“Then let’s do it. We can celebrate getting past our little whoopsie.”
“Little whoopsie?”
She faced him. “I’m trying to minimize its importance..”
He dragged in a breath. “Great idea. Little whoopsie it is. Lunch is a good idea, too. The more we see of each other, the quicker we’ll get back to normal.”
She hoped to hell he was right. She’d never met anyone with greater willpower. She owed it to him to make sure she did nothing to test it.
CHAPTER FIVE
Adam was losing the fight. He’d planned to show Tracy the second-floor children’s book section where kids would have their own space.
His great-grandma Lucy had put in an elevator when the stairs had become too much for her. It still worked perfectly and could handle a cartload of books or people who couldn’t manage stairs.
Tracy would love the concepts he and the crew had dreamed up for the second floor, but what she’d labeled theirlittle whoopsiestill taunted him. Eventually he’d be able to handle being alone with her, but tonight it was a struggle.
“We should probably get going.” He zipped his coat. “I don’t know about you, but I have an early morning appointment with a wheelbarrow and a stack of hay flakes.”
“Now that you’ve taken on the mayor gig, you could probably delegate barn chores.” She buttoned her coat, flipped up the hood and started toward the front door.
Relieved to be on the move, he followed her out of the room, turning off the lights as he passed the switch. “Rio’s already offered to do my share.” His youngest brother had a case of hero worship going on. “But I’m hanging onto that barn job. Horsessteady me. Rio and Xavier have their hands full this time of year getting food and water to the wild horses.” Ushering her out of the house, he locked up.
“I loved the times your dad recruited some of us to help with that. I thought about it the last time I took Moonlight for a ride. Not much for horses to eat out there right now. It’s good to know Rio and Xavier are on it.”
“When did you take that ride?” He resisted the impulse to grab Tracy’s hand as she navigated down the icy steps.
“A couple weekends ago. It was cold, but I like to get out with her at least a few times during the winter.”
“You should bring her over sometime. I guarantee Banjo misses her.”
“And vice-versa.”
“It’s supposed to be relatively warm this weekend. How about Saturday?”
“Sounds like fun.” Her tone was cautious.
“Then we’ll do it. The middle of the day would be good.” His boots crunched on a layer of ice and old snow on the circular driveway. “I’ll let Banjo know when I feed him tomorrow.”
“I envy you those barn chores. They’ll probably go better than my meeting with Auntie Kat in the morning.”
“Let me guess. She wants to see the ruling on private clubs in black and white.” Out of habit he walked her to the passenger side.
“Bingo. I think she knows she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”
“But if she didn’t harass Eli every so often he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.” He opened her door. “They’re like a couple of five-year-olds.”
“Isn’t that the truth. He pulls on her braids and she swipes his lunchbox.”
“Exactly.“ He held out his hand.
She took it, just like old times. He drove a big truck and automatically helped women into it. Except it wasn’t like old times. Heat shot up his arm and rocketed through his body. His grip tightened of its own accord.
A soft hitch in her breath made him glance at her. Big mistake. Once his gaze collided with those deep blue eyes, he couldn’t look away.
He swallowed. “Trace… I?—”
“Yeah, me too.” The words trembled on her lips. Then her jaw firmed. “But we won’t. Just take me home.”
