Chapter Seven #2
“Then you’ll simply have to move in with me.” The words came out of his mouth so slick that he didn’t even realize he had said them until they were out there in the air.
“I’d love to, but …”
He frowned at her.
She undid her seat belt, popped the console up, and scooted over next to him. She kissed him on the cheek and laid her hand on his thigh. “But where would we put all my painting equipment?”
His frown quickly morphed into a smile.
“We’ll store the finished things in your SUV, and I’ll move my writing desk to the back porch. Rascal and Molly won’t mind living together for a couple of weeks.”
“We shouldn’t do anything that drastic until we find out if I can stay longer, but …” Jillian smiled. “The children do seem to be getting along, which is a miracle. After all, cats and dogs are supposed to be sworn enemies.”
Wyatt covered her hand with his. “I thought we were going to be the same that first night you showed up at my cabin.”
Would the zing and yearning be there every time he touched her? How badly would she miss it when they were apart?
“It really was a rocky beginning for what has turned out to be pretty amazing.”
He made a turn when they reached the paved road. “Shopping or food first?”
“Food, please. Do you like seafood? I haven’t had any since I left the Houston area.”
“Red Lobster it is, and FYI, darlin’, it’s one of my favorite places in this part of the state. When I come to see you, will you show me some really good places for local seafood?”
Her mind wrapped itself around the words when I come to see you.
“Well?” Wyatt asked.
“Yes, of course. Does this mean that when we drive away from the cabins, it’s not over?”
“I hope to hell not,” Wyatt answered. “I have a stop for a book tour in Galveston the first of June, so we can make a date for then, if not before. When is your art showing?”
“About that same time,” she answered. “I can get you a VIP ticket if it doesn’t interfere with your signing.”
“I’ll change the date if it does.”
“I wouldn’t want you to do that. Honest. If we’re going to have something past the days that we have here, we have to respect each other’s space like we do now.”
“Is that a rule?”
“Ever watch NCIS when Gibbs was on it?” she asked.
“I thought you didn’t watch television.”
“Not often, but I love that show and all his rules. I even have a plaque in my house with them written on it. If Molly is acting up, I give her the old stink eye and remind her of of rule number one, which is: Never screw over your partner. So yes, that is a rule, Mr. Creswell. And rule number fifteen: Always work as a team.”
“Okay, then I can abide by those two, and I’ll add a new one special for our list: Always be honest with your partner.”
“That’s not a rule. It’s a given if a relationship is going to work at all.”
Wyatt gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “We are a fantastic team, Ms. Williams.”
“Yes, we definitely are,” she agreed.
He braked and turned into the Red Lobster parking lot.
From the few vehicles around the restaurant, the timing was perfect.
Lunch run was over, and the supper rush wouldn’t begin for two or three more hours.
He escorted her in with his hand on her lower back, and the heat and sparks brought up a vision of the two of them in tangled sheets that morning when she woke.
“Just two?” asked the cute little waitress with a name tag that read Hayley.
Her eyes didn’t leave any doubt that she was sizing Wyatt up. “Are you an actor or something?”
“No, ma’am,” he answered. “Just a hungry boyfriend looking for some good food.”
“Follow me.” She pranced ahead of him, her bubble butt swaying and bouncing at the same time.
Jillian was reminded of a ball that one of her foster brothers tossed around in the backyard, and a flash of jealousy stabbed her in the heart. She made up a new rule, but it wasn’t for anyone but her. Rule number three: No jealousy allowed.
That green-eyed monster could chew up a relationship and spit it in so many pieces that it would die in its sleep. But he had called himself her boyfriend, and that caused her heart to do a little jig.
She stopped at a table and started to lay a couple of menus down.
“Could we please have a booth, maybe that one in the back corner?” Wyatt asked.
“Of course,” Hayley answered with a nod and led them that way.
Wyatt stood to the side and allowed Jillian to slide in first, and then joined her on the same side of the table. “Thank you, Hayley.”
“You are very welcome. Your waiter will be with you in a few minutes,” she said, and flounced away with an attitude.
Jillian leaned over and whispered, “She was flirting with you.”
He kissed her on the check. “Jealous? Calling out the rule number one here about never screwing over your partner, or is it number three about always being honest with your partner.”
“A little of both,” Jillian answered. “But I got over it pretty quick.”
“I only have eyes for you.” He brushed a quick kiss across her lips.
She tried to hide the blush creeping up onto her cheeks behind the menu.
Not one of her previous few dates had ever sat on the same side of the booth with her, and they damn sure had not kissed her right out in public.
“That’s why I got over it. Ever wonder what would have happened if one of us had been given one of those other cabins back behind ours? We might have never met each other.”
“Madam Fate wouldn’t be that cruel.” He chuckled. “Are you blushing?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I did not mean to embarrass you.” He very slowly slid his hand from her knee all the way to her thigh.
“If you go an inch farther, you and I are going to spend some time in the ladies’ room,” she warned.
He removed his hand. “Put a pin in that idea, and we’ll see if we can both fit in one of our showers when we get home.”