Starstruck

Chapter Eleven

Jason Williams had nearly kissed her. If his daughter hadn’t come bursting out onto the deck, Ashley had no doubt that with a half–second more alone with him, she would have been in his arms.

She followed Kendyl up a sweeping staircase constructed of hewn half–logs, painfully aware of the way her knees trembled and her stomach still felt jittery and weak.

Jason Williams. Almost. Kissed. Her.

He had wanted to, anyway. She had seen the sudden heat in those heartbreaking eyes of his, the slight parting of his lips, and hadn’t been able to stop her body’s instinctive sway toward him.

What a jerk, she thought, but the familiar imprecation held no heat whatsoever. She had wanted him to kiss her. Another minute or two and she probably would have begged him to.

They reached Kendyl’s bedroom and she could only stare. "Wow. This is your room?"

"Yep. It’s cool, huh?"

"Very cool." It was a dream of a room for a little girl. Everything was pink and flowery and Ruby had told the truth — her bed was built into a massive playhouse built into the center of the large room. It was like a room inside of a room, with a door and windows and a gabled roof that touched the ceiling.

"Daddy and me built the playhouse. I helped hammer the nails and measure the wood and everything."

"Oh?" It was very hard to dislike a man who could create such a wonderland for his child.

"Yep. My daddy makes really good things. My Aunt Kasi says he has always been good with his hands. She said when he was a kid, he was always making stuff from junk wood he found around. And he’s strong, too. When we builded my bed, he carried all the wood in by himself."

Kendyl frowned for a moment, her brow furrowed in concentration, then it cleared and she smiled. "Oh, and he makes up funny stories. My favorite is about the ugly hedgehog. Daddy does all kinds of voices when he tells stories and he always makes me laugh. You should hear him."

"Oh?" She tried to pretend disinterest, but in truth she was fascinated to hear about Justin’s interactions with his daughter.

"Yeah, and he can swim super fast! You should see him. And he rides horses better than anybody else in the whole wide world. I have my own horse, but my favorite is when I ride with my daddy."

Why did Kendyl suddenly remind her of a used car salesman trying to unload a junker? Ashley wondered uneasily. She really shouldn’t be listening to all these things about Justin. It made him seem too real, entirely too likable.

Still, she forced herself to smile. "It sounds like you have a lot of fun with your dad."

"We’re best buds. Me and Daddy and Aunt Kasi  are a team. Daddy says so. I love him a ton."

She suddenly gave Ashley a funny sidelong look she couldn’t quite interpret. "Except I think maybe he’s lonely."