Page 46 of Trouble Walked In

“Right.”

Her statement left him feeling oddly disappointed. He hadn’t even thought past the next few minutes when they’d climbed into the backseat, but now that she’d mentioned the future, he was a little irritated that she’d dismissed the possibility so easily.

He fished around in the well of the car for their clothes.

By the time they were dressed and back on the road, it was eight o’clock and the parking lot was packed.

“How many people do you think noticed us?” Lizzie glanced back at the bar.

People milled about, smoking and laughing.

“We aren’t the first ones to do it in that parking lot, I bet. If they noticed, it probably just gave them ideas of their own. Don’t worry about it, we’re in a rental. Nobody will know it was you.”

She rolled her eyes at him settled back in her seat. “That’s not what I’m worried about. It’s just with Della here, I really don’t need to bring that kind of attention back to the inn. You know how reporters get.”

He was having trouble reconciling the passionate heat they’d shared with the cold return to reality she insisted on now. He kept remembering how she’d felt against him. Already, his body yearned for another taste. It was clear, though, that she wasn’t thinking that way about him at all.

If she wanted reality, fine. He could provide that. “Do we still have a deal? Are we working together to get Della back on tour or am I going it alone?”

She flashed him an irritated look. “I don’t break my promises.”

He nodded. “Okay. How do you propose we get her back on track?”

Lizzie shifted in her seat. “I’m not exactly sure. I’ve tried talking to her, more than once. She’s not listening.”

“Were you serious when you said she’d probably listen to me?”

Lizzie made a noncommittal noise. “She might. She asked me to keep you away from her, which probably means she’s worried you’ll talk her into something.”

“Hah!” He slapped the steering wheel. “I was right. Youdidlure me out of the house on purpose, and it wasn’t just for hot car sex. You wanted to keep me away from Della.”

“I didn’t lure you out for sex at all. Let’s get that clear. That was…a blip in judgment.”

“I have a bruise on my back from that blip of judgment. Those damn seatbelts are hard.” He turned onto the local highway and sped up.

“I do have a plan of sorts,” Lizzie said.

“For Della? Or the bruise?”

“Della. Your bruises are your business.”

“And here I thought we’d had a moment together.” He glanced at her. “What’s your plan?”

“I thought I’d keep her busy with manual labor until she got tired enough to open up. She hated that as a kid. Plus, Mark’s been sniping at her since she got here, which is another nice dose of reality. She’s so used to having people fawn over her every word it’s good for her to have someone ignore her fame and talent and just treat her as a regular person, you know?”

It wasn’t a bad start, but he wasn’t convinced it would get the job done without a little more prompting. “I caught a little of that tension at dinner, but I’m not sure it means what you think it means.”

“How so?”

Even though there’d been tense words between Della and Mark, he’d also noticed the expression on Mark’s face when Della wasn’t looking. It had been a mixture of irritation and interest.

He knew how that felt. He’d never be able to look at Lizzie again without feeling an intense need to find a dark corner to share with her. “Oh, let’s just say that sometimes sniping like that is code for a totally different kind of tension.”

“You think he likes her?”

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded. “Foreplay.”

“I don’t know about that.” Lizzie stared out the window, then chuckled and shook her head. “You could be right. Ididn’t really see it, but hehasbeen spending a lot more time around the inn the past few days than he needed to. I thought he was just trying to help me out since we’re shorthanded, but maybe not.”

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