Sticky, inside and out, she got to her feet. She could admit when she’d lost and she could be gracious about losing—even if it almost killed her. “You’ve won this round, Mr. Cash Lowell.”
Cash bobbed his head and held out his clean hand. “I’ve never had a more worthy opponent.”
Rubi shook his hand, a warmth seeping into the hidden parts of her soul. “Likewise,” she replied. They stopped pumping hands and just looked at one another, holding hands like a couple of kids not sure what to do next.
After a moment, Cheri cleared her throat.
They broke apart as if sparked. “Thanks for being a good sport,” she said to Cheri. “And for the tip on the boots. I can’t wait for them to arrive.”
“You’re welcome.” Cheri smiled. “Have a good night.”
“You too.” Rubi pulled herself up to her full height and made her way out to the car. She didn’t glance back—didn’t dare for fear Cash would catch her lookin.
CHAPTER FOUR
It was a darn shame Cash didn’t get much sleep. The Expo was an opportunity for him to talk to everyday outdoor enthusiasts. This took a lot of energy and energy required sleep, and he had had very little of that thanks to Miss Pie Face.
She’d ruffled his feathers plenty with herI won’t take noattitude and general bossiness. He would have been perfectly happy to throw her in the lake when she walked into the diner. Not that he’d had high hopes for the evening. Cheri had offered to go Dutch and directed him to the cheap diner, suggesting they hang out and chat instead of spend a bunch of money on a date neither of them wanted to be on. Not that he didn’t like Cheri; she was fine. The fact of the matter was that both of them were past the dating-for-fun stage in life and had moved into the dating-for-marriage stage, and she was right: they weren’t meant to be together.
However, he didn’t take kindly to a woman barging in on a date. And she’d cozied up to Cheri, which kind of irked him, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.
Then, the moment right before they dove into their pie, their eyes had met and something happened inside of him. A shift. Anunderstanding. A connection fused. When she stood up to leave, he’d wanted her to stay.
He chuckled at his lack of social skills. He still didn’t know her name.
He’d tried to call Trent when he got home last night, but the call went to voicemail. Besides wanting a name, he wanted some clarification on the situation. There were two sides to every story.
Trent’s story had been believable at the time.
Carolyn’s story was plausible.
Trent was a smooth talker. The guy in high school who always had a quick answer to swing things his way.
Now
Not only did he have the sister-in-law’s word that Trent wasn’t what he claimed to be, he had Cheri’s. Dang it all. He didn’t want to be in the middle of this trouble.
Thank goodness he’d taken the pie challenge.
He chuckled.
Cheri was always one to come up with a creative solution. Maybe he should hire her to market for his company.
After a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, he trotted down the steps to the garage. He ran his hands through his hair again, wondering at what point his mama would come over with a set of shears. If he’d been going on a real date last night, perhaps with a woman with long blonde hair and even longer legs, he would have made sure he was trimmed up.
Shaking off the thought that had chased sleep away, he started loading boxes of T-shirts, hats, and packs into his truck bed. His gaze went up the lane, watching for his dad, who was supposed to help him out at the booth.
He hadn’t gotten much done when a red convertible pulled in, dragging his smile right behind it. He wondered how longit would take for her to come looking for Trent–had hoped it wouldn’t be too long.
Rubi climbed out wearing dark jeans and a baggy T-shirt. She had on a Braves hat, her hair loose and brushing her shoulders. He liked it when women wore ball hats.
Shaking off those thoughts, he went out to meet her. He didn’t have time for another pie eating contest, and this was getting ridiculous. Didn’t she have a job?
“I wasn’t expecting to see you again—you know, after I kicked your butt last night.”
She rolled her eyes. “You beat me by acrust. That’s hardly a butt-whoopin’”
He cocked a smile at her Southern accent coming out.
