She opens the door in fuzzy socks, a plush pink sweatsuit, and a messy ponytail of fire, and just like that, I forget every single excuse I came up with for coming over here. When I open my mouth to talk, a warm smile appears on her beautiful face making her look so delicious that all I can do is swallow saliva and pray it won’t choke me.
When I don’t say anything for a while, she asks in a sleepy voice, “You okay?”
This is a valid question because I never bring her coffee in the morning in order to avoid Moon’s grilling, and usually I wait for Nora to come to me.
“Yeah,” I answer. “Just—uh. Thought I’d head into town. Got some errands to run. Figured if you weren’t doing anything, you know.”
She raises one brow, arms crossed. “I don’t.”
She’s not making it easy, enjoying my turmoil judging by her slightly twitching lips.
I clear my throat. “You know, like running errands.”
“What about running errands?” she echoes, biting the inside of her cheek.
“Yeah. Do you want to do that?”
At that, she starts laughing. I’d join her too if I wasn’t so mortified. “Jericho, are you asking me on a date?”
I blink. “No.”
She stares.
I swallow. “Sort of.”
She blows a loud breath out, trying to stop laughing. “You could have just said that.”
“Yeah.” That’s all I can manage.
“Yeah.” She’s chewing on the inside of her cheek, looking ready to burst out laughing again. “I’ve got a couple hours before I need to be at the diner,” she says, grabbing her jacket and boots. “Let’s go do yourerrands.”
After she’s donned her big puffy jacket and boots, she walks to my truck and climbs into the passenger side without waiting for my help. I mean, she’s got a truck of her own and I’m sure she’s fine getting in and out of it, but I was hoping for this moment to get my hands on her. Because I fuckin’ miss holding her in my arms.
When I get inside the truck, Nora has already switched the radio station to something country. With one leg propped on the seat, she taps her fingers on her knee, matching the music’s rhythm.
I’m holding the wheel with both hands like I just got my driving license. I don’t know what to say next, while Nora doesn’t seem to care. Am I putting too much thought into it? Do people behave this well on a date? Is this a date?
When I decided to ask her to come with me, I didn’t actually think it through. What sort of errands am I running?
I notice the hardware store to our right and quickly turn the wheel to the curb. Nora glances at me from under her lashes. “Need something to hammer?”
I choke on the words I was about to say and start coughing. My mind slips so easily into the gutter around her now, and her making this type of comment isn’t helping the situation. She might have meant it as an innocent question, but my brain hasn’t gotten the memo.
“Something like that,” I croak, unbuckling my seatbelt.
“All right,” she says, following my action. “Let’s get you some nails. I’m sure you’ve got a hammer of your own.”
A quick glance in her direction tells me she’s totally messing with me.
“Nora,” I growl, throwing my head back on the seat.
“Yes, Jericho.” Her voice is barely able to hide laughter.
I turn to her. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” She blinks innocently.
“You know what.”
