Read Vibrant Heart: Book 1 in the Great Plains Romance Series for Free Online

expect it to be?”
    He laughed. “No, not really.” He smiled as Melanie relaxed again, letting her eyes close. “Then again, some things are better than I could have ever imagined.” He slid across the seat to kiss her lightly on the lips. Before she could put up her hands to push him away, he returned to his place behind the wheel. “Wasn’t my imagination. You do taste like raspberry.” He started the truck and winked at her as he licked his lips.

Chapter Nine
    They made the drive back to the house in silence, although for different reasons. Melanie was pretty sure that Jake was proud of himself for putting her back on edge. When he started humming as he drove, she became even more convinced of his gloating. Meanwhile, she was stewing at his ability to make her insides flutter with a quick peck on the lips.
    She couldn’t really be surprised that the unexpected attention from Jake was causing her body to react in such powerful ways. It had been so long since her last date. She’d been saving herself for Raymond, convinced that once he saw how she had succeeded in Chicago, he would beg to be part of her life again. He’d been so worried that life in the big city would change her that he’d refused to risk it. But she hadn’t changed. She’d thrived—and waited patiently for the chance to step back into his life.
    Yet now he had Anna and Melanie had no one.
    She tried to remember when she’d last gone out with someone, but her thoughts were continually interrupted by the memory of Jake’s kiss in the barn. It really had been a delicious kiss, and if they had met in Chicago, she’d have been thrilled to see where it went with him. But she would not go through this again, a long-distance relationship with someone from the country, not after Raymond. And she certainly wasn’t going to move back and become a farm wife.
    No, now she just needed to focus on surviving until she could return to Chicago, where she would go out with every guy she could until she found someone who could kiss just as well as—no, better than!—Jake. Maybe she’d sign up with one of those dating services. Finding someone in Chicago would allow her to make a complete and clean break with Nebraska.
    As soon as Jake pulled the truck to a stop in front of her father’s garage, Melanie had her door open and was heading into the house.
    “Oh heavens, sweetie,” Evelyn said when Melanie stepped into the kitchen. “You look as white as a sheet. Are you feeling okay?”
    “I’m just a little tired.” Melanie ignored Jake as he walked in behind her. “It’s been a long day, and I think the traveling is catching up to me.”
    Evelyn grasped her hand and patted it. “Of course, of course, sweetie. You go on upstairs and lie down for a bit. The party will still be here when you feel up to it.” She nudged Melanie toward the stairs.
    Melanie didn’t need much encouragement. Putting the sounds of Evelyn and Jake preparing more refreshments for the guests behind her, she went straight to her old room, which was now a guest room, although the furniture was the same as when she lived there. She removed her dress and draped it over the desk chair, then climbed between the sheets, deeply inhaling the crisp, fresh smell. The familiar feel of her old bed was relaxing, and she closed her eyes.
    Jake’s smiling face came to life behind her eyelids. Melanie groaned and rolled over, turning her back to the room’s door, as if that would somehow block out the thoughts of him. Instead, he started laughing at her, like he somehow knew that he was tormenting her in her thoughts. It was a deep chuckle, the kind that Melanie knew made his chest rumble. She remembered how it felt to rest her cheek on his chest, his arms closing around her protectively. She could almost smell the mix of his earthy cologne and light sweat from the afternoon’s humidity. She told herself to stop this line of thinking, that it wouldn’t help her relax. Then again,