Anna burst out laughing. She almost dropped the bola. “Stop. Just stop.”
“Starting to think I shoulda offered something better than chocolate.”
Two tosses later, Jackson was down a point, and Anna’s competitive nature had stepped in a pile of something that reeked of relationship stink.
She’d asked to meet hismother.
“Huh,” he said. “Looks like I’m gonna be needing your phone number.” He rocked back on his heels. “’Course, you’re gonna be needing my address before this is over so you can fix up my kitchen right good.”
On her next turn, Kaci managed to avoid hitting anything major, including the ladder. Lance did too, but Anna suspected that was on purpose. She and Jackson lined up for their turns. He gestured to the ladder. “Two-pointer for your middle name.”
“Three-pointer.”
He cast a sideways glance at her.
She gave him a saucy grin. “I might be a Yankee, but I’m not easy. Your last name if you miss.”
He hit all three rungs with his three bolas. After his last toss, he looked at her expectantly. She gaped at him. “Who’s calling who a shark now?”
“You still got a chance to knock me off the board.”
At the end of the round, the guys were winning by a landslide.
“Grace,” she said.
“That’s a right pretty name.”
“I’ll be sure to pass your compliments on to my parents.” She signaled Kaci. “Your dishes are on the line here,” she called.
“Don’t I know it. You had to go and ask ’em to mopthe yard with us, now didn’t you?”
“So start scoring some points.”
By sheer miracle, or more likely pity from the men, ten minutes later the guys’ score was steady at twenty to the women’s eighteen. One point, and the Bama boys would win.
Jackson lined up for his first toss.
“I was kidding about meeting your mother,” Anna confessed.
“Now who’s chicken?” he teased.
“Come on, you introduce the woman who sets up your kitchen to your mother, she’s gonna start hearing wedding bells.”
His toss went wild.
Anna giggled.
“You’re learning, Anna Grace.”
Hearing her name rolled out in his Southern drawl gave her a glimpse into a world that gave her the shivers. She shut them down and put her game face back on. “If you miss, you owe me your middle name.”
He ringed the two-point rung.
“You’re over points,” Kaci called. “Doesn’t count. Has to be exact.”
“Your middle name?” Anna prompted.
“Now that’s cheating. Didn’t miss. Just didn’t hit the right one.”
