Northern Fascination (4 page)

She stepped back at the same time he did. Surprise skittered across his handsome face, as if he wasn’t quite sure what had just almost happened.

Self-consciousness seemed to strike them both at the same time. Jenna glanced at the front window again. Teddy stood outside, her mouth gaping open. Jenna waved. Teddy snapped her mouth shut, grinned and waved back. She jerked her thumb over her finger mouthing, “Kids.”

Jenna nodded. The kids were big on snowball fights. Getting caught in the crossfire was a common occurrence. Her standing in Curl’s and nearly kissing a man, however, wasn’t. Norris might think they needed a newspaper, but news spread faster here than water ran downhill. “Well, that’ll be all over town before you can sneeze,” Jenna said.

Logan shrugged. “I’m okay with that if you are.”

The fleeting crazy idea that he might’ve actually came to see her danced once again through her head. Hadn’t he almost kissed her?

She nodded, looking away from his intent gaze. “So,” Jenna said, busying herself lining up the nail polishes that didn’t need lining up, “it’s been a long time.” What she wanted to do was wrap her arms back around him, run her fingers through his hair and see if she was still tingling all over after he kissed her. Because she’d certainly been tingling at their near-miss.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Logan shove his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, it has been. I didn’t make the ten-year class reunion. Did you?”

Jenna shook her head. “No. I didn’t make it, either.” She’d decided against it. She’d still been unsettled in her life and hadn’t felt up to going and making the inevitable comparisons. The people she’d really wanted to keep up with, well, she did that through Facebook anyway. “So, you still live in Marietta?”

“I live in Atlanta, well, Vinings.” Jenna knew the area which attracted upscale young professionals. Her business and apartment had been in a much less affluent part of town. “My parents are still in Marietta, though,” he said.

There was pause as if neither one of them quite knew what to say next. Okay, she couldn’t stand it any longer. She had to ask.

“What are you doing here?” she said.

“How’d you wind up here?” he said at the same time.

They both laughed, easing some of the tension between them. “Ladies, first,” he said.

She didn’t want to get into the whole Tad thing right now. She wanted to find out why the heck
he
was here. “A man. What else?”

“Oh,” Logan said, a peculiar look on his face and she didn’t miss his quick glance at her ring finger. Hmm, interesting.

“A man who’s now out of the picture,” she added. She didn’t care if she was being obvious or not.

“Oh.” This time he sounded altogether different.

“Your turn,” she said. “What brings you here?”

He leaned against the door jamb, looking cool, confident and together. “I needed some time out of the office. The last several years have been crazy, especially since I became CFO.”

Ah, she got it. He was a harried executive taking some much-needed vacation time. But wasn’t Good Riddance just a little off the executive down-time list? Shouldn’t he be golfing somewhere in the Caribbean. Sometimes men were so obvious. She played along. “I’m impressed.” Actually, she was impressed.

She reminded herself she was CFO, CEO and COO all rolled into one. Of course, her fledgling enterprise was probably small potatoes compared to his firm. “Who do you work for?”

“JMC, Inc.” That didn’t ring any bells. She must’ve looked blank. “Jeffries Mining Consolidated.”

Mining. Yes, she got it now. It all clicked into place…and made a heck of a lot more sense than thinking he’d come all this way just to look her up. It would’ve been nice had Merrilee had let her in on the real reason Logan was here. If she knew. Still, Jenna was not disappointed he wasn’t here to see her. Not even a little bit. Not even a smidge.

“You’re here about the gold,” she said, proud of her even voice and smile. There had been a guy a couple of months ago whom Merrilee had identified as a scout. Merrilee had never told the guy she was on to him, but she’d known. Heck, everyone in town knew it was just a matter of time. And apparently, the time was here. If Logan was CFO, he was the big money man. “You’re here to make an offer.” It wasn’t a question.

He had a good poker face but she caught a glimpse of surprise nonetheless. “It’s a very generous offer. No one here will ever have to work again.”

Two things immediately came to mind. One, she
wanted
to work. She loved what she did and was excited about the spa she was building. Her second thought was, what would they all do if they didn’t work? Sit around and look at one another?

“That sounds a little crazy to me.”

“Trust me, once you all consider the possibilities, moving won’t seem like such an ordeal. I’ve seen—”

“Whoa. Back up a bit. Did you say moving?”

He ran his hand over his head, his composure rattled. “Jenna, pretty well everyone will have to move. We’ll only need a few people to run the airstrip and a couple of the other businesses.”

“So, you want the town to pack up and move on?”

“Of course. That’s why we’ll pay everyone so hand somely.”

Jenna sat down in the barber/salon chair. “You mean it.”

