Page 46 of Tumbleweed Temptation
“Because we were always after the same thing, and he was always in my way.” And he’d gotten what he wanted, most of the time. She’d stopped fighting after the bus accident, mostly because he wasn't around much to fight with. “We’re just friends.” Even that word seemed too intimate, and she didn’t want to allow any intimacy here, not when she found herself picturing him in the role of the heroes in the books she was editing.
“Then you don't mind if I hang out for a bit?”
She didn't answer, only straightened when she saw Austin emerge from the bar, holding two beers.
“The line was really long, and I didn't want to wait again, so I doubled up.” He offered the second bottle to Ginny, but she shook her head as he sat beside her, a little closer than he’d been before. “Hey, Javi, how you doing? So I was wondering, after you pulled me over the other day, how wide is your territory? I mean, how many miles do you say you drive each day on your patrols?”
“Probably about three hundred. I used to keep track, when I started.”
“Don’t you get bored, though? I mean everything looks the same all the time.”
“Some days I do, but some days I don’t.”
“Must be hard to keep fit behind the wheel. You look great, by the way.”
Javi fluttered his lashes playfully. “Thank you. But I make an effort to eat healthy, so even sitting that long isn’t going to hurt.”
Austin turned to Ginny. “Maybe we need to get Javi in on this, too. You know, be like our poster boy.”
“Not taking off my shirt,” Javi said, flexing his bicep in a way that made Ginny think he would totally take off his shirt. “What are y’all talking about?”
So between them, Ginny and Austin filled him in on their plan. Javi’s expression remained skeptical when they were done speaking.
“I think it’s a fun idea and all, but people are set in their ways. They like to cook the way they like to cook. And they’re used to eating what they’re used to eating. Why do you think I was so fat growing up? Butter, cheese, tortillas, rice. I don't remember eating many green vegetables, unless they came out of a can, and then I’d eat just enough that my mom was fooled. I don't think you’d even have many people signing up to compete, to be honest.”
“Which is why we have to work on how we present it to the town, so we can have more enthusiasm than you’re showing. We’re going to make people dying to be a part of this,” Ginny said.
“Not dying,” Austin said. “We might not want to use that phrase, since really the opposite of what we want is people dying.”
Ginny lifted a hand in concession, and Austin saluted her with that third bottle of beer.
“Hey, they’re finally playing a good song,” Javi said, slapping his hands on the wood of the table. “Come on, Ginny, let’s dance.”
She shook her head and turned her attention back to the notebooks. “We came here to work.”
Javi shook his head. “Why would you come to a bar on a Friday night thinking you were going to get any work done?”
“Because we didn't think it would be so busy,” she countered.
“Come on, just one dance. It’s a great song.” Javi took her hand.
Ginny turned her head to look at Austin, but he flicked a hand as if giving them permission while he drank his beer.
“I never see you out anymore,” Javi said as he led her onto the dance floor that was really just packed earth in front of the stage.
“That’s because I work the breakfast shift most days. I have to be at the diner by six in the morning.”
“Tomorrow too?” he asked, turning her into his arms.
“Every Saturday, every Sunday.”
“That kills your weekend.”
“That’s why I come out on Sunday afternoons. I’m actually still awake then.”
“So you’re out here tonight, why? You into Austin?”
“No,” she said automatically, shifting her hand on her shoulder, trying to find a good spot that wasn't too intimate.
