Page 62 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

“I’m okay. Thanks.” He crouched as he approached the wall, ducking so he wouldn’t hit his head before sinking into the couch.

“I’m just going to . . .” I pointed to the kitchen, then followed my finger.

Hurrying to the cupboard with the glasses, I took one out, filled it from the tap and chugged it in three hard gulps. Then I set it in the sink and took a deep breath as I looked out the kitchen window.

Be bold.

I could do this.

I left the kitchen and took a seat next to Jackson. A silence settled over the room as my shoulder pressed into his arm, but neither of us moved. Neither of us said a word. Though we were both breathing harder than normal.

Should I touch him? Maybe stroke his leg or something?

My hands wouldn’t move off my lap.

Be bold.

I could kiss him. I bet he’d really be surprised if I swung up and straddled his lap. Except in this dress, there’d be no swinging or straddling. And dress issues aside, I probably wouldn’t have done it anyway.

“I can hear the gears turning, Willa. What’s going on in your mind?”

“Nothing.” I stared at my lap. “I, um . . .”

Be bold. For once in your life, be bold.

I took a deep breath, then blurted, “Doyouwannastaythenight?”

“Say that again?”

My eyes squeezed shut. The courage I’d scraped together to say it once had nearly wiped out my reserves, but I summoned just a smidge more. “Do you want to stay the night?”

“Yes.”

My eyes flew open as I looked up at him, astonished. “Really?”

“Yes, but I’m not going to.”

“Oh.” I wanted to crawl under the couch cushions and hide. “Okay.”

“We need to talk about a few things first.” He angled his body on the sofa, turning my way. When I didn’t move or look away from my lap, he put his hands on my shoulders, gently twisting them sideways.

I still didn’t budge.

“Work with me here, babe.”

No one had ever called me babe before, and I always thought men used it when they couldn’t remember a woman’s name.

“I don’t know if I like being called babe.”

Jackson laughed. “Then I’ll think of something else. Now will you spin this way and look at me? Please?”

I sighed and turned, reluctantly lifting my eyes to meet his.

“You’re the best kiss I’ve had in my life.”

Me? I was a good kisser? “No way.”

“Yes, way. And that tells me that everything else we do is going to be off the charts. But I messed up your first kiss. I’m not going to mess up the rest. If I stay tonight, I doubt I’ll keep my hands to myself.”