Page 44 of Five Minute Man
“I wanted to,” he said sincerely, surprised at how normal his voice sounded. “I promised you a dinner, remember?”
“Actually, I promised to cook dinner foryou,” she corrected with an embarrassed smile. “Except, here I am, and your dinner is being held in a refrigerated storage room at the grocery store.”
He shrugged. She could hand him a bag of chips from the vending machine and he would be happy. “So? We’ll eat out tonight.”
She pouted. “I really wanted to cook for you.”
Damn, she was so adorable. He was going to eather. That was what he was really hungry for. He eyed the vinyl and chrome chairs, imagining Holly on one of them, head back, him kneeling on the floor between her spread legs ...
“You will, I promise. But, since you’ve had a pretty rough day, I’m treating you.”
She gave him a smile that made his chest and his balls ache at the same time. “My hero,” she murmured.
Fuck. She really had to stop looking at him like that or that waiting room fantasy was going to happen. Since there were other people around, one of them a seventy-something grandma eyeing them both with blatant interest, that probably wasn’t the best idea.
“Let me talk to the mechanic, then you can tell me all about it over dinner.”
* * *
“ITHINK THIS IS QUITEpossibly the best burger I’ve ever had,” Holly said later, between mouthfuls. “I can’t believe I’ve never eaten here before.”
“Yeah, no place better for burgers than Lou’s,” he agreed.
The mechanic’s words were still buzzing around in his head. Both tires had nails in them. Holly could have picked them up anywhere over the last several days. There had been no blatant sign of tampering, but Adam’s gut wasn’t convinced.
He kept his voice casual when he asked, “So, tell me; how has the rest of your week been going?”
* * *
HOLLY FINISHED CHEWINGand swallowed, then stalled a bit longer by taking a sip of the heavenly old-fashioned vanilla Coke. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him about the visit from Swedish Barbie, but she didn’t. Liz had been right when she said it wasn’t Adam’s fault that Eve had aFatal Attractionthing going on.
What Holly hadn’t agreed with was Liz’s suggestion to tell Adam about Eve’s visit. Telling Adam at this point could be counterproductive. First, she really didn’t want to come off as the whiny, needy type who needed her man—her man!—to fight her battles for her. As unpleasant as Eve was, Holly had no doubt she could handle her.
Second, there was a slim chance that Eve was there for exactly the reason she had said—the Historical Society had a bug up its collective ass about Holly’s refusal to involve them in anything to do with the cottage. If that was the case, then involving Adam was pointless. There was nothing he could do about it, and getting him anywhere near Eve unnecessarily was the last thing Holly wanted to do.
“Not too bad.” She picked up a french fry, dragging it through the blob of ketchup. “I had a bit of a scare with Max yesterday. He must have gotten into something he shouldn’t have and was throwing up all day.”
Adam froze with the soft drink in his hand. “How’s Max now? Do you need to get home?”
Holly’s heart just about melted when that was the first thing Adam said.
“He’s doing much better, thanks for asking. Whatever it was, he seems to have gotten it out of his system. I woke up every hour on the hour to check on him, which is why I probably look like roadkill today.”
“You look beautiful, Holly.”
She blushed, feeling the warmth blossom from somewhere behind her ribcage. No man had ever called her beautiful and sounded like he meant it. Even if he was lying through his teeth, it sounded sincere.
“I’m sorry you had to drive all the way down here.”
“No problem. You can always call me. Any time, for any reason. I’m there if you need me. Promise me, Holly. I ... worry about you.”
She could tell that the admission wasn’t easy for him. As much as she appreciated it, she was not about to become one ofthosewomen by bothering him over every little thing. She was a big girl.
“You have enough on your mind, Adam. You don’t need to worry about me, too.”
“Maybe I want to.”
Holly looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity there. “You know, Adam, I think that is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you.”
