He got behind the wheel and said, “Look, I’m sorry. Sometimes I sound really harsh when I don’t mean to.”
“It’s all right,” she said. “Maybe I can….” She paused and thought for a moment, trying to find a way to say what she wanted without being dismissive or rude. “Maybe I can decide after we get coffee if I want you to come to dinner or not.”
His jaw twitched just once. “Fair enough.” He backed out of the space he’d parked in, and Joey expected him to take her back into town to Daily Grind. Her grandparents lived on the edge of the center of town, and it was only five minutes away. Instead, he headed south, and a slip of nerves moved through Joey.
“Where are we going?” she asked. “I don’t really care. I’d just like to know.”
He glanced over to her. “There’s a great coffee shop that just went in on the south highway,” he said. “It’s called Sip and Stay. They have a cute little storefront and lots of tables inside.”
She nodded and looked down at her phone. She didn’tneed to check to make sure that her location was turned on. She reminded herself she didn’t live in New York City, and Adam wasn’t going to drive into the wilderness and do something he shouldn’t. She looked up again, the brilliant blue autumn sky greeting her.
“My daddy just taught me to be vigilant,” she said. “Especially when I lived in the city. I promised him I’d pay attention to what was around me and who I was with—and always know where I was going.” She looked over to Adam and flashed him a small smile. He took it, but didn’t return it.
“I’ve been back for a while, but it’s still a habit.” She gave a light laugh. “I did date a guy with a serial killer name once.”
Adam blinked at her, clear shock running through his eyes. “Of course,” he said. “I should have told you. I apologize.”
Everything about him screamed professional and buttoned up, and Joey wondered what it would take to get him to relax and loosen up and show her who he really was. Since he’d opened the date with a no-games rule, she swallowed, trying to decide if she could say what she really wanted to.
They drove in silence with a quiet radio playing in the background, and just as he pulled into the parking lot at Sip and Stay, she found her courage.
“You know, you can be yourself around me,” she blurted out. “You’re not my band manager and I’m not your client.”
He looked over to her as he came to a stop right there inthe middle of the driveway of the parking lot. “Am I treating you like a client?”
“Yes,” she said simply. “A little bit.”
“I didn’t mean to do that,” he said. He hung his head as his shoulders and hands and everything about him softened. “I guess I’m always just a little keyed up. And I just had a two-hour long meeting with the band and Harry and Bryce and then the dinner invitation.” He sighed. “I don’t know. I’ll try to relax.”
She smiled at him again as he raised his eyes to hers. “Is this something other people have told you—that you need to learn how to relax?”
“Maybe,” he said.
She giggled and reached to tuck her hair behind her ear. “Oh, I don’t think there’s amaybeanywhere in that, Mister Harmon.”
He chuckled too, and when Joey looked this time, he wore a smile. Oh, it was beautiful and glorious, and she wondered how much light it would beam out when he finally unleashed the full power of it on the world.
“You know what you need?”
“What?” he asked.
She reached over, feeling flirtatious and bold and so unlike herself. She brushed her hands through his hair, swooping it to the side where it already went. Pure shock coursed through his eyes, stinging through Joey as well.
“You need a cowboy hat,” she said. “Every man worth his salt in Wyoming owns a cowboy hat.”
“Do they?” he asked, that grin appearing again. “Well, asit so happens, Miss Young, I was planning to buy one this weekend.”
Giddiness romped through Joey like a herd of wild horses. “Oh, I want to go with you,” she said. “In fact, we should go this afternoon. Then you can wear it tonight at dinner and use it to hide your face when Grams or Gramps asks you something you don’t want to answer.” She giggled again. “That’s what cowboys do, you know. The hat has many uses.”
He looked over to the coffee shop and then into the rearview mirror, and finally eased his foot off the brake. He parked several spots down and turned to look at her.
“I want to get coffee first,” he said. “And then I might take you up on going cowboy hat shopping together. Maybe then I won’t get taken advantage of and walk out of there looking like a fool.”
Joey didn’t think Adam could ever look like a fool, but she buttoned that up and simply smiled at him as she got out of the car. Adam met Joey at the front bumper, his movements so natural as he reached for her hand and secured it in his. He ducked his head again, and oh, the man definitely needed a cowboy hat.
Joey managed to keep her smile contained, though she had not dated a lot and didn’t really know how to act around a man she liked as much as she did Adam.
They went into Sip and Stay, and Joey paused only two steps in, taking in the atmosphere. “You were right,” she said, plenty of awe in her voice. “This place is amazing.”
