Page 7 of Love and Other Trials
She twisted her hands in her lap as the unspoken reminder hung in the air. “I’m hoping to take over my grandmother’s house shortly, but it’s a little complicated.”
With her family, he could believe it. She should plant garlic in front of her house.
“I have an offer from the hurricane relief center in this area, so Sherlock and I wouldn’t have to travel as much. He’s seven years old now, and we’ve had a really good run. Haven’t we, boy?”
She gave the dog a good rubdown as Dax took the exit and headed down the curve and turned right. The yellow sign for the Waffle House was visible through the rain a short distance ahead. He pulled into the closest parking spot and was out the door to open Ariel’s before she could do it herself. He still liked to treat a woman like a woman.
Her smile was bright as he opened it, first for her and then for Sherlock. Running inside, he fought the urge to put his hand to her back. Being early May, she didn’t have a coat, so she had to be getting wet from the rain. He beat her to the door, and opening that too, he let her and Sherlock precede him.
A tired waitress greeted them and told them to sit wherever they wanted. They picked a spot in the middle, since the place was empty save them, and when he sat across from her, he took a moment to take her in.
Her hair was a messy brown tangle of curls, slightly wet now, cut close to her face. Pixie chic, he might say. Not the shoulder-length hair he’d seen in her photos online and at her sister’s place when he’d visited Pensacola to meet Tiffany after Rob had proposed.
Unlike her sisters, she didn’t seem to wear much makeup or fake eyelashes. Her natural beauty was pure girl next door—just the way he liked it. Fresh-faced. Peachy skin. A little spattering of freckles from where the sun had kissed her. She wouldn’t be the kind of woman he’d wake up with and wonder at the difference in her appearance.
He pulled his thoughts back from that tantalizing door and let his gaze wander to her awesome dog. Sherlock stood calmly beside the table. When she was sitting down, Ariel wasn’t too much taller than the bloodhound, who probably topped out at twenty-seven inches if he were to guess.
His gaze couldn’t stay on the dog long. Not when there was such a beautiful, compelling woman sitting across from him, smelling like spice and fresh rain. He knew Ariel was called “The Runt” by her family because she was tiny, and shewaspetite, with a hot little body he could easily imagine picking up and wrapping around him. Her skin was wet from the rain and looked luminous, but it was her baby blues that held him in thrall until the waitress slapped a menu in front of him.
“What can I get y’all?”
Ariel didn’t even pick up the menu. “Iced tea, sweet, of course. Angus burger with bacon and hashbrowns.”
He gazed at the menu quickly and noted the options. “First thing. Is there any way we can get some water for her dog? He’s just gotten off a plane. Like my friend here.”
Ariel reached into her purse. “Don’t worry. I was going to give him some of mine. I have a collapsible water bowl.”
“Isn’t that clever?” The waitress touched the blue-ribbed rim when Ariel held it up. “What else strikes your fancy?”
He patted Sherlock’s head when the dog wandered over as if to thank him. “I need some help deciding. If it were you, what would you go for? Pecan waffle? Pork chops and eggs breakfast? Or Texas Cheesesteak Melt?”
The waitress tapped him on the back with gusto. “Why not get all three, honey? You look like a man who could handle all that food and then some.”
He was used to women flirting with him. Erika in second grade had been the first. She’d asked him on a hot day in Austin if he wanted a lick from her fudge brownie ice cream cone. Of course he’d said yes, and that had been the beginning of his longstanding enjoyment of women. He had no trouble flirting back.
Just not with his best friend’s fiancée.
Again, he wondered if he’d done something to inadvertently invite Tiffany to go there. He didn’t think so. He didn’t cross uncrossable lines. Ever. “Ariel, any thoughts?”
The right side of her mouth was curled up in a sexy grin, as if she were enjoying a little secret. “Sweet or savory?”
If it were her sweet little body, he’d say sweet in a heartbeat. “How about a little of both?” he asked with a touch of naughty in his voice.
Her blue eyes flashed with heat as their waitress gave anMmm-hmm.“How about pecan waffles with a double side of sausage?”
He didn’t take his eyes off hers, watching the way her chest rose with her breath, as if her heart was beating fast, like his was. “Perfect.”
“Sweet tea, for you too, sugar?” the waitress asked with a touch of sauce in her syrupy voice.
“Is there any other kind?”
She picked up the menus. “No, baby, there ain’t.”
When she left, he kept staring back at Ariel, whose blue eyes seemed almost navy now. The attraction between them was growing in power. Like the storm had. He’d watched the clouds swirl and gather before coalescing. He imagined the connection between them would be the same if they were somehow able to continue down this road.
He’d hopefully make her laugh away the worry he sometimes caught winking in the corners of her eyes. And he’d sure as hell make her moan, because this was the kind of woman you gave everything to, a woman who was confident enough to enjoy herself and let go.
“Ariel, I’m glad we stopped here. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you, and honestly, I read a few things online about you and Sherlock. Plus, Rob can’t talk about you enough. He thinks you’re a cross between Mother Teresa and Joan of Arc.”
