Free Her Fill-In Fiancé by Stacy Connelly Page B

offer.
    Jake wondered at first if maybe it was his imagination that the storekeeper had purposely ignored Sophia. One glance in her direction, though, and he saw how she’d half turned away from the man as if she could somehow avoid a direct blow from the obvious slight. Definitely not his imagination.
    â€œJust looking,” he answered.
    The storekeeper’s frown remained as much of a fixture, Jake thought, as the town’s Victorian landmarks. As he slid the postcard back in its slot, Sophia murmured, “Nothingever changes, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s living with all this history that makes it so hard for people to forget the past.”
    â€œIf you want to go, we can leave right now,” Jake offered, lowering his voice so only she could hear. He might not know what was going on, but he refused to keep Sophia in an uncomfortable position for a second longer than necessary. Yet neither did he want to give the shopkeeper the satisfaction of thinking he’d run Sophia out. “Or we could stay a while just to piss this guy off.”
    He met Sophia’s brown eyes, and as their gazes held, he watched as strength and determination straightened her shoulders, shored up her spine and brought a hint of color back to her cheeks. It was crazy to think he had anything to do with her recovery. Crazier still to think he could feel a connection, a current of electricity arcing between them, and that together they balanced out each other’s strengths and weaknesses.…
    Sophia bit her bottom lip but not before he saw her start to smile. “We can’t leave yet. Not until we find you a souvenir to commemorate your time in Clearville.”
    His attention still on that teasing hint of a smile, Jake could think of only one memento he longed to take with him when he left Clearville, but it wasn’t for sale. He was going to have to earn that one.
    Refocusing on the display rack and ignoring the rush of desire quickening his pulse, he asked, “What do you recommend?”
    â€œWell,” she paused, getting into the spirit of shopping for useless souvenirs, “how about a magnet in the shape of California? A deck of cards showing off our coastline? A snow globe of the town?”
    â€œAs hard as all those are to resist, I’ll have to pass. I have my eye on these…” Reaching past Sophia’s head to adifferent display, he grabbed a funky, gold-rimmed pair of sunglasses that would have done the King proud.
    â€œDon’t even start.” Sophia held up a warning finger as she backed away, but a reluctant smile tugged at her mouth.
    On their first date in St. Louis, they’d taken a walk around the mall while waiting for a movie to begin. Inside a small costume jewelry store, they found a sunglasses display filled with crazy styles. They’d spent so much time trying on the outrageous frames and laughing at their silly reflections, they’d ended up missing the movie.
    The film had been a comedy, he remembered, one he still hadn’t gone to, knowing he wouldn’t enjoy it as much or laugh nearly as hard as he had in the small shop with Sophia.
    â€œAre you sure?” he asked, lowering the glasses toward her face. “Because these really look like you.”
    â€œNo way.” Sophia ducked away and insisted, “Those have ‘Jake’ written all over them.”
    She reached for the frames, but Jake didn’t let go and their fingers entwined around the thin plastic. If he thought they’d experienced a connection, a current before, he had no doubt of it now. He half expected to see sparks striking where their skin met. Sophia sucked in a quick breath that somehow seemed to pull the air straight from his lungs…
    The bell above the door chimed, announcing the arrivals of new customers, and the shopkeeper called out a greeting much warmer than the welcome Jake and Sophia had received. It was enough to break the moment, and