Page 35 of Kiss the Girl
“No big deal. It’s about time we started hiring a couple of seasonal workers, and they can cover for me on Saturday mornings while I help the boys with the booth.”
“I’ll have Evie with me most Saturdays so Paige can work. Saturday and Sunday brunch mean big tips for her at the diner.”
“That’s no problem,” I said. “Evie seems like a cool kid.”
“She’s the best.”
There was no twenty-six-year-old on the planet who would not fall under the spell of a foot rub from a hot guy who was good with kids. Not even one like me who was ready to leave Creekville behind as soon as the holidays were over. No one could blame me for sitting there longer than I should have, picturing for a minute what it would be like to stay and hang out with Noah and Evie.
When I realized where my mind was drifting, I slipped my feet from Noah’s lap and climbed off the couch. “I should go. Good call on the movie.” I sounded weird. Stilted, like I’d rehearsed the words.
He looked startled but got to his feet too. “It’s only ten. I have plenty of potato skins left. And we could…” He glanced around the room. “Watch another movie?” But a yawn caught him at the end.
“Don’t you have to be at school early tomorrow?”
He sighed. “Yeah. I do.”
“Then I’ll help you clean up before I take off.”
He was shaking his head before I finished the sentence. “I’ll clean up. You’ve got a drive ahead of you. You should go.”
“It’s only twenty minutes.”
“Twenty-five,” he said, smiling. “I make that drive every morning, remember?”
“Right. Okay, well, see you around. Let me know when you’re ready to start on the booth.”
“I will. Would it work if I came by your place this Saturday morning to get a feel for the setup? I can stop by before you go to work.”
“Sure,” I said, trying to ignore the tummy flutter at the idea of him coming to my house.
“Great. Let me walk you out.”
For Noah, that meant walking me all the way down to my car in the complex’s parking lot. “Thanks for driving out,” he said, as I pulled my keys from my purse. I fidgeted with them then stopped as Noah’s hazel eyes grew a shade darker. The scene fromHitchflashed through my head where Hitch tells Albert that fiddling with keys was a girl’s sign that she wanted a goodnight kiss.
“No problem. See you on Saturday morning.” I wanted to turn slightly so he could pull me into a goodnight hug. I wanted it like Seuss’s Cat wanted chaos. I fumbled for my door handle to get out of temptation’s way. I climbed into the car and pulled the door closed with a wave through the window.
Noah had a small smile on his face, like he knew exactly why I was escaping, but he only waved back and slid his hands into his pockets, watching as I pulled out. His eyes were still on me when I checked the rearview mirror before pulling out of the parking lot.
It should not have been so hard to drive away.
Dang it, Noah Redmond. There wasn’t time for this.
But I declined to define to myself what “this” was.
Chapter Twelve
Noah
“Where we going, Mama?”
I glanced at Evie in the rearview mirror, comfortably buckled into her car seat, then over to Paige in the passenger seat.
“We’re going to see Uncle Noah’s friend,” she said.
“Toodles,” said Evie, satisfied.
Toodles was the name of Mickey’s magic toolbox on her favorite show, and when I’d tried to explain Grace’s job at the hardware store, Evie had listened carefully and then announced, “She is Toodles.” It was close enough.
