“Right.” As she set the vase by the register, he said, “You don’t want to take them home?”
“I want to keep them here so I can see them tomorrow,” she said a little bashfully. “They’re all my favorites. How did you know?”
“I might have bribed the florist.”
“Sneaky.”
They headed outside, and she locked the doors. When she turned around, she looked at him the way she had earlier, like she wanted to kiss him or run away and wasn’t sure which to do. It took everything he had not to go for the kiss.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” He put a hand on her back as they headed around the corner, and he made mental notes of her tells. The way she fell silent or rambled when she was nervous, and how she touched Reno in those moments, as if just doing so calmed her, and the tell he enjoyed most. Her stolen glances when she thought he wasn’t paying attention, proving that she felt their connection just as strongly as he did.
She stopped by the only other car in the lot, a safe, reliable, blue-gray Subaru Crosstrek. It suited her perfectly. She put Reno in the back seat and attached a tether to his harness, then closed the door and looked up at Dash. Moonlight glittered in her eyes, and she fidgeted with her keys. “Thank you again for the flowers and for helping me with the books.”
He stepped closer. “I had a great time. How about letting me take you on a real date tomorrow night?”
“Dash, you’re a really nice guy, the kind of guy that is way too easy to fall for, but you’re only here for a couple of weeks, and I’m not a short-term kind of girl. I think it’s best if we just keep things friendly and not try to make it into anything more.”
“Maybe you don’t know what’s best.” He touched her hand, and she breathed a little harder. “Your words say one thing, but your eyes tell me another.”
She opened her mouth to speak, and snapped it closed, as if she’d thought better than to say whatever she was going to say.
“Just say yes, Amber. You won’t regret it.”
“I can’t,” she said apologetically.
“Because you want to stay in control of your emotions, and you’re worried I’ll be too much for you? Or because I’m only here for two weeks?”
She lowered her eyes, and when they flicked back up to his, he saw her struggle, an inner fight to throw caution to the wind, and the strength of the woman who probably hadn’t done that for so long, she might have forgotten how. “Both. You should ask out Sable or Haylie or any number of the other single women around here. We both know they’d jump at the chance for a few nights with you. Well, maybe not Sable, but there are plenty of others.”
“They’re nice, but they’re not you. You’re different, Amber, and I don’t mean because you have epilepsy. I mean it in a broader sense, in the very best way. When I saw you across the barn at the jam session, you outshined everyone.”
She let out a sound of disbelief. “I’ve never outshined anyone in my life, and that’s okay. I don’t need to stand out to be happy. I had a lot of fun tonight, and I’m sorry, but it’s best if we just leave things like they are.”
Every part of him wanted to push, to spout the reasons why she was wrong and change her mind. But he respected her need to be in control, which wasn’t to say that he was giving up.
“Okay. Friends it is. But you’re wrong about not standing out. You’re more beautiful than any woman I’ve ever met, and it’s not only physical beauty that makes you shine, which is why your beauty is so rare. It’s what’s inside that makes you glow. The things that can’t be faked or made better with makeup or fancy clothes. You possess them in droves.”
Surprise and disbelief brimmed in her eyes.
He opened her car door and waited for her to settle in before leaning down and kissing her cheek. “I’m not giving up on you, my secret sexy reader.”
He closed her door and felt the heat of her stare blazing into him as he headed for his car.
Chapter Five
THE BELL ABOVE the bookstore door chimed, and Sable strutted into the store, drawing Amber’s attention from the display of Dash’s books she was restocking on Tuesday afternoon. Or rather, that she had been restocking before she’d gotten lost in thoughts of last night while ogling his picture.
“I had a feeling that literary baller who’s got all the women around here following him like he’s the world’s most talented gigolo giving out freebie coupons was the reason you were so quiet at breakfast this morning.” With her cowgirl hat and boots, Sable looked more like a rancher than an auto mechanic or musician. She planted a hand on her hip, the knowing look in her eyes telling Amber not to even bother trying to deny it. “I know you get bummed when Axsel leaves town, and now Grace and Reed are gone, too, and that trips you up a little. But not like this.”
Their family had gotten together for a farewell breakfast at their parents’ house this morning to say goodbye to Grace, Reed, and Axsel. Even though Amber was glad her siblings were living full, happy lives, she hated goodbyes. Last night’s goodbye to Dash had been even worse. She’d tried to cheer herself up by wearing her favorite caramel-colored sweaterdress with the black and tan scarf and all of the other accessories Morgyn had made for her. She’d even worn the thigh-high boots Brindle had given her last Christmas. She felt cute in the outfit, and it usually made her feel good all over, but it hadn’t helped. She’d still spent all day wondering if she’d made a mistake telling Dash she couldn’t go out with him.
Sable crossed her arms. “What’d he do?”
“Nothing.” Amber set down the book she was holding, her eyes darting to the flowers. Everything.
“Uh-huh. And I’m a virgin.”
“Why is everything about sex all the time?” Amber hadn’t meant to snap, but she’d kept her frustrations buried all day around customers, and she was sick of it. “Even when it’s not about sex, it’s about sex.”
Sable’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? Did he try something with you?”
“No. He gave me flowers with acorns in the vase and spent hours helping me get books ready to mail out.” She couldn’t control her angry tone and began nervously straightening the books on the table. “He told me all about his family. He practically raised his brothers and sisters after his crappy father abandoned them.”
Sable put her hand over Amber’s, stopping her from shuffling the books around, and glanced at the flowers by the register. “Those the flowers?”
Amber nodded.
“Your favorites.”
“He bribed Twyla.” Twyla ran the flower shop.
“Son of a bitch,” Sable said under her breath. “He’s savvy. Gotta give him that. But you love flowers, and you sound mad. What did he really do?”
“I’m not angry at him. I’m angry at life. Everything he said last night about his family and who he is spoke to me here.” She put her hand over her heart. “I never feel that. And we laughed, Sable. A lot. You should see how he looks at me, like I’m a goddess or like he’s seeing the sun after years spent in the dark, and he makes me want…you know.”