“Relax. What’s the worst that could happen?” Carly asked, pulling him back to the present.
How had he gotten here when tonight’s plan had been to get Carly to loosen up? She didn’t smile enough, worked too hard, and acted as if she were in her forties. Hoping to regain control of the situation, he glanced at his notes again. One strategy with Carly’s name and a question mark behind it caught his eye. Maybe he could help them both out. “There’s one tactic I see working. The one where someone I trust goes along to watch for trouble and act as a buffer.”
Carly relaxed against the back of her chair. “That’s a great idea. My only suggestion is to outline your expectations with whoever goes with you.”
“You agree that’s the best option?”
Carly nodded.
“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven a week from tonight.”
Chapter Ten
Carly stared atOwen with her mouth hanging open for a second before she snapped it shut. For a man with a traumatic brain injury, he’d set and sprung a trap well. She’d worked with Owen as a favor to Addie, but instead of developing a support system, he’d started relying on her. Damn his male pride. How could she have been foolish enough to think Owen would be different?
“Is that why you helped with the presentation? So I’d feel obligated and agree to go bowling with you?” She winced as her voice rose in pitch.
“Do you really think I’d resort to a trick like that?” Owen leaned forward, the intensity in his eyes drawing her in. “I have more pleasurable ways to convince a woman to go out with me.”
Carly’s breath hitched as her exasperation and the world faded away. She tried to swallow, but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her hand twitching, she grabbed her water glass and took a long drink. She’d done it again. Poked the bear, without thinking of the risk.
“Did what I said make you nervous?” Owen asked.
“Of course not.” She scoffed and twirled her pearl earring between her thumb and index finger.
“Darlin’, you’re a lousy liar.”
She glanced around, fearing someone heard the endearment. She ignored the liar part of his comment. “Don’t call me that.”
“A liar or dar—”
“Stop right there.”
“Don’t you wonder how I knew?”
She was more curious than a kid on Christmas Eve, but nothing could make her ask the question.
“You play with your earring when you’re lying.”
“No, I don’t.” Her hand reached for her earring.
Owen chuckled. “Yes, you do.”
Her hand dropped to her lap. Oh, goodness. How could he still know her so well, and why didn’t she find the fact more irritating? “Like I said. Find someone else to go with you.”
Owen cleared his throat. “You’re the only one I trust. The only one who knows how bad things can get for me.” He paused, and his chest rose and fell as he took two deep breaths. “Toss me a bone. Go with me.”
His honest admission about his fears had shaken her earlier. His quiet plea now shattered her remaining resistance. If he hadn’t confessed how difficult his life had become, of his struggles, and how he feared looking foolish, she could’ve held out, but now she couldn’t say no. She inhaled deeply, cursed her empathetic streak, and slowly exhaled. “I’ll go bowling with you, but as a friend and to act as a buffer. It is not a date.”
“Understood.”
A shiver darted up her spine, adding to her unease as the thought that she’d just driven around aDanger: High Watersign and was about to be swept away by the current popped into her head.
*
The next morningOwen stood in his parents’ barn saddling his horse, he still couldn’t figure out how the night with Carly had gone awry. That last thing he wanted from a woman who tied him up in more ways than Lucchese had cowboy boots was her feeling obligated to go out with him.
Her agreeing to go bowling with him basically as his caretaker had killed the evening. They’d finished eating in silence and asked for the check. Hell, he hadn’t even argued when Carly insisted on paying to thank him for his help with the presentation. When she’d driven him home, she nervously rattled off strategies and advice they could use Friday. Then when they arrived at his parents’ house, she’d thanked him again and wished him a good night.
