hand of hers into mine. The skin contact was both soothing and arousing.
I didn’t even think about letting go. I wanted to surround her—cocoon her in my arms so I could protect her. Being in public made me edgy, like I half-expected the Kendalls to pop out around every corner.
She squeezed my hand. “How about this. I want to stop in and say hi to Leah Mae, then go grab a few things I need at the Pop In. Girl stuff.” She winked. “If you’re still busy when I get done, I’ll wait for you at Moonshine.”
My brow furrowed and unconsciously, I pulled her a little closer to me. I didn’t like this plan.
“I have my phone,” she said, as if she could read my thoughts. “I’ll be fine.”
“All right,” I grumbled. “I’ll walk you to Leah Mae’s shop.”
Reluctantly, I left her at Boots and Lace. Leah Mae had other customers, but Callie still wanted to stay. Maybe the upside was that she might buy another dress. The one she’d worn the other night had looked damn good on her. Nothing wrong with a beautiful girl in a pretty dress.
And there I went again, thinking about her all wrong.
I had a meeting with a client around the corner. Betty Sue Wheatfield owned a little bookstore, tucked in an old storefront that had once been someone’s house. She and her husband were looking to fix up the place. Wanted me to make built-in shelves to replace the rickety freestanding ones they had.
I pushed open the door and inhaled the scent of old paper and leather. Bookshelves crowded the tiny space, books packed tight. There was a shabby old armchair below a four-paned window, the glass so old it was starting to warp. A small digital screen sat on the counter where the cash register used to be. The modern device looked odd in this throwback of a store.
Puck, the shop’s cat, came around a corner to eye me curiously. He was all black except for his white feet and a patch of white on the end of his long tail. I crouched down to scratch him behind the ears.
“Hi, Gibson,” Betty Sue said, her voice cheery. She was in her fifties, with smile lines around her eyes and graying blond hair pulled back from her face. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
I straightened, leaving Puck to rub up against my legs, probably looking for more attention. “I just need to take some measurements.”
“Have at it.”
I pulled the tape measure off my belt and got to work. It was tough to get around all the existing shelves and clutter, and Puck kept trying to walk under my feet. But I got what I needed, scrawling numbers on my little spiral notepad. When I finished, I tucked my pencil behind my ear and clipped the tape measure back on my belt.
“All done.”
Betty Sue poked her head out of the back. “How’re we looking?”
“I’ll run the numbers and get you a quote.” I glanced around at the room, looking past the shelves to the building itself. “Y’all have some wall damage and loose trim. Since you’re clearing out to get new shelves anyway, you could fix all that, and the loose floorboards. Get Scarlett on in here and she’ll take care of you.”
She smiled. “Much obliged. I’ll do that.”
I tipped my chin to her and left, squinting in the summer sunshine after the relative dimness of the old shop. I needed some new clamps and a package of sandpaper for my sander, so I headed over to the Rusty Tool. Found what I needed—I knew this store like the back of my hand—and went to the front to pay. I hadn’t been gone long, but I wanted to get back to Callie. Didn’t much like leaving her alone in town.
It was only because I was concerned for her safety. Not because I liked being around her so much.
Jimmy Bob Prosser was at the front dressed in a Rusty Tool t-shirt and jeans. The fact that his daughter was the spawn of evil had never made me dislike him. It wasn’t his fault. I didn’t know why Misty Lynn was the way she was. Maybe the bad genes had come from her mama. Jimmy Bob had always been a good guy.
“Hey, there, Gibson,” he said. “This all for you?”
“That’ll do it.”
Jenny came in wearing a sundress that made her green eyes stand out. She smiled, first at me, then at Jimmy Bob.