“Yep,” Cash said. After he ended the call, he sighed and hung his head as he set his phone back on the corner of the table.
“Now all you’ve got to do,” he muttered to himself. “Is figure out how to prep Lark for meeting your whole family in less than twenty-four hours.”
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Lark walked into the kitchen wearing a dress she’d pulled out of her closet that she hadn’t seen in at least a year. She figured after last night’s Care Bear swimming suit, anything she wore would be impressive to Cash. She found him dressed in black slacks and a white shirt, tieless, as he kneaded a ball of dough on the counter.
She’d heard his alarm go off forty-five minutes ago, and she’d deliberately waited until he’d walked past her bedroom before she went to get in the shower. “Morning,” she said.
Cash grinned at her. “Look at you, Songbird.” He grinned at her. “You’re as pretty as a lark.”
She wanted to roll her eyes and tell him he was the cheesiest man on earth, but the warmth his deep voice sent through her simply had her grin widening. “Thank you, Cash. Looks like you got started on the dough.”
“Yep, it’s almost done,” he said, and he kept pushing the butt of his palms through it and folding it over three, four, five more times. “I think that’ll do it,” he said. “Did you eat breakfast before I got up?”
He set about putting the dough in a bowl. As he stretched a long piece of plastic wrap over it, she shook her head. “No,”she said. “I didn’t want to cook and didn’t feel like anything breakfasty today.”
He bent to put the bowl in the fridge. “I’m gonna adjust this just a little while we’re gone.” He twisted something in the fridge and then closed it. “But you like doughnuts, right?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Of course.”
“They could be considered a breakfasty,” he said.
“I like that yogurt I got,” she said. “And the stuff for breakfast sandwiches. But I’m not really hungry this morning. I want to save my appetite for lunch.”
“All right.” Cash moved over to the dining room table, where he’d looped a tie around the top of one of the chairs. He pulled it off and put it around his neck, his fingers deftly working to tie the knot at his throat. Lark liked watching him do things with those hands, and a slip of embarrassment moved through her when he dropped them and asked, “How do I look?”
“Amazing,” she said. “But you already know that.”
“Do I?” he challenged, and he took a step closer to her.
Lark wanted to back up or turn away from him, simply because she wasn’t sure what this thing brewing between her and Cash was. He’d been the one to initiate all physical contact, except for her light touch on his hand last night at dinner.
He took another step, and Lark held her ground. He paused in front of her, a little too close to be friendly, and Lark reached up with her heartbeat fluttering in her throat. “It’s a little bit crooked.”
Though the tie at his throat sat exactly straight, he lifted his chin and let Lark fix his tie. When she dropped her hands, she actually placed one on Cash’s chest and looked up at him. He put one hand on her waist, his eyes lighting up as he said, “I just need my cowboy hat, and I’ll be ready to go.”
“I need to get my jacket.” She stepped away and out of his touch, an instant chill settling inside her. Lark had never feltlike this about anyone before, and none of it made sense to her. She’d had a couple of friends who’d gotten married in the last few years while she’d been at college, but neither of her brothers had ever been married, and Lark had never been in love. So she honestly didn’t know and had never experienced the whirlwind of emotions moving through her as she stepped over to the hooks by the door and pulled down her coat.
Cash followed and helped her into it before putting on his own leather jacket and that sexy black cowboy hat. He took her hand and led her out of the house, tapping the garage door opener as he went. He took her around the back of the truck to the passenger side, where he opened the door and held it so she could climb in. He joined her only a few seconds later, and while Lark’s heartbeat thundered at her, he backed out of the driveway and set them south again.
“Cash, does your whole family go to this church up here?” she asked.
“No,” Cash said. “Just the cousins I mentioned, because they live up here in Dog Valley. And I’ve got a couple of uncles too—Uncle Luke and Uncle Morris. I’m sure they’ll be there. Uncle Luke only misses if he’s taken his family camping, and he doesn’t do that in the winter.”
Cash had not taken her hand again since they had gotten in the truck, and he now reached out to adjust the heat settings.
“He sometimes takes his boys winter camping, but I doubt he’ll have gone right before Thanksgiving.”
“I’m surprised you’re doing Thanksgiving with our family,” Lark said. “What with your family being so close and so big, I’m sure you have lots of other options.” She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that until now.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m actually going over to my parents’ on Wednesday night.” He glanced over to her. “And, well, remember when my daddy called last night?”
“Yes,” she said, every defense flying into place at the guarded nature of his tone.
“Well, my step-mom made a bunch of soup, and they heard I was making doughnuts today, and they want to do a trade. I said we’d stop by after we visited your grandmother.” He glanced at her again, clearly nervous. “My family can be a lot.”
