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I stand and nod at Hana. “Of course. We’re old pals. And I… I am intruding.”
“No, no,” she says. “You’re not.” The sharp glint in her eye says otherwise. It says“leave.”
And I know I should.
But my feet won’t budge. “So, I’m putting up flyers,” I announce. To Hana, I add, “We’re starting up the checkers club again.”
She purses her lips, then sits back and narrows her eyes. “Maybe you should grab a chair or something, Maddison. Seems you want to visit.”
“No, no, really. Just one quick thing.” I face Nick and then grin. He’s wearing gel in his hair.
Hair gel.
I tap my head. “Hey, nice look.”
“Never too old to try something new,” he says, grinning back.
“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe people do change.”
“You get pretty hopped up on your theories, Bradshaw. Good for you to get a surprise now and then.”
I have to pin my hand to my side and seriously work on self-control so that I don’t reach out to feel the tips of his blond locks.
That would probably send Hana here straight into a tizzy.
She seems to be short on patience as it is. “Um… Maddison? You were going to say something about the flyers?” She reaches for her phone and checks the time.
That’s a universal sign. It means,I only have so many moments in this day, and you’re wasting them.
“Right, right. The flyers.” I push my hand into my pocket and glance at Nick again.
He’s eyeing me with an analytic look now. Studying me.
Maybe he realizes it’s a little odd, me showing up here.
Maybe he’s wondering why my feet seem to be glued to the sidewalk, too.
He tips an eyebrow up. “Flyers?”
“Right! Right. So, I’m putting them up around town today. Nick—what do you think… I figure I’ll pop one on the bulletin board here, then another at the diner, maybe one at the library…?”
“I think we talked about this last night,” Nick says, his blue eyes flickering with a hint of amusement.
Like he senses what I’m up to.
Why I’m here.
My attraction.
I don’t want him to sense that, because I don’t want it to be real.
I clutch the strap of my bag. “Yeah, I guess we did.”
“You guys saw each other last night?” Hana asks.
Yikes. I’m seriously messing up Nick’s date. I spin to face her. “For, like, a quick visit. It’s really nice having a cool neighbor like this guy. Did you know he’s renovating his house, all on his own? He does good work, too. He’s a jack-of-all-trades, as they say.”
She sips her coffee, unimpressed.
