Jack & Diane by Lena Hampton Read Free Book Online Page A

family’s farm.”
    “What are we doing here?”
    “I brought you to watch the sunset. Have you ever seen a clear sunset?”
    “I don’t think I’ve ever watched the sunset. I’ve seen it set, but not on purpose, usually it was just an outcome of driving west in the evening.”
    He pulled a cooler out of the extended cab then walked around to help her out. Every time he helped her down out of the truck he did it so that her body would have to slide next to his. He let down the tailgate. He attempted to help her up but she motioned that she could do it on her own. If he touched her one more time she thought she’d melt into a puddle of hormones under a sexy smelling sweatshirt. He was disappointed he did not get the opportunity to touch her again, but he received the reward of watching her lovely backside as she momentarily struggled to get up on the tailgate. With ease he hopped onto it and sat next to her.
    “Is this a normal first date out of the Jack playboy playbook?”
    “Why do you think I’m a playboy?”
    “You’re far too charming not to be.”
    “So, you think I’m charming?” he said with a smile.
    “Yes, but it’s far from a compliment.” She laughed.
    His smile broadened at the lilt of her laughter. “This is not a normal first date for me. I wanted as much opportunity as possible for us to get to know each other. FYI, players don’t take dates to church.”
    “Oh but they do. It’s all part of throwing unsuspecting women off their scent.” He just smiled in response. “How does one watch the sunset? Do you just look west and wait to see if it goes down or maybe even wait to see if it will surprise you and go back up?”
    He sat the cooler next to her and headed back to the cab of the truck. He grabbed his iPod, a pillow and a couple of blankets from the back. When he returned to the back of the truck she was lifting a forkful of cheesecake to her perfect mouth. She paused like a child does when their mother finds them eating from her private stash of candy. Watching her eat was a sensual experience. When she enjoyed what she was eating her face had the same look as it does just after they kiss.
    He hopped up onto the tailgate like a pro. He put one of the blankets down on the bed of the truck and propped the pillow up against the side. He took a seat. “I have some songs I want you to listen to.”
    “Is this part of your attempted conversion to country?” She scooted the other pillow a little further away from him and sat down.
    “It’s not a conversion attempt. I just want you to give it a chance.” He had a headphone splitter and two pairs of headphones. He handed one set to her. He was crafty because she had to scoot back next to him, even closer than she was originally, for the headphones to reach.
    “The first song isn’t country, but since you didn’t get my reference the other day I thought I’d play ‘Jack and Diane’ for you.”
    After the Mellencamp song there were drums followed by the twang of a guitar or banjo then a deep baritone similar to Jack’s began to sing. Then a different voice began to sing. It seemed familiar. Recognition dawned on her and she looked at Jack with her bright brown eyes.
    “Is that Anthony Hamilton?”
    “It sure is.” He smiled at her. “He’s singing with Josh Turner.”
    They sat listening to music as the sun dipped below the horizon. The sky was alight with hues of purple, blue, peach and orange. There were still remnants of snow that had survived the unseasonable rise in temperature since the holiday.
    As they listened to more songs by many of the names she did not recognize on his iPod she moved closer to his warmth as it grew cooler without the warmth of the sun. The gentle rhythms of the music and soothing vocals about love wound a spell around her. She leaned into him and he took her hand into his. With each song that played he told her who it was and would interject musical knowledge into it.
    “This is the song that I