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Her eyes darted up to find him staring at her and she froze. From the way her heart refused to beat to the way her lungs went rigid, she’d be lucky if she didn’t pass out right here, right now.
Adam looked concerned more than anything. His gaze didn’t waver as his hands turned the mug around in his hands. His jaw was tight, too. This had to be the most awkward meal she had ever had.
Faye pointed to her pie with her fork, swallowing what she had in her mouth. “You want a bite?”
She’d expected him to turn her down—laugh, maybe. But he didn’t. His focus shifted to the pie and he pulled it closer. Her voice died in her throat as she watched him with surprise. He grabbed the fork from her hand, stuck it in the pie and pulled a piece up to his mouth.
His brows lifted and he nodded. “You’re right. That’s pretty good.” Adam pushed the pie back to her. “You gonna talk about what happened? Or do I have to bring it up?”
Faye would have choked if she had food in her mouth. Her whole body flinched, and she had to force herself to look up at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Are we going to talk about why you’re so quiet?”
“Am I?”
He settled back in his seat and rolled his eyes. “Come on, Faye. I had expected you would bring it up when you climbed into my truck. But now we’ve been here for going on thirty minutes and you haven’t said more than twelve words to me.”
“I’meating. Excuse me if I don’t want to talk with my mouth full. You wouldn’t be so thrilled about me speaking if you were getting bits of pie on your face.”
His lips twitched but didn’t fully form a smile. “Admit it. I took things too far when I lifted you up in the barn.”
She didn’t respond right away. He’d be able to tell if she was lying. And she hadn’t been upset about the action at all. Should she have been?
Of course she should have been upset. He’d picked her up without asking her. But for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to experience those emotions. It was probably because she felt safe with him. But the whole thing had been somewhat thrilling. In that moment, she’d been able to pretend that they were something more than they really were, even if it was just the start of something more.
Faye shrugged. “I’m not upset.”
“I didn’t say you were upset. I said that you think I went too far.”
She took another bite of her pie, savoring the taste in her mouth. Maybe if she didn’t respond, he would drop it.
“So?”
“Are you trying to get me to say I agree with you?” Ooh, that was not the route she should have taken.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Well, if I had hurt my ankle, would you have carried me to the house?”
“Sure.”
She pointed her fork at him again. “Okay, so if you would carry me in that situation and it wouldn’t be a big deal, then it shouldn’t matter in this case either.” The argument was a weak one, and she knew it. The longer they talked about it, the more difficult it was to continue.
“That’s different, and you know it.”
Faye shrugged. “Did you surprise me? Yes. Was carrying me to my front porch necessary? No. Who cares?” She focused on her plate due to the pie being completely gone. There was nothing left to say. Why was he pushing this so hard? Faye placed her fork on the table and heaved a sigh. “What’s the big deal? Did I weigh more than you thought I would or something? Did I forget to put on deodorant this morning?”
He stiffened and his eyes widened slightly. “What? No.”
“Then let’s just drop it. I’m not upset. And if it’s bothering you so much, then just don’t do it again, okay?”
“Fine.”
Finally. Except now that the argument was over, she was left with that residual awkwardness that she couldn’t shake. He was still staring at her, and they were both probably wondering why they had that conversation in the first place.
Faye turned her face toward the window and the dreary scene outside. She rubbed her hand on the back of her neck before finally glancing at Adam. “So why did you come back to town?”
He didn’t react right away. Had she asked something wrong? Great. Here they went again.
