Chapter 27
Dave had spent the better part of fifteen minutes pretending his mind was on the job in front of him. It wasn’t.
Every time he tried to concentrate, his thoughts went straight back to Sunday night. To kissing Beth.
More specifically, to Beth kissing him back. And, if he was being completely truthful, to what she’d said afterward.
You’re a good kisser.
He’d heard those four words in his head an embarrassing number of times since then.
Dave stretched the tape measure along the board again. Forty-three inches. He’d measured it three times already, and unless something extraordinary had happened to the laws of mathematics since breakfast, it was still going to be forty-three inches.
When he saw Beth’s truck pull into the parking lot, he forgot the measurement anyway.
“You planning on cutting that sometime today?” Hank asked.
Dave glanced across the room. Hank was sanding the edge of a doorframe. “I’m checking the measurement.”
“You’ve been checking it since I got here.”
“Measure twice, cut once.”
Hank frowned. “You’re on about measure twelve.”
Dave ignored him and looked toward the entrance. A moment later, Beth appeared in the doorway. And just like that, the whole room seemed different.
It was ridiculous. He was sixty-five years old, not a teenager. He certainly hadn’t expected one kiss to leave him wandering around with a smile on his face whenever he thought about it. But this wasn’t just any woman.
It was Beth.
“Morning,” she called as she walked toward them.
“Morning.” His voice sounded normal. That was something, at least.
Hank looked from Dave to Beth and back again.
Dave pretended not to notice.
“How’s it going?” Beth asked.
“Good. We should get most of this finished today. Hank’s working on the last section by the storage room, and I’m finishing the trim around the doorway.”
Beth nodded. “That’s great.”
Her gaze stayed on Dave a little longer than it would have a week ago, and Sunday night came rushing back. He remembered the warmth of her body against his. The surprise of finally kissing her after wondering what it would be like. And then Beth kissing him back.
There was no uncertainty about whether she was attracted to him anymore. What Dave didn’t know was what happened next.
Beth smiled at him, and Dave had the ridiculous urge to kiss her again.
Right there in the middle of the arts center.
With Hank watching.
Probably not his best idea.
“I’ve got a meeting with Natalie soon,” Beth said. “But before I meet her, I need to check a few things here.”
Dave smiled. “Okay.”
For a moment, neither of them moved. There was something different between them now. Dave could feel it in the silence, in Beth’s lingering smile, and in his own inability to think of anything sensible to say.
A hammer suddenly hit the floor behind them.
Beth jumped.
“Sorry,” Hank said.
He didn’t sound sorry. Dave gave him a warning look.
Beth laughed. “I’ll leave you to it.” She started toward the office, then glanced back at Dave. “I’ll see you later.”
“Sure.”
He watched her walk away. Dave knew Hank was probably watching him watch Beth, but he didn’t care.
Beth disappeared into the office, and the scrape of sandpaper filled the room again. It lasted less than a minute.
“Did something happen between you two?” Hank asked.
Dave kept his attention on the trim. “What makes you think that?”
Hank laughed. “Your face.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my face.”
Hank shrugged. “I didn’t say there was. You just look ridiculously happy.”
Dave picked up his pencil. He should have known there was no point trying to hide anything from Hank. They’d known each other too long.
“I kissed her.”
The sanding stopped.
When Dave looked up, Hank was grinning.
“Good for you.”
There was enough genuine pleasure in his voice that Dave smiled. “Thanks.”
Hank studied him for another second. “And?”
“And what?”
“She kissed you back?”
Dave didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
Hank’s grin widened. “That explains the lovesick look.”
“I don’t have a lovesick look.”
“Whatever you say.”
Dave shook his head and reached for the saw. He’d barely started cutting when he heard footsteps coming toward them. Beth was back. This time she wasn’t smiling.