by Jules Barker
And then she winked. Winked! Not a casual, fun wink like Laurel liked to do, but a wink that was somehow slower and sexier. How did she do that?
Laurel was still scowling when she stepped out of the store with a soft harrumph.
“Where are you headed next?” Nate asked. “I’ll drop you off.”
She checked the time on her phone. “I’ve got about 15 minutes before I need to be at the elementary school. I have a meeting with the vice-principal.” She waggled her eyebrows at Nate, who opened the passenger door of his truck.
“Then I’ll definitely give you a ride and make a quick pit stop first.”
Laurel climbed in and, when Nate had gotten in and started the truck, she asked, “What pit stop? It won’t make me late, right?”
“No. Not late. But it will make you take it easy on that poor principal.” He grinned. “Hot chocolate. You seem annoyed by something this morning and I know you haven’t had your chocolate fix yet.”
Laurel felt little butterflies lift off in her stomach. She tried not to smile too big, but had to look out the side window. Nate was... not different, but not the same as he was before either. More. He was somehow more. Took up more space. More of her thoughts.
As they drove the neighborhood roads to the other side of town, she discovered she had to hold her hands in her lap to keep one from creeping over the seat of the truck closer to his. She cleared her throat.
“So. Their best client, huh? Business must be good?”
“Yeah. Dad had some jobs lined up anyway, but I think people want to support us so they’re hiring out work they might have postponed or done themselves.”
“Really? That’s sweet! The island loves you. Or maybe it’s that they want to check you out?”
Nate choked and coughed. “Check me out?”
“Oh come on. You’ve got to know that working construction in the Montana sun has been good for you.”
“And that’s why old Mrs. Grady is hiring me to install a custom doggie door for her french poodle?”
Laurel nodded seriously. “Yes! A lady is never too old to appreciate the art of the human form. Ask Gran.”
Nate ran a hand over his mouth, smothering a smile. “Is that also why Mr. Norman wants a new garden shed?”
Laurel tried to keep a straight face, but the ridiculousness of Mr. Norman ogling Nate as he worked was too much for her. She busted up laughing and Nate followed suit.
She’d barely recovered her breath when he pulled up to the front of Pastries and Potions. He made her stay in the truck. “I won’t get full brownie points if I make you get it yourself.”
She watched through the window as he walked inside, holding the door for a woman and child just leaving. Maybe he was only filling the role of absent Simon, the big brother caretaker. But she was smiling before she realized it.
She opened the camera on her phone and held it up like a mirror. Slowly, she closed one eye, but instead of a sultry wink, she looked like someone with an overpowered facial tic. How did Vicki do that wink?
Her phone dinged in her hand. Startled, she dropped it and scrambled to pick it up before it slid off her lap onto the floor. A text from Simon.