“Absolutely.”

Jenna thought about Merrilee, who had invested her heart and soul into Good Riddance. Then there was Merrilee’s husband, Bull, a Vietnam vet who’d called this place home for the past twenty-something years. And how about Donna, who’d built her business and found acceptance here? Skye Shanahan had given up her medical practice in Atlanta to move here and was now happily married to quirky Dalton Saunders. And those were just a few of the people who’d built a life around Good Riddance. Poor Logan, he didn’t have a clue.

Merrilee had obviously just let him have his say. Although Jenna was surprised Merrilee hadn’t called Jenna to let her know. But at least now, the situation made sense. He hadn’t come to look her up, to find the one that got away. Wasn’t there a saying, hope springs eternal in the hearts of women and fools? If there wasn’t, there should be.

“I see. And you’ve done this before? Bought out an entire town?”

“A couple of times. It’s usually just a couple of individuals with property but yeah, we’ve bought out towns twice before, remote places like this. Some of the people relocated to another remote area and others took off back to the city once they had money to burn. In both cases, we improved their quality of life.”

Bless his heart, he was as sincere as her mother was every time she told Jenna she’d finally met her true love—all five times. “Does your job depend on this?” She hoped not.

“Why? Don’t you think everyone’s going to be fairly amenable?”

“Of course.” They were a friendly lot. No one was going to buy into his proposal, but they weren’t going to run him out of town on the rails, either. Nope he was about to be laughed all the way home.

“Maybe, if you’re not too busy, you could show me around and introduce me to some of the townspeople.”

He had been the debate team captain. He was a CFO and obviously very successful. Still, he didn’t have a clue. Oh, boy. And people sometimes thought
she
was an airhead.

“Sure. No problem.”

N
ELSON ADMITTED IT
. H
E WAS
in—what was the term Jenna used the other day, right—a funk.

Three months ago, they’d repainted the Good Riddance Medical Facility. Dr. Skye had insisted sunny yellow paint would help everyone deal better with the upcoming long periods of darkness. But today, not even the bright yellow walls in the waiting room/reception/book keeping area was lifting his spirits. He’d even smudged earlier, all to no avail. He was still in a negative energy spiral brought on by uncertainty. His heart was heavy with his dilemma.

How could he leave Good Riddance? But then again, if he stayed would he ever truly be fulfilled?

The door opened and Teddy stepped in, pulling him out of his musings. “See you later, Ellie,” she said over her shoulder. Turning, she greeted him, “Hi, Nelson.”

“Hi.” He waved at Ellie, his cousin’s former girlfriend, as she passed the front window.

Teddy was their last afternoon appointment. Her blond hair hung loose rather than in the ponytail she wore when she was working over at Gus’s, waiting tables and helping run the kitchen.

“You saged, didn’t you?” she said.

That coaxed a smile out of him. Teddy insisted on calling it saging rather than smudging. “I did.”

“I like the way it smells.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s much nicer than the after-effects of ammonia.”

Nelson shrugged. “I’ve gotten used to both.” In keeping with standard medical practice, he disinfected the waiting room and exam rooms to meet standards. In keeping with native tradition, he cleansed the energy and vibrations of the same rooms on a regular basis by burning the sacred sage. It was a melding of Western and Native culture, a line he had learned to straddle early on. It was the same line he currently wrestled with crossing.

Teddy unwound her scarf from her neck, tossed it onto one of the folding chairs lining the wall and headed for the communal coffee pot Nelson kept going in the waiting room.

“Hey, Jenna’s got a boyfriend in town,” Teddy said as she poured a cup.

That
got his attention. “Really? And how do you know he’s a boyfriend?”

“Cause Jenna doesn’t come close to kissing a guy in the front window of Curl’s every day. Have you ever known that to happen?”

Nelson listened, preparing a cup of cloudberry tea, while Teddy recounted Jenna’s embrace with the man from her past, a guy who’d flown in earlier in the day.

He wasn’t totally surprised. He’d sensed changes in the air and then the raven, a spirit guide symbolizing change, had appeared before him twice now. He hadn’t been sure what kind of change was coming. But transformation or growth was a certainty.

Humans were fallible, their perceptions coloring or distorting their reality.

The raven didn’t lie. However, Nelson still needed clarity because he had no idea if the message was intended for him or Jenna—or perhaps each of them.

He blew on his tea. Clarity would come in its own time, the same as Jenna’s man had come in his.

“I’
LL BE GLAD TO INTRODUCE
you around town. You’ll love it here.”

Logan was fairly certain Jenna didn’t get the big picture. In fact, the glimmer in her big baby blues indicated she found his mission amusing.

