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Faye smiled brightly at him, dusting her hands on the coveralls. “Okay! What’s next.”
“Now, we wait.”
“What do you mean?” She looked over to the truck. “Aren’t we supposed to start disconnecting things for the engine? Or jack up the truck or something?”
He chuckled. “Patience. If we start digging in right now, we’re only going to end up burned. We have to let the engine cool. Then we have to drain the fluids.”
“Oh.”
They stood there in silence until he couldn’t handle it anymore. Did she run out of things to talk about? “How about we go get a coffee down the street?” Before she could decline, he continued. “My treat. It’ll only be a little while. Then we can get back to work.”
“Okay. Just let me—” She reached for the zipper of her coveralls, and he shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. The coffee place I go to, no one’s gonna care about what you’re wearing.” He headed for the door, but when he didn’t hear her behind him, he stopped to look back at her.
“I’m not going out in public in this.”
He gave her a funny look. “Come on. Live life on the wild side. No one is gonna recognize you anyway. Who are you trying to impress?”
“No one. But—”
“Then come on. We don’t have all day. We need to get back and start draining that oil.” This time he charged through the door without checking to see if she followed. Either she’d come with him, or she wouldn’t, and there was a good chance that she would want to stay here alone even less than she would want to head out in her coveralls.
He was right.
Together they walked briskly down the street. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as they went. Anyone passing would probably just assume she was Bridget. The folks in town all knew and liked his coworker, probably more than they liked him. The men definitely preferred working with Bridget more than they liked working with any Cullen.
“Tell me more about this girl.”
He shot a surprised look in her direction. “Who?”
“The girl you’re trying to impress. You haven’t said anything about her except that you think she wants a guy who’s willing to risk his life on the back of an angry horse.”
The sigh that burst from his chest did nothing to relieve the pressure he felt building there. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at her sideways. He should have known better than to assume that Faye would leave him be on this topic. All women in this town gossiped. Even his mother joined in occasionally. It was what they did.
“Come on. Maybe I can help.”
Now that was an idea. Faye was a girl. She worked on a ranch. And tough guys were always around her. She might have some insights that he hadn’t considered. Then again, did he really want her knowing who he had a crush on? Not particularly. Given her habit of oversharing, that might not be such a good idea.
“I’m not going to tell you who she is.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“Yes, you did.”
She groaned. “I didnot. I asked you to tell me more about her. What does she like? What are her hobbies? I assume you’ve figured this sort of thing out already. Have you asked her on a date yet?”
“Geez. What’s with the third degree?”
There was something else about Faye that took him off guard. She didn’t just have one smile. She had several. This one wasn’t quite like the one she wore when she was embarrassed, though it was similar. She looked away and gnawed on her lower lip. “Sorry. My sisters tell me I can be a bit much sometimes.” When she peeked at him again, that familiar ripple ofsomethingcoursed down his spine. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But I figured since you’re helping me out so much, I should probably be doing a little more.”
“What you’re doing is just fine.” They had arrived at the coffee shop, and he pulled the door open for her to enter first. When she brushed past him, he was inundated by the scent of her perfume or shampoo—whatever it was that made her smell like a field of wildflowers.
Adam nearly asked her what it was, but he turned at that very moment and nearly bumped into none other than Dahlia Johansson.
She looked up into his eyes briefly before smiling and murmuring an apology. “I’m sorry.”
Momentarily losing his train of thought, he mumbled something that sounded like gibberish which only made Dahlia scrunch up her face in confusion. He turned to watch her slip out the door and down the street, leaving him feeling like the idiot he was.
“Wow,” Faye drawled. “Was that her?” Her voice came directly behind him, and he cringed before turning to face her.
