Page 32 of Molly's Mr. Wrong
Had he purposely made the question sound sexual? Or was that simply where her brain was whenever he was around?
“Not if you feel like you understood these exercises.”
“Like I said. I did.” His lips curved into a faint smile as if he realized that she might be repeating herself because, regardless of all the pep talks she gave herself, he still rattled her on some level.
“It must be close to closing time. Would you like to get a coffee?”
A jolt went through her at the unexpected offer. She automatically shook her head as she quickly sifted through possible motives. “I think it’s best to keep things between us as they are now.”
“Which is...?”
“We’re friendly acquaintances. Teacher, student.”
“It’s coffee, Molly. Something that friendly acquaintances or even teachers and students do.”
“Thank you, but no.”
* * *
FINNHADTOSAYthat this was the first time a woman had ever refused a simple coffee with him. He’d been turned down for date-dates. He knew the sting of rejection. But coffee date rejection shouldn’t sting. It was coffee, for Pete’s sake. The kind of safe, innocuous date that Mike was going on with his mystery woman, and the kind that Chase was going on with Molly’s sister. Coffee was safe. The kind of thing you did with a friend or someone you wanted to know better.
Why was she so defensive with him? It wasn’t all because of the past and it wasn’t entirely because she still found him attractive on some level. He was certain on those points—something else was causing her knee-jerk, self-protective reactions. And if that was the case, he needed to get a grip and to stop seeing this attitude of hers as a challenge or an insult.
But still, was wanting to sit down to a cup of coffee, to talk about neutral subjects in a neutral locale, so bad?
Apparently so, judging from the way she’d shut him down.
He drove back to the store where Mike was babysitting the kitten. When Finn walked through the door, Lola put a finger to her lips, and the customer she was helping smiled in the direction of the office. Finn crossed to the office door and looked in. Mike was sound asleep in his reclining chair, the tiny kitten nestled in his lap.
“They both conked out about a half hour ago.”
“Late-night feedings,” Finn said. Mike had insisted on taking the kitten every other night to feed him every two hours, starting last night. Tonight was Finn’s night. Lola came to stand beside him, beaming in at the sleeping pair.
“Little Buddy has put on weight already. We weighed him on the nail scale.”
Finn smiled, then pulled the office door partway closed. The store closed in an hour, so he’d let the two of them sleep, then feed Buddy and take him home.
“How’s school?” Lola asked as she moved back behind the counter. Finn had decided to let the world know he was taking classes once he committed himself to finishing the English course. Mike had been surprised, but also a little pleased when Finn had explained he needed to expand his horizons and try new things.
“Harder than I remembered.”
“The brain is like a muscle. You have to keep it exercised.”
“Oh, I’m exercising it, all right.”
Lola leaned her elbows on the counter. “What is it you want to do? Or are you just taking the classes for fun?”
Fun. Right. She seemed genuinely interested, so Finn confessed, “I want to get some kind of a degree, but I’ve forgotten a lot of stuff since high school.” Along with what he hadn’t bothered to learn.
“And it worries you.”
“It makes me wonder about my future.”
Lola narrowed her dark eyes at him, making him feel a bit like a kid again. “I know about being worried about the future. Before I got this job...everything in my life was a worry. No money means no way of knowing how you’ll deal with tomorrow. Butyouhave a good job here. A future. So, no matter what, you have a safety net.”
“Yes.” He wasn’t going to tell her that sometimes he felt as if his brain was dying inside his safety net. “I’d better go roust Chase. He’s probably sleeping on the grain bags.”
“He doesn’t do that!” Lola narrowed her eyes. “Does he?”
