There was something about Heidi that spoke to him. While he hoped for something special someday, believed in fate, chance, destiny… the thought of finding someone like her, the way she affected him, was liberating. He looked at her and felt a smile warm his chest. Heck, the way she rolled her eyes at him was downright sexy… and he knew he was a goner – which is why he’d done something so crazy as to offer the extra room at Mimi’s. He needed someone on his side when it came to this prickly woman, and he didn’t want her to leave town without having a chance to know more about her.
His grandmother was in love with the idea of ‘romance’. As a boy, Mimi was always talking about how wonderful his grandfather was, how strong, how noble, how much he swept her off her feet. His grandpa would chew on his pipe, wink at him, and then smile like they were sharing some secret. She idolized him, and when his grandfather passed, Jack stepped up – because that is what family does for one another. Everyone who stayed in town supported each other first, because they meant something to each other. Shop local, live local. They were a weird, makeshift kind of family in these parts… and that energy was there.
The chance to move, to grow his career in the big city had been flattering – it just wasn’t in his heart. No, Jack wanted to grow old here in Fate, to chase kids out of the yard, to sit in a rocking chair on the wraparound porch of his house… and to have his children grow up with small-town values driven into their very hearts and souls. Barefoot summer days running in the grass and catching fireflies at dusk were something all children should be able to do – or learn how to fish from their father on a small dock reaching out over a large pond. Yes, Fate was an integral part of him, and he had no designs on changing any time soon.
Heidi had been quiet the entire time at Home Depot, despite trying to ask her opinion on a few things. She wouldn’t look him in the eye, kept holding back as they walked, and didn’t comment on any of his selections. Now he had a can of buttery-yellow eggshell paint in ‘Dairy farm’ for the kitchen… and a gallon of powder pink paint called ‘Boudoir’.
Him.
He bought pink paint called ‘Boudoir’.
Yep – he’d officially lostit,and, truthfully, if Heidi would just smile at him, show an inkling of interest, or make a pass at him – he would happilylivewithout ‘it’… or his pride. He’d been trying to get any response from her, and she wasn’t ‘biting’ – at all. Not one fleck of interest from her. Now, he needed to figure out where to use that feminine color –the Boudoir Pink that was not his style- on the house.
Maybe in a closet?He thought glumly, pulling into the parking lot of the Tex-Mex restaurant – right before he felt Heidi’s eyes on him. Turning off the truck, he looked at her, pausing.
There were so many things he wanted to toss out, to ask her, to push her to answer, and he knew none of them would help his cause. No, he would need to back off a bit, woo her, and let her decide that he was the right man for her – if she ever gave him the chance.
“Is this okay?” he asked politely, trying to make it a simple statement between friends, not some wet-behind-the-ears boy hoping to land a girlfriend. “I love this place, and they make the best queso.”
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as bad queso,” she chuckled, looking at him curiously. “You want lunch instead of dinner?”
“Sure – a late lunch.”
“I thought dinner was usually a bit more romantic for a date,” she hedged quietly, still eyeballing him as if she couldn’t figure him out.Heck, I’m struggling too,he thought – and shrugged, playing it off.
“You didn’t seem too keen on the idea of this being a date – so instead, we can just have a nice afternoon as friends and take some of the pressure off both of us,” he offered politely, trying to keep from throwing himselfacross the truck to kiss her for even suggesting something between them could have been possibly romantic. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”
Breathe, Romeo… keep it cool and play the long game.
She stared at him, puzzled, for a moment – before shrugging and opening the truck door to get out on her side. That pushed him into action. He might be trying to let up some of the pressure, but a man had his limits.
“Nuh-uh! Hang on…”
Jumping out of the truck, he raced around to her side and opened the door. She chuckled nervously, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking away shyly once again – and his heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t just falling hard, but plummeting, and this was gonna hurt when he landed. Clearing his throat, he spoke as she rose from her seat, standing before him.
“Even if we’re friends, a man’s got his limits…” he said quietly, trying to ignore the way his voice cracked on the word ‘friends’. “You’re in the country – and we country folk have a way of handling things.”
“I see,” she murmured and moved aside so he could close the door. Playing it off, he extended an arm toward her and saw her hesitate at the silent invitation. “Is this another ‘thing’?”
“Yes,” he fibbed and nearly sighed when she curled her arm around his, laying her hand on his forearm. It felt so right, so perfect.
“I hope this is as good as you mentioned because I’m a connoisseur of queso,” she whispered to him as they walked up to the restaurant. “And I could have Mexican food for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I love the stuff.”
“I knew you were perfect,” he replied easily before he could stop himself – and instead of shying away from him again, Heidi smiled. Oh man, she actually smiled at him,and he saw the warmth in her eyes. Yep, he could hear the air screaming as his heart pummeled forward like a meteor toward the earth – and understood the extinction of the dinosaurs on another level now, because this was gonna kill him if she broke his heart. “C’mon and let’s eat.”
“As friends?” she prompted, looking at him and lifting an eyebrow – was she teasing him? He hoped so! So he did the same, holding back a smile as he answered carefully.
“For now.”
And just when he thought that moment was over…
“For now,” she repeated back his words, looking straight ahead, with her lips twitching. He nearly wrenched his neck turning so fast and saw her give a swift side-look before avoiding his eyes. He moved to open the door, completely beside himself because this actually felt like…flirting.
Was she actually flirting with him?
“So it’s gonna be like that, huh…” he breathed as she walked past him, entering the busy restaurant first – and heard her chuckle right before she looked up at him.
“Maybe?” she replied. “Depends on that queso…”
