Page 47 of Loyally, Luke
Heat traveled up his neck, so he rubbed at the spot. He didn’t even know classy was attractive to him, but she wore it well.
And was fun to talk to.
He pulled his attention back to safer ground. Work and Gordon. “We should be finished laying the new floor by midweek.” He glanced back at Ellie. “I have your original plans. Do you still want to stick with those?”
Her brows rose. “Do you think we should change them?”
“Sometimes when folks see the space with the new floor, they get a different vision for the room. Now’s the time to make any additional changes and consider colors for the walls.”
“I do have some ideas about colors and fixtures.” She leaned toward him, resting her chin on her hand and staring up at him in a distracting sort of way. Maybe it was the tilt to her smile or the glint in her eyes or the way her hair fell over her shoulder.
Daggone it. He was losing his ever-lovin’ mind.
“And the new cabinets, well, I’d love your opinion on hardware for them—what you think would work best.”
Work talk and a smart, pretty woman.
He was done for.
Fact.
And needed to get away ASAP before he did something really crazy like ask her on a date.
“Don’t you both have to walk back to Cambric Hall?” Nessa offered. “It would be a good time to talk about it, I’d wager.” Her smile spread wide. “How’s that, Luke? Unless you’re afraid Cameron will have another go at bustin’ your other eye?”
Luke pulled his attention back to Nessa and chuckled. “I had a talk with him before coming into the shop. Thought an apology was due on my part, so I think now we’re in good standing again. I’m not much of a royal sort, so his being part of the guards didn’t even occur to me.”
“The guards?” Gordon repeated. “Cameron? Well, he’s not one of those—”
“That was very good of you,” Nessa interrupted. “Cameron’s from this village too. It’s why he was chosen for the job.” She stood, glancing out the window. “The clouds are coming in and the gloaming is close. Should the two of you start back toward the hall?”
Gordon’s brows rose and he smothered what sounded like a laugh with another bite of cake. Yeah, Gordon saw the matchmaking madness too.
Luke and Ellie had barely made it out the door when Ellie looked up at him and sighed. “I’m so sorry about Nessa. She likes to engage in well-intentioned meddling too much for her own good.”
“Well-intentioned meddling, eh?” He took the steps down from the shop door behind her, a slight wind bringing the nearby scent of pastries with it.
“After my rather difficult history, I’m afraid she thinks I’m in need of some good friends.”
“Aren’t we all in need of good friends?”
Her gaze flashed to him and then caught for a second before shereturned her focus to the cobblestone lane ahead of them. “Yes.” A soft sound like a chuckle slipped from her lips. “Yes, I suppose we are.”
The silence took a tense turn, so Luke pushed himself into conversation. “My oldest sister has her beat by a long shot. It’s a relief to be so far away from home for a little while just to get some peace from her good-intentioned meddling.” He sighed. “Though my youngest sister is trying to do her fair share too. Evidently, her vast knowledge of movies helps her predict other people’s futures.”
“Movies?” Ellie laughed as they started down a path away from the main street. “Well, I suppose if you were fighting Batman or attempting to save the world from aliens, having a thorough inventory of certain movies could help. But from the sound of it, I suppose she relies more heavily on the romantic variety?”
The fact that her first two movie references were not romances piqued his interest more than it should. “Areyouthe sort that relies on the ‘romantic variety’?”
“Don’t.” She chuckled at his attempt to mimic her. “I prefer your natural accent.”
“It’s not quite as nice to the ears as yours,” he murmured, and then replayed his sentence and wished the ground would grow teeth and swallow him whole.
What in the world was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he speak like a normal person around her, rather than an idiot?
“I suppose it’s listener’s preference then. I think your accent carries a certain calming quality.”
Well, at least if he spoke like an idiot, his voice had a calming quality.
