Archer was close enough that I could smell the scent of his skin and see the rims of his irises.Heat radiated from him.
I swallowed.“I’m okay.”
“You sure?”A grin pulled at his lips.“I can kiss it and make it better.”
“I’m good!”I squeaked, scrabbling away from him like a crab—only to run into the leg of the table.“Ow!”
“That thing is trying to kill you.”He placed his hands on his thighs and rose before holding out a hand to help me up.
I stared at it.
“It won’t bite,” he teased.“Imight.But my hand won’t ...”
A flush spread through my cheeks and I refused his hand.I knew if I took it and let him help me up that I’d tackle him onto the bed.
Great.Now I have a picture of us wrestling naked in my head.
“Lenni’s in her bedroom doing homework,” I said, rising on my own.
“Yeah, I know.I just peeked in on her.Thank God she’s a whiz at math and isn’t asking me for help,” he joked.He gestured with his chin toward the card table.“So, what’s with the sewing machine?”
“I found it today while thrifting with the girls.I couldn’t pass it up.Do you know how good these vintage Singer sewing machines are?”
“No.How good are they?”
“Super good.And I got it for a steal of a deal,” I said with a smile.
“You know how to sew?”
“No.”
“Then why?—”
“I wanted it.”I shrugged.“So now I’ll figure out how to use it.”
“You know a sewing machine screams permanence, don’t you?”
“You’ve heard of shipping items to other side of the country, haven’t you?”I sassed back.
He stared at me for a long moment and then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.He opened it and extracted a laminated square.
“I found this underneath the kitchen table this morning while I was drinking my coffee,” he said, a slow grin appearing on his lips.“I think it belongs to you ...”
“Yep.”I held out my hand for it.
But Archer didn’t give it back right away.“I’m curious.Why did you and your friends sign a piece of paper and date it?”
“It’s not important.”
“It’s laminated.”
“So what?”
He cocked his head to the side.“Are you really not going to tell me what it’s about?”
“Some things are better left a mystery.”
“Like you?”he asked with a boyish grin.
