She nodded. “Apparently.”
“I’m so proud of you,” he said louder, chucking her under the chin. The brief contact of his skin against hers had her momentarily distracted, but then his frown drew her attention.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“You said it’s going to take a lot of your time?”
Jane nodded. “Yeah.”
“Does that mean you’re not going to be able to work out here? I mean, I guess Bo will be able to find someone?—”
She reached for his hand out of some strange instinct. “I’m going to make sure I get some hours here, too. The promotion gives me a small raise for now, but if I pull it off, I’ll be getting more and better benefits to boot.”
The smile returned to his face, and it sent flutters ricocheting within her chest. How could a smile affect her so much?
Nope. Not going there.
Definitely not going there.
Dang it, why can’t he stop smiling at her like that?
“Well, this calls for a celebration,” Noah announced.
“Celebration?”
“Of course. We’re going out.”
“Noah—”
“As friends,” he assured her. “Friends can go out together to celebrate. It doesn’t have to be weird.”
She gnawed on her lip, and then she grinned. “Yeah, okay. Let’s go out to celebrate.”
“You free tonight?” Noah’s hopeful voice only added to those strange feelings within her. Was this a bad idea? It might be. It wasn’t hard to see that he liked her. He flirted like a crazy person when he was around her.
And you flirt back, the voice in her head seemed more than happy to accuse.
She’d just have to be more careful. She wouldn’t give him any reason to believe they had a shot at something more. It would be safer that way.
They wentto a restaurant in the next town over that had a bar and dancing. It was a dive that she would have thought no one would have given a second look to, but the moment they entered the building, she’d been proven wrong.
Couples filled the interior, and they were everywhere—seated at the bar or tables, and dancing to the live country band performing on a stage at the far side.
It was decorated in a rustic theme. Wooden tables and chairs, deer mounted on the walls overhead, and pictures of people from the historical west. Peanut shells crunched under her shoes, and she let out a laugh.
“I knew you’d like it,” Noah’s voice hummed against the shell of her ear, and goosebumps raced along her arms.
“This place is great,” she agreed. “It makes me feel like we’ve gone back in time.”
“To when things were simpler,” he said, cocking his head as he watched her for a reaction.
She nodded. “Yes. Simple.”
He nodded toward the bar. “You want anything to drink? Or should we get a table and get some appetizers?”
Jane glanced toward the dance floor longingly. Thoughts of the gala filled her head. When they’d danced together, she’d enjoyed his closeness. Everything about him drew her in. And yet she knew if they were to go dancing now, she might lose her resolve. She loved dancing. But dancing with Noah? It was dangerous.
She turned to him. “Let’s eat first,” she said definitively.
