Michelle gave her a questioning look. “Car trouble?”
Audrey sighed. “Yeah. It was threatening trouble earlier, but now it won’t start. Luckily, I live close enough to walk home.”
“Would you like a ride?”
“Um, yeah, that would be great, actually. My feet are killing me.” And she was secretly thrilled to spend a few minutes alone with Michelle before they said good night.
“So much dancing.” Michelle rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’m just over here.”
Audrey followed her to a sleek black BMW. The car was so perfectly Michelle, Audrey had to smile. Michelle had taken off her top hat, revealing damp flyaways that had escaped from her bun. That outfit was going to be in Audrey’s private fantasies for alongtime.
“I’m about a half mile down East Street, just past the gas station,” she told Michelle as they got into the car.
“Perfect. That’s right on my way home.”
“Where do you live?”
“I’m a few miles outside town on Middleton Hill Road.”
“Oh, the views are so pretty out that way,” Audrey said.
Michelle nodded. “Exactly why I bought a house there. It’s got all the privacy I could ever want, plus a view to die for.”
“Sounds nice.” And Audrey had no business wondering if she’d ever see it in person. “Got plans this weekend?”
“Not really. I’ll probably be working on that book. Can’t seem to get it off my mind.”
“That makes me very happy to hear, since I’m dying to read more of it.” Audrey settled back in her seat. The car smelled like Michelle, that fresh, woodsy scent Audrey had come to associate with her. “I’ll be working on my passion projects this weekend too. I’ll probably spend most of it at the pottery wheel.”
Michelle darted a glance at her as she drove. “I’d love to see you work sometime. You use the studio on campus, too, don’t you?”
“I do, but the campus studio books out pretty far with students wanting to use it between classes, so I usually do my own pottery work at home. Why don’t you come over this weekend? I’d love to show you how to use the wheel. You can throw your own pot.” She held her breath, awaiting Michelle’s response.
Michelle was silent for several long seconds, and then she cleared her throat. “I don’t want to impose.”
“You wouldn’t be imposing. I’d love to have the company, and showing people how to use the wheel is pretty much my favorite thing.” Never mind that it would be even harder to ignore this pesky attraction while Michelle was in her house. Audrey was up for the challenge, and she was eager to take their friendship to the next level, hanging out off campus.
Michelle shook her head. “I’m not an artist. I just wanted to observe you.”
“That’s fine, too, but you don’t have to be an artist to use the wheel.” Audrey realized they’d already reached her house. The drive took no time at all. She pointed. “That’s me, the white house on the corner.”
Michelle turned into the driveway and parked, then looked at her. “All right, then. If you’re sure you don’t mind, I’d like to watch you at the wheel this weekend.”
“Awesome. Does tomorrow afternoon work for you?”
“Yes.”
Audrey’s heart leaped for joy. This was going to be the best Saturday. She just knew it.
Audrey was about to come out of her skin with a combination of nerves and excitement by the time the black BMW pulled into her driveway just before three the following afternoon. Michelle Thompson was about to be in her house. And Audrey had every intention of convincing her to try the wheel herself, after she’d had a chance to observe Audrey.
Except suddenly, the idea of throwing pottery with Michelle felt more intimate than she’d anticipated. That scene fromGhostflitted through her mind. Audrey had always wanted to recreate that scene with someone, and now her unhelpful brain was imagining it with Michelle.
Stop it,Audrey told herself as she watched Michelle step out of her car, wearing formfitting jeans and a black top under a burgundy blazer. Goodness. She hadn’t prepared herself to see Michelle in casual clothes, and wow, she looked unfairly good in jeans.
Audrey opened the front door. “Hi.”
Michelle looked up with that little smile that always undid Audrey. “Hi yourself. Thanks again for doing this. I really hadn’t anticipated interfering with your weekend when I asked.”
