“Rude,” I said to myself as I got buckled in, waiting for Brady to slip into his seat.
Once inside the car, he said, “I’ve gotta drop something off quick, and then we can go to the festival if you want.”
I tucked my leg beneath me and turned toward him as he drove us through the resort, a grin spreading across my lips. “Was that your way of asking me out on a date, Sheriff?”
He grunted, the sound low and deep and highly unamused. “Yes or no, lawbreaker.”
“That depends. Will there be funnel cakes at this festival of yours?”
“I didn’t realize funnel cakes were organic.”
“Oh, shut up and answer the question.”
“Of course there will. We’re not monsters.”
I gasped loudly as I reached out and gripped his forearm, loving the flex of muscle beneath my fingers. “Holy shit, was that a joke?”
His scowl deepened, and he kept his eyes glued out the windshield as he parked in front of one of the cottages. “You’ve got until I get back in the car to make your choice, or I’m making it for you.”
With that, he slipped out, grabbing two paper grocery bags from the back seat before heading toward Cottage Thirteen and depositing them in front of the door. The cottage looked like all the others at the resort—well-worn, but well loved, with a plethora of flowers in the pots bracketing the porch steps and nothing inside to hint at any life within. Without so much as a knock, Brady spun around and strode straight back to the car.
Once he’d slid into his seat, I asked, “What was that?”
“Groceries.”
“For who?”
“What’s your answer?”
“What?”
“The festival. Yes or no.”
I blew out a sigh, knowing he’d told me all he intended to about his mysterious delivery. “Yes, obviously. This’ll be my first Starlight Cove festival, so you better make it good.”
He slid his gaze to mine, leveling me with heated eyes. “I think we both know I can make it good.”
I shifted in my seat, still hot and bothered thanks to that kiss and grateful I’d put on panties when I’d changed into leggings and an off-the-shoulder sweater that was thick enough to hide the state of my nipples. The more layers between Brady and my ravenous body, the better.
As he drove us toward Main Street, I studied him in the light of the setting sun. He’d changed out of his uniform before he’d picked me up at the resort and now wore a long-sleeved olive-green Henley that did amazing things for his eyes—not to mention his body—and worn, faded jeans that looked buttery soft. So very different from the buttoned-up sheriff I normally saw.
“Do you usually bring a change of clothes to the station?” I asked.
“What?” He spared me a glance out of the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the road to find us a parking spot. “No, why?”
I shrugged, a smile tipping up the corner of my lips. That meant he’d known he’d be taking me to the festival tonight—or hoping to, anyway. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the jeans and shirt with him. Had he been busy cleaning up the town while also trying to figure out how to ask me out on a date, whilealsomaking sure my van was being looked at? The thought loosed a flurry of butterflies in my stomach, the swoop and flip of my insides a new, if welcome, sensation.
I didn’t get heart-fluttery for men. Didn’t feel like a shaken-up champagne bottle, ready to burst with one little look. At least not until Brady.
With a grin, I said, “No reason. Thank you, by the way.”
“Don’t thank me yet. What if you hate it?”
“Not about the festival. Thanks for calling Frank about my van.” I reached out and rested my hand on his forearm. “That was really sweet of you to do that for me.”
He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with my gratitude. “It was no big deal.”
Maybe not to him, but to me, it was. I’d been making my own appointments since I was thirteen—doctors, dentists, therapists… You name it, I did it. Had even perfected my mom voice to call myself out of school when need be. His doing this for me was such a tiny thing—probably inconsequential to most—but sometimes those were what hit the hardest.
