Page 31 of Single Girl in the City
“Lunch.”
“You do know that I own a barandgrill.”
“Which doesn’t serve my mee-maw Ruth’s blue-ribbon chili.” She opened the thermos and wafted the steam his way. “If you ask my neighbors back home, it’s about as close to heaven as one can get.”
“And where is back home?” He gently tapped her cowgirl boots with his foot. “Texas?”
“How did you know?” Being born in Texas, then raised all across the South made her accent thick as molasses yet ambiguously Southern.
“You had on a Longhorns sweatshirt the other day. Then there’s the way you say your I’s like ‘ahh’ and your E’s like ‘ay.’”
“That could be anywhere in the South.”
“Abilene is a pretty distinctive name.”
“My dad moved around a lot when I was little. I saw nearly every major city in the South. When the nurse asked for my name for the birth certificate, my mama picked the name of my hometown. She wanted to give me a sense of where I came from.”
He went silent for a moment, absorbing that information. “Military brat?”
“Nope. Shipping logistics. My dad moved where they sent him. Usually port towns.”
“And your mee-maw’s chili?”
“Portland by way of Abilene.” Which was how Abi had spent every summer in Portland. Ruth followed husband number two to Oregon. After he passed, she chose to stay. She said that while her roots would always be in Texas, her heart was in Portland.
“Did she make this?”
“No, sir.” Her grandma passed a few years back and Abi missed her sorely. “Her recipe, my kitchen.”
Owen took a sniff and lifted a brow. “Is this as good as it smells?”
“You’ll never know unless you give it a taste.” A little whisper said she wanted him to give her a taste. But no matter how delicious she found him, romantically he was off-limits. It was bad enough that she’d kissed him, she didn’t want to complicate the situation any further.
“I’m not looking for a taste.” His gaze ran down her body and back up, her belly giving a little quiver. “I’m looking for a little more.”
Her heart pinched with bitter disappointment. Abi couldn’t give more than what she’d written down in her Good Deed Journal. Plus, her time there was almost up, so acting on their attraction would be a disaster.
“I’m just here to help with interviews.”
He studied her, then leaned in until they were so close she could smell the testosterone wafting off him. “Is this about your list?”
She moved back and his lips quirked at the corners. “It’s clear that you hate interviewing, Owen. I, on the other hand, am an excellent judge of character. Five years as a kindergarten teacher, I can spot a turd a mile away.”
“Turd?”
“I can’t call a five-year-old an asshat, now can I?”
He burst out laughing and she decided that Jenny had steered her to the right place. She’d been avoiding her big project until she’d worked up the knack of Good Samaritan, but apparently Jenny thought she’d had enough practice and it was time to get down to business. The clock had ticked down to that final second and she knew that the jig was up.
She had to tell him the truth.
“About my list,” she began, her voice shaking slightly. God, she knew it would be hard, but she never imagined it’d be this hard. She wished Jenny were there to help her with the aftermath. But she was out of wishes.
“The real reason I want this job is—”
A loud crash sounded from behind, immediately followed by glass shattering.
Abi’s heart screamed into her throat and a shot of adrenaline hollowed out her stomach. She instinctively ducked and covered her head. Shards of ceramic rebounded off the concrete flooring, pegging her in the calf. A bang split through the air and rattled her skull. Her heart dropped, defying gravity, ricocheting painfully against her ribs. Panic barreled down like a freight train.
