Without missing a beat, Rufus curled his fingers around the tendril and moved it from my lips. My breath caught in my throat.
I couldn’t look at him, afraid the furnace blasting on my skin would betray my nerves. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. Clementine?”
“Yes?”You want to kiss me? You want to take me into your arms, bend me over and graze your lips down my neck?Any and all would have been welcomed and appreciated. “You were going to say?”
He smiled and the corners of his dark eyes fanned and once again I was falling…and not listening to a word he said.
“Clementine?” He waved a hand in front of my face. “Clem?”
“Yes! I’m sorry, I wasn’t…”
“Listening?”
My heart shriveled. Oh, that was so bad. How could I tell him that I wasn’t listening?
Suddenly the quilt fell from the library window. Malene, Urleen and Norma Ray stood gaping at us. Malene wagged a finger at me.
Uh-oh. I curled my hand around Rufus’s arm and dragged him away so that they couldn’t read our lips.
“They’re so nosy,” I explained. “But you were saying?”
“I asked if tonight would be a good night for that dinner?” He gestured to his outfit of a black shirt and leather pants. “I’m sure you’d like me to get cleaned up a bit first.”
You look good enough to eat if you ask me.And then my second thought was that I hadn’t been paying attention when he asked me out. What a dolt I was!
“Yes!” Too excited. Had to play this coy. “I mean, I’ve got some free time tonight. That would be great.”
“Say seven?”
I smiled, doing my best to keep my facial expression more grin-like than beaming with happiness.
“Seven is perfect,” I replied demurely. I even lowered my lids to look not too overexcited.
“Do you have something in your eye?”
Well, that obviously didn’t work. I rubbed it. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Let me see.” Before I could argue, Rufus cupped my chin in his hands and tipped my face up to his. This close I could see his dark eyes were a deep chocolate color. Warmth from his fingers soaked into my skin while my nose picked up the woodsy scent that he carried with him.
Everything about this man made my head fog, my judgment cloud.
He grinned. “No, you’re right. Nothing in there.” His hand dropped to his side. “Looks like you’re all right.”
“Oh, good. I was worried. Well, not really. I knew I was fine. But thank you for looking.”
I was talking too much, wasn’t I?
Rufus slowly backed away, smiling. “See you at seven?”
“I’ll see you then.”
Once he had turned around and was on his way down the street, I did a fist pump.
A loud banging broke my celebration. I glanced over to see Malene knocking on the window. She pointed a finger at me and mouthed,I’m watching you.
I blew her a kiss, turned on my heel and strode down the street, elated that I had a date with destiny.
