was tired of being alone, and Pete Knight just wasn’t that easy to walk away from. He’d made it clear he wasn’t expecting or probably even open to anything long-term. She had to stay around Happiness Key until her business here was completed. Maybe having Pete in her life would make everything harder. She didn’t know. But weren’t some obstacles worth working around?
She leaned closer, then, before she could change her mind, she brushed his lips with hers. “One has always been my lucky number. I’ll go with door number one.”
This time he cupped the back of her head and pulled her close. The kiss went quickly from casual and tentative to something that was neither. She inhaled the warm fragrance of his skin, part soap or shaving cream, part man. His lips were hard, but not bruising. He tasted like Budweiser, desire and tomorrow.
By the end, she knew she had decided to take a chance on Pete Knight.
“Lizzie is a constant in your life,” he said, after he pulled away.
“She’s spending the night with Olivia on Thursday.”
His smile was slow. “Have I told you about my camper?”
She felt heat warming her cheeks. “I should have known you had a camper. It suits you.”
“I’m renting month to month. It’s on a little lake just north of here. Nothing fancy.”
“Do you have a place to cook out?”
“A perfect place.”
“I’ll bring pie and steaks.”
“No, I’ll buy the steaks.”
She touched his lips with a fingertip, then pulled away.
“Shall I pick you up?” he asked.
“No.” She said it too quickly, but she wanted control. She wanted to have her own car, just in case she changed her mind. She would always need an escape.
“Then I’ll draw you a map. Just call before you leave so I can start the charcoal.” He took his bottle and unused glass into the kitchen, a clear sign, she thought, that he really had been somebody’s husband.
When he returned, she walked him to the door, although she wished he didn’t have to go. Waiting until Thursday to be alone with him seemed like waiting a lifetime. He stopped on the threshold and pulled something from his shirt pocket.
“I found this in the kitchen.” He held out a gold hoop.
Dana stared at his outstretched palm; then she took the earring. “Where on earth was it?” But she knew the answer.
“Beside the microwave.”
“In plain sight?”
“There’s a clamshell on the same shelf filled with odds and ends. It was buried, but the overhead light caught the glint of gold.”
“I can’t believe it,” she lied. “I guess Lizzie found it somewhere and put it there. She must have forgotten.” She looked up at him. “Thanks, Pete. This is a nice surprise.”
He searched her eyes, then he inched closer. And by the end of that kiss, she knew Thursday night, she would be driving north, map in hand, toward something she shouldn’t risk. The earring was a reminder of how easy it was to make a mistake.
But she would go anyway.
Tracy wasn’t much of a drinker. A glass of wine before or with dinner was a treat. Mixed drinks were calorie fests and, except for the occasional splurge, best avoided. Wanda’s margaritas were an exception, of course, but then Wanda’s exceptions had plunked fifteen pounds on Tracy’s slender frame.
Unfortunately, Tracy, like anyone, was most prone to temptation when life was offering nothing but lemons. Even more unfortunately, tonight she had taken those lemons and imbibed them in the form of lemon drop martinis. Three, mixed by Henrietta’s able bartender, which was a lot more liquor and calories than she had needed. And now she was paying the price.
“You’re driving too fast.” She gazed out the window through slitted eyelids. It was dark, but the lights flashing along the bridge were giving her a headache and a queasy stomach.
“I’m going ten miles under the speed limit,” CJ said, a smile in his voice. Tracy hated it when he smiled at her and it didn’t even show on his face.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the back of the seat. “Why does Edward Statler—” she tried to focus “—let you drive his car?”
“He and Sally keep the Vantage so their children will have their own ride when they visit. It was no hardship to offer it to me.”
“I have a friend who’ll give me a slice of pie anytime I ask.”
“Same thing.” The audible smile had widened to a grin.
“Better. You haven’t had Wanda’s pie.”
“You win, TK. Maybe you’ll share a piece someday.”