“Any plans for later this evening?” Leo asked as he drove.
“Why do you keep asking? You already know I don’t have any.”
He shrugged. “Don’t want to make assumptions.”
Fair.
“Are you going to eat dinner at the B&B or head out somewhere else?” he asked.
“What are you planning to do?”
“Uh-uh, I asked you first.”
She giggled. “You are so different from any guy I’ve ever”—she cleared her throat—“hung out with.”
“Hey, guess what?”
He waited, kept glancing her way, until she finally said, “What?”
“You’re different from any girl I’ve ever hung out with. And I think that’s pretty cool.”
She let out her breath slowly, staring straight ahead, refusing to look his way. And then she said, “I think I’m going to have dinner at the B&B tonight.”
“Sounds good to me,” Leo said as he guided the SUV into the discrete parking area tucked behind the establishment.
“What are you doing?” Shannon finally asked, because, frankly, she wasn’t sure what his response meant.
“Same.”
Chapter Seven
“Are you two here together?”
Dinner had been going smoothly until that question. The B&B had ten guest rooms, all of which were booked through the weekend. Aside from Leo and Shannon, there were six couples and one family, parents and two small children, who’d brought the wife’s mother along to babysit and given her a private room.
Four of those other couples had joined Leo and Shannon that evening for dinner at the long, antique table in Maureen’s dining room.
Shannon had gone up to her room when they returned from the distillery, and when she stepped back downstairs, she wore a simple cotton sundress, another pair of fancy sandals, and she’d added smoky makeup to her eyes, blusher on her cheek, and dark red lipstick.
Leo had stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared at her until she blushed and swatted his chest and told him to stop gaping.
But he couldn’t help it.
He’d found her extraordinarily beautiful without even trying; this stepped up version was enough to make him follow her around like a dog, sniffing at her skirt and wondering how in the world he could be so lucky as to be in her company, not even considering everything else he wanted to do with the woman.
With him acting like a lovesick fool and her light flirting, their focus almost entirely on each other, it was no surprise the lady who made the remark wondered at their relationship status.
He leaned back in his chair, his arm draped over the back of Shannon’s, letting her take the lead on this one. He didn’t care one way or the other what people thought, but he suspected she did, so he’d go along with whatever she said.
“They met here,” Maureen announced before Shannon had the chance. The innkeeper bustled into the room carrying a tray with an assortment of miniature pastries.
“It’s so romantic,” she added, beaming like a proud parent.
There were murmurs of assent as the guests all leaned forward and plucked sweets from the tray Maureen placed it in the center of the table.
“We’ll see,” Shannon said, tossing him a coy look that he wondered was real or for the benefit of their company.
Guests began drifting away from the table, heading into the front room to play cards or boardgames, or up to their own rooms, or into the parlor to watch television. One couple declared they were going for a walk and slipped out the front door. The family had long retired to their rooms.
Leo and Shannon took their wineglasses and wandered outside to the patio, where someone had started a fire in the small firepit. They sat together without doing much talking, and it wasn’t at all uncomfortable. He could get used to this.
He wasn’t here looking for forever. He was simply enjoying the company of a beautiful woman. Hell, they hadn’t even kissed, so he had no business letting his head get carried away with fanciful ideas like asking for her last name and her phone number and trying to figure out how they could get together again after this vacation was over.
Although Detroit and Chicago weren’t far from each other. Barely an hour flight. And his family owned several hotels in the city. If something were to bloom between them, it wouldn’t be difficult at all for him to move his office.
No. He needed to stop. He was acting like a teenage girl experiencing her first crush, for Christ’s sake.
“Why are you shaking your head?” Shannon asked, the flames dancing in her glassy eyes.
“Thinking about work,” he answered half truthfully. “And then telling myself to stop.”
She chuckled. “I understand. I’ve had to mentally shake myself out of those same thoughts a few times already.”
“What do you do, anyway?”
All that warmth, all that comfort, all the spark—everything disappeared. A giant black hole appeared and sucked all the happiness of the moment away, leaving him confused and Shannon stiff as a statue next to him.
Well, if that wasn’t an odd reaction to an innocuous question.
“I’m…self-employed,” she finally responded. Whatever she did, she was embarrassed to talk about it. He was naturally curious, but more so, he wanted her to relax. He wanted that comfortable atmosphere back.
He kicked out his legs, crossing them at the ankles, and stared into the fire and said, “So how about those Tigers?”
She chuckled softly and the black hole dissipated. “Thanks,” she murmured, reaching over and cupping his hand. He flipped his over and twined their fingers, and they stayed like that for a long while, until both glasses were empty and the fire was little more than sizzling embers.
“I think I’m ready for bed,” she said, and Leo stood and stretched.