Of course, he could be wrong. Even he had to admit he wasn’t thinking clearly—at all. He felt as out of sync now than he had when he’d stood across the street staring at her through the window like a fool. Maybe he was suffering from some weird form of jetlag?

Something had him out of sorts. He was always calm, cool and collected. Instead he’d almost tripped over his tongue telling her she was even prettier than he remembered. Then he damn near lost his mind and kissed her like a starving man handed a steak. If it hadn’t been for that snowball landing on the window…

And the hell of it was, he still had the urge to kiss her—long, hard and deep. But it was more than an urge. It was more like a need, a hunger that was as real as when he’d sat down in front of that bowl of stew earlier. The imprint of her body against his was seared into him as was the smell of her skin, the glimmer in her eyes as she lowered her lashes. And to top it all off, her pre-emptive announcement about the gold and the buyout had shaken his normal aplomb.

Something definitely had him out of sorts.

She looked at him kind of funny and he realized he’d just been standing there, lost in thought. Thinking and talking weren’t usually mutually exclusive for him. In fact, he was damn good at thinking on his feet and was known in higher circles as a top-notch negotiator. But right now he was conducting himself like a top-notch imbecile.

Still, this could work to his advantage. Jenna had agreed to introduce him around town. Perfect. According to Merrilee, everyone loved Jenna, so it stood to reason he’d be well-received if he was with her. And, as a bonus, he got to spend time with her. He had to admit he was as fascinated by her now as he had been years ago. Aside from the fact that she was pretty, there was something about her that was different, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. That bugged him. He didn’t like leaving things, people or situations open-ended.

“Great.” He looked around the room devoid of customers. “Depending on your schedule, I’m flexible.”

She ran a manicured nail down an open appointment book on a small desk that also held a laptop and phone. There was something wickedly sensual about that simple movement which sent another wave of heat through him. That was rich—a heat wave in Alaska in October.

It seemed as if all his brain cells wanted to focus on—or seemed capable of focusing on—was the remembered feel of her pressed against him, of wondering what it would be like to have her run that fingernail over his bare chest, down his belly, circle his… He slammed on the mental brakes. Blood pooled hot and heavy below his belt. Madness lay in that direction, if not sure embarrassment.

“I’ve got one more appointment,” she said, pursing her lips. He really wished she wouldn’t do that, even though it was obviously contemplative rather than an invitation. “Wait, no, Nancy cancelled and I forgot to mark it off. She and Leo own the dry goods store two doors down, but you probably know that, don’t you?” He did so he nodded. “They got in an early shipment. You wouldn’t think it, but trust me, that will
wreck
Nancy’s cuticles. There wasn’t any point in a mani until she finished unpacking boxes and stocking shelves.”

Logan found himself smiling, unwillingly charmed by her…ingenuity. “I do trust you on that point. I have no idea what would or wouldn’t wreck a cuticle. That’s your expertise.”

“Then come on. I need to check on the interior construction for my spa.” Her smile seemed to brighten the room by about sixty-watts. “Well, I don’t really need to check but I’d like to check.” She eyed his jacket. “It’s on the other end of town and it’s pretty cold out there. Are you up for the walk?”

First, there was no way he was about to admit he might be cold. Never let them see you sweat, never second guess yourself and never admit a weakness was the motto instilled in a Jeffries from birth. Second, he seriously doubted being cold was a remote possibility, regardless of the weather conditions, if he was with her. There was something about Jenna that notched his internal thermostat up several degrees. “I’m definitely up for it.”

The second the words left his mouth, he realized how they sounded…and she did as well. Jenna blushed, a whoosh of color that touched from her neck to her hairline. “The walk,” he said, which really only made it worse because then she glanced down to the front of his jeans. “I’m up for the walk.”

“Right,” she said. “Of course.” She pulled a fuzzy pink and white scarf off of a peg hanger on the wall. “It doesn’t exactly match your outfit but if you’d like to borrow it, it’s yours.” She held it out to him.

It was sweet of her to offer, but he wasn’t wearing that scarf, at least not in this lifetime. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”

She wrapped the scarf around her neck and grabbed a soft matching cap. “I’m guessing you’ll pass on the hat as well.”

He laughed. “Yeah.”

Jenna grinned, putting it on her head and pulling it down past her ears. She looked like mouthwatering cotton candy. The light, spun confection that melted against his tongue had always been his favorite part of the fair. It was one of his secret weaknesses. It looked like Jenna was turning out to be another.

“There are two ways to look at it,” she said, pulling on gloves. “I suppose you could think of it as an insult to your manhood. Personally, I think it’d take a man who was very sure and confident in his own masculinity to walk down the street wearing pink, not caring what anyone thought.”

