Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) by Olivia Jaymes (psychology books to read .TXT) 📗

It was Knox's turn to laugh. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from you. When I was your deputy, it was never time to rest or relax. You were one hundred percent go all the time."

"I'm a hell of a lot older now," Jared explained with a chuckle. "Maybe I'm just mellowing in my old age. Either way, there's nothing you can do tonight. Take your girl to dinner or a movie. Have some fun."

It wasn't the worst idea in the world. In fact, it just might be exactly what he and Jenna needed right now.

A little fun. But what?

27

Knox was up to something. Jenna didn't know what and to be truthful, it was slightly anxiety-inducing. She'd never been a big fan of surprises and she struggled with spontaneity. In her job, she'd learned to go with it when something out of left field happened but for the most part, she liked having plans. She was definitely not the "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of woman. She was a list maker. If it wasn't written down, did it really even need doing?

So she was on pins and needles when he led her to the vehicle, telling her that they were going out on a date. She was dressed in jeans and a red blouse plus a pair of old tennis shoes. Her hair was scraped up in a ponytail, although she'd managed to put on a face of makeup earlier in the day. He hadn't given her much of a chance to touch up except to freshen her lip gloss.

"Maybe I should have changed. I'm not really dressed up."

"You don't need to be for where we're going. It's casual."

He too was dressed almost identically, in jeans and a button-down cotton shirt. But somehow, he made the outfit look infinitely better. He was a man born to wear faded blue jeans and make them look...very good.

Her fingers pleated the hem of her blouse. She was still a bit nervous.

"So it's not a fancy place?"

"Not in the least. I thought it would be fun to go somewhere we wouldn't have to worry about manners or what we were wearing."

That did sound nice. But...where were they going?

He glanced over and then did a double take. There wasn't any traffic in sight, so he pulled over onto the side of the road.

"Is everything okay? You're acting strangely, babe."

Should she? They'd become so close since last night. It had all been like a fairy tale. She didn't want to ruin it by complaining. He hadn't done anything wrong. But if they were going to make this relationship work - and she hoped that they were - she couldn't keep secrets from him. Not again. She'd learned her lesson the first time. This one wasn't as big but it might be important to Knox.

"I'm not really all that fond of surprises," she confessed, her fingers clenching the armrest of the car. "I'm sorry. I really am. I just...I guess I'm not very fun that way. I'm not very spontaneous, either."

He frowned for a moment and then smiled. "Is that it? You don't like surprises? I get it. I really do. Okay, then I'll tell you where we're going. We're going to a lake nearby to have a picnic. That's it. Shit, I didn't mean to stress you out. I just wanted you to relax and have some fun."

"I like fun. I just like my fun to be...planned."

He nodded, seeming to actually understand. "It's okay, honey. To be honest, I don't really like surprises, either."

He'd been doing it because he thought she would like to be surprised. Talk about being at cross purposes.

"I promise to never throw you a surprise birthday party," she said, making an X over her heart with her finger. "But you need to know that I'm not spontaneous, either. I like to make lists, remember?."

"I do remember. I can live with that. Sounds like you're probably organized too. That's usually a good thing from what I've seen."

"What if you want to run off to Vegas at the last minute?"

Laughing, he shook his head. "Then I'll talk to you about it."

"But then it won't be last minute."

"We'll still get to go. That's the important thing."

"You're not mad at me about tonight?"

He cocked his head at her question. "Should I be? Did you want to turn around and go back to the house? That would kind of suck because I'd like to have an evening alone with you, but if you want to I will absolutely take you home."

She didn't want to go back.

"I want to be alone with you too."

"Then on we go." He handed her his phone. "If you want to see exactly where we're going the map’s pulled up."

He didn't care. He didn't think she was a pain in the ass.

"I love you," she blurted out, then slapped a hand over her mouth. She could feel the heat rush to her cheeks and she desperately hoped that the floor of the SUV would open up and swallow her.

What was she thinking? People don't say I love you in a car when pulled over to the side of the road. There was no romance. No candlelight. No...just no. She was an idiot. Was he already thinking of ways to run?

He simply sat there for the longest moment in her entire life. She could hear her heart pounding in her eyes and her words narrowed down to only the two of them, sitting in the car. The rest of the world dissolved as she waited