then, you might as well take full advantage.”
And there was that bloom of pink again. It made him wonder just where her mind had gone and how he could get it to go there more often. “Ask questions, satisfy your curiosity,” he clarified. The color deepened.
“Oh.”
His smile spread to a grin. “Oh, indeed.”
“I really should be going.”
He shifted a step closer and tightened his grip on the handlebar, keeping the bike steady. “Should you, really?”
His body reacted further to the way her pupils expanded under his steady regard. He was dying to glance down, see how else his close proximity might be affecting her, but then she might glance down, too…and notice the same about him.
“I should. But only because I have to. And…thank you.”
“For?” he asked, almost afraid to hear what it was she thought she should be thanking him for. “I already told you not to worry about pulling me away—”
“Not that, though I’m still grateful. I enjoyed the company on the ride in and…I’m glad I didn’t make that trip alone.”
He continued his steady regard of her face, her eyes, her mouth…and realized he felt very much the same. “I enjoy being in your company, too, Miss Matthews.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but apparently was the victim of a suddenly dry throat.
He had to fight the urge to grin. But he was pleased to know he wasn’t the only one feeling the effects. “So, is that what you wanted to thank me for? My brilliant conversational abilities?”
She did smile then. “You may not say much, but when you do, it matters.”
He hadn’t expected that, and now it was he who didn’t have a ready response.
She filled the sudden silence. “I wanted to thank you for being discreet, about my whereabouts.”
He frowned, too caught up in her eyes to comprehend what she was talking about.
“Arlen’s—the mayor’s—secretary came to see me. I was surprised to find her at my door, and she explained that she’d spoken with you—” She lifted a hand to stall his reply. “And that you needed a bit of coaxing to reveal any information regarding me. That was nice of you.”
“Don’t believe your day-to-day motions won’t be discussed and talked about, but you’d mentioned there being a stressful situation with your mother and so I didn’t so much mind if she had to work harder to track you down. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep your whereabouts completely out of the loop, but I’m afraid that’s an impossibility here in Mayberry.”
She laughed at that. “Well, I appreciate the thought and that you were trying to be sensitive to my situation.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. “Trust me, I never involve myself in other peoples’ ‘situations’ so you can take it as a compliment, if you wish. But I’m also warning you that I’m no good at it, so don’t go planning to hide behind me. This town, and everyone in it, is transparent to some degree. There is no place to hide.”
“Good to know. And don’t worry. I’m not much of a hider.”
He smiled, liking her more by the second. Wishing he didn’t, as it was going to complicate things, but he was afraid it was too late for that. “We still on for Sunday?”
“I hope so. I’ll know better after this evening. I’ll let you know tomorrow, if that’s okay. Can I call you here?”
You can call me anywhere, anytime. “Sure. I’ll be here. You might not be high maintenance, but Miss Betty Sue over there is very demanding. I’m beginning to think she’d never let me out of her sight if she had her way.”
“Betty Sue?”
He nodded toward the Mustang.
“Oh,” she said, looking immeasurably more excited now. “Is that what we’re going to fly in?”
He laughed. “No, she’s not in service at the moment. I’m getting her ready for the race next month.”
“Right. That—she’s—the Mustang.” Her gaze stayed on the plane. “She’s really something. I had no idea. World War Two you said.”
“Yes,” he said, feeling a ridiculous sense of pride, which was silly considering she had no real idea what she was looking at. But he didn’t mind that she liked what she saw. Or that, when she turned her gaze back to his, the look in her eyes didn’t change. “I can bore you with about a million details covering her entire life history whenever you have a few years. But, in deference to keeping you interested in me for more than five minutes, I’ll spare you.”
“Actually, I’d like to know more. You said you didn’t fly in the exhibitions like your grandfather did. Does someone else fly her then? Or is she only flown for the race? She’s really pretty stunning to look at. Hard to believe she was used as a fighter.”
“No one has flown her since my grandfather did, except me—” He broke off, then shook his head. “—and he would shoot me if I scared off a beautiful woman talking about the only other woman in my life.”
She laughed. “No need for the false flattery. Once a man has seen you with raccoon eyes, she’s never going to believe any compliments—”
“You should. You have beautiful eyes.”
She clearly wasn’t buying. “I wear serious looking glasses, and—”
“And I can see right through them.” He was beginning to see through a lot of things, in fact. He was beginning to wonder just how “sleekly pulled back, every hair in place and freckle covered” she’d be if left to her own desires. His smile grew when he realized he’d made her stutter to a stop. “Although if it makes me sound more sincere, I’ll add that while I find the frames kind of sexy, in a ‘I want to slide them off’ kind of way, I do prefer the eyes behind them, without all the black streaks.”
She both laughed and swallowed, hard, if the way her throat worked was any indication. And the tension between them both ebbed—of the awkward variety—and flowed…of the more intimate kind.
“I really would like to hear more,” she said finally. “About the plane, I mean.”
“Trust me, I’m doing you the favor. You really don’t want to get me started.”
He realized he was grinning. And she was smiling back. And suddenly he was thinking maybe he owed his baby sister a big fat thank-you. Although only under penalty of death would he actually admit that.
“It seems a shame that no one else flies her. I mean, all that work, she should get a chance to strut her stuff more often.”
Jake started to reply, then stopped. He hadn’t really ever thought about it like that. He’d always just been happy to keep her flight-worthy and race-worthy. “Possibly. I’ll just be happy if I can get her ready by race week.” And for that, he needed Roger to commit,
