpetually visible because she was always smiling.

I had my father’s coloring, but I had my mom’s green, green eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I hugged her, lifting her off the ground. She laughed just like she had when I’d hugged her like this at my high school graduation.

“Surprise. Scarlett called and said it was high time I came to Bootleg Springs for a visit,” Mom said, looking fondly at my sister. “And I couldn’t say no.”

“Not many people can,” Shelby said.

Great. My mother crashed my first kiss with Shelby. Maybe Shelby could explore the possibility of operating with no expectations. But judging the sparkle in my mom’s eyes—mirroring the one in Scarlett’s—there were other expectations on the line.

“Mom, this is Shelby,” I said, making the introduction quickly.

“Shelby, this is my mom, Jenny. Shelby is my—”

Scarlett leaned forward expectantly.

“Roommate,” Shelby supplied quickly. “Scarlett was kind enough to rent me a room in Jonah’s place.”

“Well, isn’t that nice,” Mom said with a big smile.

She’d definitely seen the kiss. Shit.

She looked good. Tall and trim with her sunny hair sweeping low over her forehead. She had faint lines next to her eyes and mouth that, in my biased opinion, made her look even softer and lovelier.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I confessed. “I missed you.”

She hugged me again, tighter this time. “I missed you, too. Now, who’s going to introduce me to all these other Bodine boys?”

“Scarlett, why don’t you round up your brothers, and I’ll get Jenny a drink,” Shelby offered.

“That would be lovely, Shelby,” Mom said.

Shelby and Scarlett hurried off in opposite directions. “Now, I see why you didn’t want to fly home for a visit,” Mom announced. “She’s gorgeous and polite. I give you my blessing.”

“That was literally our first kiss that you barreled into, Oh Ye of Terrible Timing,” I warned her. “Don’t start putting together a wedding guest list.”

“You never know where you’ll find love,” she said airily.

“I can guarantee it won’t be in Bootleg Springs. I’m not here permanently. Nether is Shelby. If anything, we have the summer.”

“A summer fling then.” Mom sighed.

Even after everything, my mother was a romantic at heart. And maybe I had inherited a bit of that, too. But there was also the piece of me that wasn’t sure if I was over Rene.

I sighed. “I promise you. Eventually I’ll settle down and give you as many grandbabies as you want. Just not right now.”

She squeezed my hand. “I’m only mostly teasing you. You look happy, Jonah. And I don’t want to derail that. You deserve to be happy.”