Page 18 of More Than a Helping Hand

“Pizza will be out in a couple of minutes.” The waitress smiles.

I drizzle ranch dressing onto my salad before taking a bite. “You look really pretty tonight.”

“Thank you. I let a complete stranger do my makeup in the bathroom at a gas station down the street.”

Laughing, I choke on a grape tomato. The dang thing gets stuck in my throat, and I can’t dislodge it. I also can’t breathe. I must look super handsome with my mouth gaping open. My attempts at coughing are useless, so I pound my upper chest as if that will help.

Primrose glances at me, then springs into action. She climbs onto the bench. “Shift so I can get behind you.”

I turn, and her arms wrap around me. Sadly, I’m a bit too distracted with the choking to fully appreciate how it feels to have her pressed against my back.

She tugs, but nothing happens. “Dang it. I can’t get the right angle. Turn the other way and scoot to the edge.”

I shift to face the wall, and she runs around and stands behind me.

This time, when she works the maneuver, the tomato hits the wall, then falls to the floor. And I inhale.

She stands with a hand on my back for a second. “You okay?”

I don’t want to cause a scene, so I don’t tackle her in a hug. But I want to. “Thank you. Now you’ve saved me twice.”

“Those teens should be happy you were facing the wall.” She slides back into the booth to where she was before and rubs my arm. “And it’s not really twice. The cactus spines would not have killed you.”

I catch her hand with mine. “You reacted quickly. Even before complete panic set in. I’m not sure how to thank you.”

And she managed to do it without drawing a ton of attention. The teens are staring at us, but since I’m breathing again, they are putting their phones down and ignoring us again. If I’d died though, I might’ve gone viral.

Primrose shrugs. “And I wasn’t joking about the makeup thing. The girl was nice. I should’ve gotten her name.”

Her slight smile says she knows she’s stunned me into silence. It’s rare that I don’t have something to say, but in my defense, the pizza arrives before I can think of a response.

Primrose is like a surprise ball. In every layer, there is something new to discover. And I am eager to uncover the other layers.

CHAPTER7

PRIMROSE

Anderson pushes open the door, and I make it a point to barely brush against him as I exit the restaurant. He didn’t say anything when I did that walking in, but his eyebrow twitched, so I know he noticed.

This time, he smiles. But he has no idea how hard it is for me to give even that much of a hint that I’m interested. Because I’m not sure if I am interested. I shouldn’t be interested. It doesn’t make sense that this man asked me out, and showing up to dinner was a risk.

Both men who walked out on me were nowhere near as good-looking as Anderson. And not as charming either. If I couldn’t keep them around, it’s delusional to think that Anderson will stay. He’ll get tired of me like the others. And poor Bailey will suffer because of me. Again.

These are the thoughts running through my head as I walk to my car. Quietly, Anderson strolls along beside me.

I unlock my car with the fob, then open the door and toss in my purse. And I turn to face Anderson. “Thank you for dinner.”

“Thank you for saving my life.”

“It was my fault that you choked. Saving you was the least I could do.”

He puts one hand on my door and the other on my car.

Caged in, I look up at him. “I don’t want to make work awkward, but is there any chance that you could—possibly—not mention that we went to dinner? My family is eager for me to move on, and if they got wind of anything that remotely resembled a date, it would get their hopes up. And I’m not ready for that. Not with someone my brother knows and works with.”

“I can keep a secret. And if you go to dinner with me again, I’d keep that a secret too.”

“I don’t know why you want to go out with me. Seriously. Plus, I’m the one who set Fred on that bench. So it’s my fault you ended up hurt. And, also, I’m sure I bruised your ribs tonight, and I’m sorry.”

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