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Elisa slid out of the booth. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”
She took his hand, and he was almost immediately back in that place he’d been before, the one where he didn’t care if he looked like a fool as long as she was okay with it. She led him away from the dining room back to where the hallway started to lead to the office and the bathrooms. She stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about talking to you when my father showed up. It was kind of crazy. I didn’t mean to walk away.”
He didn’t want her to feel bad about that. “I’m happy he’s here. This is what you came here for. Is it going okay?”
“Better than I expected,” she replied. “I think I’m going to stay around for a couple of months. At least through the holidays. I’d like to get to know him better. Since my mom died, it’s just me and Sabrina. Mom didn’t have much family, so we’re kind of alone in the world. It would be good if I had a connection to my father.”
“It is. I wasn’t coming over to complain. I wanted to let you know that Van and I are going to wait for you. Not because we’re trying to continue what we started. There’s plenty of time for that. We want to wait because it’s snowing pretty hard, and we’ll worry about you driving home.”
“Ah, my dad already told me he thought I shouldn’t drive back tonight. He offered.”
He squeezed her hand. “I understand, but I hope you’ll let Van and me take you out tomorrow like we talked about.”
“Or you could wait and take me back to my place and maybe stay the night with me.”
He felt the flush go through him, arousal lighting his skin. “Okay.”
She was blushing, like she was surprised she’d said what she said, but she didn’t back down. “Okay. Give me another half an hour and I’ll be ready to go. Unless you changed your mind and you want to take things slower. I’m okay with that, too.”
He was going to be bold for once in his damn life. Playing things safe had never gotten him anywhere. Max was right. It was time to change things up. He moved in and put a hand on her hip. “I’ve changed my mind about absolutely nothing.”
Her head tilted back slightly and he leaned over, pressing his lips to hers. It didn’t matter who was watching, didn’t matter that it hadn’t been a part of his plan. All that mattered was she was here with him, and he had a chance with her.
He pulled away because he wasn’t going to make out with her here. It would be disrespectful to Van when they’d made their intentions plain. But that brushing of lips had shown him everything he needed to know. He was excited again. Excited about her, about where the night could take them. “I’ll be at the bar, but you should know I’m not getting drunk. I’m just waiting on a lady.”
He walked away, secure that he was on the right path now.
When he returned to the bar, Max and Rye were watching him with wide eyes while Van grinned his way.
“So will we be following the lady home this evening?” Van asked.
“We will be driving Elisa back to her place, and she’s asked if we might want to come in for a while.” Hale intended for a while to be all night.
Max held his arms up in victory. “I am better than any therapist. I should charge for this.”
He was not paying Max. Though he might buy the guy another beer.
* * * *
“Your dad can be intimidating.” Van parked the Jeep in the space in front of Elisa’s motel room. It was lucky he’d found one. The place was full this evening, likely because of the festival going on. It was late enough that the movies that played nightly were done. He’d noticed the marquee out front despite the fact that Gene had turned out the lights. The Movie Motel was proudly showing a Christmas double feature of Elf and It’s a Wonderful Life.
He wondered if Elisa had sat in her room and watched the films the night before. It might be fun to get some popcorn and watch with her and Hale. He wasn’t sure why they hadn’t been out here before. Hale often worked at the motel, but they’d never come by for fun. His life had been devoid of fun lately.
He was going to change that tonight.
“Really?” Elisa slid out of the passenger seat and closed the door behind her, stepping out into the snow.
“He gave me a very pointed stare.” He held out a hand and helped her up the curb so they were standing in front of her room.
