Breaking the Silence by Katie Allen Read Free Book Online

restrained the urge to jump up and down like a game show contestant and turned as nonchalantly as possible toward that deep, deep voice. Her happy smile couldn’t be held back by any force of will, however. Jenny knew she was grinning like an insane monkey as she looked at William, who, she noticed, had not gotten any less beautiful over the past two days.
    “Hi.” For Pete’s sake , Jenny thought. Once again he had reduced her to ditzy-cheerleader-speaking skills. Nothing against cheerleaders, of course—although she didn’t mention it to most people, she had been one herself back in high school.
    Will nodded. Her conversational skills might be a bit scattered but his were nonexistent.
    “I’ve been meaning to ask you…” Jenny grabbed at the first topic that came to mind. “If you weren’t walking on the path the other day, what were you doing here?” She winced. That had come out more rudely than she’d intended.
    The severe edges of his cheekbones reddened and his eyes slid away until he was looking at the toe of his boot.
    “Sorry. You don’t have to answer that—it’s not really any of my business.” Jenny tried to backtrack.
    Sure , she thought, exasperated. I meet the guy of my dreams and then I grill him about why he’s exactly where I want him to be. She shook her head a little— whoa, I confused myself with that one.
    “It’s okay,” Will said. Jenny jerked her attention away from her non-grammatical internal dialogue and focused on Will. He was still looking at his boot. “I see you sometimes.”
    “Walking Rosie, you mean?” Jenny asked, a little confused.
    “Yeah. From the house.”
    “And…” she prodded, still baffled.
    Will paused. In the silence, Rosie’s panting sounded loud. The dog was sitting, surprisingly, and waiting patiently, which was even more of a shock.
    “And I wanted to meet you,” Will said, rushing out the words so that they all ran together, without ever looking up from his boot.
    Jenny stared at him, bewildered. This man, who looked like he had stepped right out of an action movie, had walked from his house on that cold, snowy afternoon just because he saw her on the path and wanted to meet her? Things like that did not happen to her. She went to work, walked her dog, put on her jammies and went to bed. It seemed surreal.
    Will moved as if to turn away, just a flinch really, and Jenny realized that she had been staring at him with her mouth hanging open—quite unattractively, she was sure.
    “Sorry, I was just surprised. That you would notice me, I mean.” Jenny frowned a little—that had come out a little more self-deprecating than she’d planned. “I’m glad you introduced yourself though.”
    At that, Will’s shoulders lowered a little, as if he had been holding his breath. Jenny was struck again by the contrast between his attractiveness and his shyness. It was endearing.
    Their stilted conversation was interrupted by Rosie, who had exhausted her short supply of patience and decided to continue on their walk, pulling an unprepared Jenny off balance.
    “Wait—Rosie, hold your horses for a sec, would you? Do you have time to walk with us?” Jenny asked over her shoulder, emboldened by Will’s self-conscious admission. She would be stupid not to grab what was offered to her on a hunky blond platter, now wouldn’t she?
    Will looked a little startled by the invitation but nodded and caught up to Jenny easily. He reached over and took Rosie’s leash. Jenny released it, surprised by the confidence of the gesture. Shy one minute, old-fashioned and manly the next—he was an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a something-or-another, however that saying went. Jenny stopped trying to figure it out and just enjoyed the freedom of walking without the hindrance of a tugging dog. She watched Will out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t even seem to feel Rosie’s pull but held the leash with all the nonchalance of someone walking a Chihuahua.
    “You