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I shrug. “Just driver’s ed, a lesson, and hung out outside.”
Rob shifts his gaze from me to Molly and Jesse as we sit and eat like the tired beings we are. “Jesse, I’d like you to come with me tomorrow. There’s no driver’s ed, and I have something I want you to do on the jobsite.”
“Be the coffee errand boy?” he responds as if that were the worst job in the world.
“There’s some pipe being laid. Thought you might like to learn how to use the equipment.”
“I can solder?” His eyes light up.
“You can try, and we’ll see how good you are.”
“That’s awesome!” He beams, and Rob looks pleased that he made his son so happy.
Molly and I wink at each other. Looks like some distance from one other is doing these two some good.
* * *
After dinner, I’m sitting in my room, looking over some spreadsheets, and watching Bob the fish swim around his new bowl, when there’s a knock on my opened door. Rob is standing there with a crystal glass in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.
I slide my glasses off my face and look up at him. “Double fisting it tonight?”
“I was going out to the deck to have a drink and thought some company might be nice. You wear glasses?”
I look down at the frames in my hand. “They’re blue light lenses to protect my eyes when I’m working. I stare at a computer a lot.”
“You should wear them more often. You look nice in glasses.” His comment makes me blush. He holds up the glass for me. “Care to join me?”
Rising from the chair, I hold up a finger. “Just give me a minute.”
“There’s no need to change.” His comment gives me pause at the fact that he knew what I was about to do. “You’re planning on changing out of your comfortable clothes, and there’s no need.” He lifts the glass of wine in the air and offers it to me. “It’s just a drink. Not a marriage proposal.”
With a smile, I slide on a pair of flip-flops. “Pinot grigio?” I ask. When he nods, I take the glass out of his hand and have a sip. “Like heaven in a glass.”
He chuckles as we walk through the downstairs hallway and out the front door. The late evening sun is on the last stages of setting. The mountains in the foreground are majestic in the distance. I stand by the railing and breathe in the sweet summer air. I like the country. It’s agreeing with me in more ways than I thought possible. It almost feels like I breathe better out here.
Turning around, I see Rob has taken a seat in one of the white chairs. His bourbon is resting on the arm of the chair. He leans back and looks completely content on his porch, looking over his land. I look at his jeans, all snug and masculine, then down to my terry-cloth shorts that are barely peeking out from my oversize sweatshirt.
“Do you ever put on shorts?” I ask him. “I bet you have great legs.”
His eyes dart down to my calves before he answers, “No. Don’t start buying me shorts just so you can make me wear them in some sort of sick fashion show you have in your head to get me to dress more comfortably. I like jeans. They’re easy, reliable. I can’t get them too dirty, and there’s no task I can’t do in them.”
“I bet I could think of a few,” I tease and listen to him grunt quietly. “What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” I ask him.
“Bought this house.”
“You know what I mean.”
Rob grins as he takes a sip, then licks his lips, his tongue sliding slowly across them. He angles his head back and tilts it mischievously. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“You’re gonna get all excited and do that clapping thing and jump up and down.”
I look down at my hands and grimace. “I don’t do a clapping thing.”
“Tara, there’re a lot of things I bet you don’t even realize about yourself.”
I place my wineglass on the floor and then shove my hands behind my back and lean against them. “Promise I won’t react with a round of applause. Now, tell me the big secret. It’d better be good because the lead-up is too much.”
