Logan opened the passenger door for her. When she hesitated, his eyes flickered down her body and up again. Realizing her predicament, he grinned.
“Here, Shorty. Let me help you out.” Before she could protest, he picked her up and gently lifted her into the crew cab truck. As little flickers of heat shot through her veins, she met his eyes.
He stared back at her until she cleared her throat and quickly swung her legs into the cab.
He winked at her, then stepped back and closed the door. She turned her head to watch him through the windshield. That was when she saw the small clay pendant dangling from a silver chain on the rearview mirror.
“Oh my God!” Her stunned gaze flew to Logan as he hopped up into the driver’s seat. “You still have the pendant I gave you?”
He glanced at the pendant as if he’d forgotten it was there. An embarrassed look came over his face.
Fighting an unexpected rush of tears, she marveled, “You actually kept it all these years?”
“Sure,” he said gruffly without meeting her gaze. She thought she saw a faint blush spreading across his cheeks, but it was too dark to be one hundred percent sure.
She reached over and gently took the pendant in her hand. It felt cool and smooth against her skin. “You keep it in your truck where you’ll see it every day,” she murmured.
Logan merely grunted. Yup. He was definitely blushing.
His adorable reaction made her melt. She sniffled and smiled as she let go of the pendant, watching it swing back and forth on the chain.
“You always said such nice things about my artwork,” she softly reminisced. “I figured I’d leave you a souvenir.”
“I appreciated it.” He flashed her a cocky grin. “I always knew you liked me.”
Now it was her turn to blush. “I didn’t like you.”
“You totally did.”
“Did not,” she insisted.
“Did, too.”
“Did not!”
“Okay.” His lips were twitching.
She glared at him another moment, then turned toward her window to hide her smile.
When he started the engine, rock music blared from the speakers. He turned the volume all the way down before backing out of the parking space.
Meadow glanced over at him, still smiling. “You weren’t serious about getting ice cream, were you?”
“I was.” He met her gaze. “You don’t want that?”
“Um, no. It’s way too cold for ice cream.” She shivered for emphasis.
He chuckled. “Then let’s go somewhere and have a drink. Downtown has some cool skybars. I know a nice quiet one where we can just sit and talk and enjoy the view.”
She smiled. “Sounds good, even though I’m not much of a drinker.”
He slanted her a teasing grin. “Can’t hold your liquor?”
“You could say that.”
“Yeah?” His grin turned wolfish. “So if I ply you with enough drinks, you’ll throw yourself at me?”
She snorted. “In your dreams.”