She smiled. “Go ahead; take it. Don’t mind me.”
No way was he going to take the call. It could wait. The trouble was, it’d interrupted the moment. He turned onto Lenny’s street.
Amber picked up her purse and the bag. “Thanks for the ride.”
Damn! She was going to get out, and he wasn’t going to get the chance to ask her. “Thank you for rescuing Roscoe.”
“The pleasure was all mine. He’s a good boy.”
Austin nodded. “He is.”
She reached for the door handle. It was now or never.
“I guess I’ll see you around.”
He nodded again. He’d failed again. “Are you coming out tomorrow night?” he asked as her feet hit the ground.
“I think so. I think we’re meeting up with Ally. Angel said everyone’s going. Will you be there?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll see you then, then.”
“I guess so. Can I buy you a drink … as a thank you?”
She laughed. “There’s no need. Like I said, I enjoyed meeting Roscoe.”
“I’d like to.” He held her gaze for a moment, hoping that she might understand that he wanted to do more than say thank you, even if he was screwing this up.
Her expression changed. He hoped that was a good sign, but he wasn’t sure. “Okay, then, thanks.”
He watched her walk up the path to Lenny’s front door. Jeez. Logan would give him some grief if he’d witnessed that little exchange. How to mess up asking a girl out in three easy steps! His only consolation was that he’d bought himself the chance to try again tomorrow night.
He checked his watch and pulled away. He needed to get moving. He didn’t want to be late to Colt and Cassie’s.
~ ~ ~
Amber let herself into Lenny’s and leaned back against the door. Phew! That was the first time she’d been alone with him. He always made her feel a little bit stupid, but jeez! She’d been tongue-tied the whole ride. Talk about awkward conversation! Still, he hadn’t raced away as fast as he could, like she’d expected him to. No, he’d asked if she was going out tomorrow night—asked if he could buy her a drink. She pressed her lips together but couldn’t hold the smile in. Did that mean …? It kind of felt like it did. The way he’d looked at her seemed as though he was saying that he wanted to buy her a drink, as in a kind of date type thing. She pushed away from the door. Or did it? Was she just getting carried away?
“Is that you, Amber?”
“Hey, Grandma. It is. Sorry it took me a while.” She went into the kitchen and found Lenny slicing strawberries.
“No problem. There’s no set time for anything in my house, you know that.” Lenny’s expression changed when she looked up. “Good Lord! What happened to you?”
It took Amber a moment to understand, then she looked down at herself and laughed. “Oh! Sorry. I forgot. I’m filthy. I should get washed up.”
“What happened? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It was funny really. I found a dog in a hole.”
Lenny raised an eyebrow.
“Someone dug a huge hole by the trees at the edge of the parking lot—you know, down by the beach? Well, I heard whimpering, and I had to see what was going on. I ended up getting down in there with him to get him out.”
“And where’s this dog now? Did he run off?”
Amber shook her head. “You won’t believe this. I was bringing him back here with me, thinking you’d know who he belonged to, but he ran off. I followed him, and it turns out that he belongs to Austin. Apparently, his brother’s in town and was supposed to be watching Roscoe for him.”
Lenny chuckled. “That sounds about right. Austin’s the responsible one, Dallas is …” She shook her head with a smile that said while she might disapprove of Dallas, she had a soft spot for him. “Dallas is another story altogether.” She met Amber’s gaze. “Which one of them do you like better?”
Amber felt the heat in her cheeks. Jade and Lenny had teased her about her crush on Austin often enough. “Do you really need to ask?”
“I hoped not. I like Austin for you, but Dallas … no. He’s different. If anything, the difference between those boys is like the difference between you and Jade.”
“I can see that. I only met Dallas for a few minutes, but …” She rolled her eyes. There was no point trying to hide anything from Lenny, and she didn’t even want to. It was nice to have someone to talk to about how she felt. “He’s no Austin, is he?”
Lenny laughed. “He isn’t. And now you know Roscoe, too. If I’d known you were planning to climb into a hole to rescue him, I would have been scared to death. That dog doesn’t have the best reputation.”
“Austin said he doesn’t often like strangers.”
“There’s an understatement. I have to call Austin when we have a package for him that won’t fit in the mailbox. None of my guys will deliver anything to the house because of Roscoe.”
“Really? I was a bit concerned at first, but he was a sweetheart with me.”
“Dogs know.” Lenny smiled. “Anyway, you go and get cleaned up, and I’ll finish fixing dinner.”
“Thanks.” Amber held up the bag. “I brought cupcakes, though I’m not sure what shape they’ll be in.”
“The shape won’t affect the taste.” Lenny took the bag. “Go on. Wash your hands at least. It’s not often I see you with a hair out of place.”
Amber smoothed her hair down, self-consciously.
“Leave it be. I’m not criticizing. I’m pleased if anything. It’ll do you good to loosen up a bit—and if you’re going to start getting dirty, I can’t think of a better guy than Austin for you to do it with.”
Amber had to laugh, even as she felt her cheeks flush again. “I wouldn’t mind, but he’s still not shown any interest.”
Lenny’s smile faded. “Really? Not even after you rescued Roscoe?”
Amber shrugged. “Well, he gave me a ride back here … and he did ask if I’ll be out tomorrow night … Okay, will you tell me what you think this means?”
“What?”
“He asked if I’ll be out tomorrow night, and when I said yes, he asked if he could buy me a drink. Does that mean …?”
Lenny grinned. “I believe it does. I’ve told you all along. He’s interested. It’s written all over his face whenever I’ve seen the two of you around each other. But when you first arrived, he was still with that little bitch, Nadia.”
“Yes, but he broke up with her a while ago …”
“True, but would you have wanted him to dump her and come straight to you?”
Amber shook her head.
“That’s right. He’s a good boy.” Lenny stopped herself and smiled. “You have to remember; I’ve known him since he was a baby. He’s not a boy. He’s a good man. You should be glad he’s taken his time and put a respectable distance in between ending things with her and starting things with you.”
“But he hasn’t started anything with me.”