Logan nodded. “Excellent point. However, since I’m here on business, I do care what people think.”

“Oh, yeah.” She shook her head as if suddenly recalling a salient fact. “That buying the town bit. Sure.” He automatically took a step forward and held her coat for her as she put it on. She glanced over her shoulder at him, no small hint of surprise and appreciation in her eyes. “Why, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Good manners had been taught right after stoicism in the Jeffries household. His father had hammered home the one and his mother had been in charge of the other.

Jenna buttoned up and offered him another of those sunny grins. Damn, he could bask in her smile all day long. “All right, then, come on and meet Good Riddance. You’re going to love it here.”

She really didn’t get it. It was on the tip of his tongue to point out that loving it, or even liking it, was immaterial. He just wanted to buy it and offer everyone a better life with the money they’d make. And not that it mattered, but somewhere inside, he knew that would disappoint Jenna. And he found, rather surprisingly, that he was loath to do that just yet. She’d come around to his way of thinking before all was said and done.

So, he nodded. “I’m sure I will.”

L
OGAN MUST SERIOUSLY BE
on another planet if he thought he could buy the town, but he was cute in his earnestness. No worries. He’d get it soon enough. And Jenna really liked the way he held her coat and the door. She tamped back the inkling of disappointment that he hadn’t actually come to see her and then let it go, determined to live in the moment.

Jenna preceded him out onto the snow-covered sidewalk. “Thank you, kind sir,” she said, feeling a little bit like a princess in one of the Disney movies she loved to watch. Mulan, Tangled and Beauty and the Beast were her three faves. She’d bought all of them on DVD.

“You’re welcome. Jenna, when you’re introducing me today, let’s not mention the buyout until I’ve had a chance to talk to Mrs. Swenson first. You know, out of respect, since she’s the founder and mayor.”

She stopped on the sidewalk and he skidded to a stop beside her. “You haven’t told Merrilee yet?”

He looked kind of funny. “Well, no.”

“So, why’d you tell her you were here?”

“I didn’t say exactly. We got off on a tangent when I asked her about you.”

“What? So you haven’t mentioned wanting to buy the town to Merrilee?”
That
had never occurred to her. Merrilee hadn’t been too busy to tell her about Logan’s plan—she was in the dark. It explained a lot, like why Logan still saw buying the town as a viable option and why Merrilee hadn’t called her a second time. Jenna remembered Merrilee’s teasing tone, Teddy looking through the window at Jenna and Logan in a near-kiss and suddenly, it all spelled misunderstanding.

“No. I was going to talk to her and then…things just got kind of off track.”

“Oh, great. This is just great.” It was one thing if she’d thought at first that Logan had come to see her. But now everyone would think it. She felt kind of ill.

“You’ve lost me.”

“Now everyone will think you came for me.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“Thanks.” She could’ve sworn she saw a momentary hurt in his eyes. There was certainly no glimmer of a smile.

Good grief, men and their delicate egos. “I don’t mean
you’re
embarrassing. People will be all excited because I’ve got a new man in my life. Then, I’ll be pitied because you’re not the new man in my life. So, then it’ll be like oh, he’s just here to buy the town and not because he came to see Jenna.”

“I’m frightened to say that I almost, not quite, but
almost,
followed that illogical reasoning.”

She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I could kill you.” Except she really did want to kiss him, at least just once, just so she could actually know what it felt like. That mouth…

“No worries. If we keep standing out on the sidewalk to have this conversation, I’ll freeze to death sooner than later.”

“I thought you were a big macho man who didn’t need my scarf or hat.”

“I don’t, honey—”

“Don’t call me honey in that condescending tone.” Not when she’d fantasized about hearing it for real. “I don’t,
Jenna,
as long as I’m moving to keep my blood flowing and not standing in one spot turning into a human popsicle while you fall apart because people might think I traveled all the way from Atlanta to Good Riddance because I couldn’t stay away from you.” He made it sound totally preposterous.

He started walking and she had a choice. She could either walk or stand there staring at his back. She walked because she wasn’t done with him. “I swear. I thought you were supposed to be smart.” He was the one who was preposterous. “It would be fine if you’d done that.”

“It would’ve?” This time he stopped, looking at her as if she’d lost her mind.

“Of course. The problem is, it’ll already be all over town. By now everyone thinks you came for me. But you didn’t.”

“So, the embarrassing part is that I’m not a hometown stalker?”

Humph. Didn’t the man possess a romantic bone in his body? Apparently not. “FYI, that wouldn’t make you a stalker.”