She looked away, presenting him with her very lovely profile. Her lips twisted slightly, revealing a dimple that he knew was glorious when it accompanied an actual smile.
“And less upsetting than last time,” he added.
That earned him such a fast look that her ponytail flew forward over her shoulder. “Upsetting?”
“After the balcony collapsed.” Even as he mentioned it, he wondered what sort of masochistic streak he’d developed. He didn’t want to talk about the balcony collapse. Especially after his encounter with Detective Teas. “You disappeared so quickly afterward.”
Her shoulders looked a little less stiff and she mumbled something.
He leaned across the cab of his truck again toward the opened window. “Sorry?”
She released her arm-clench and took a step toward the curb. Probably an unintentional one, because as soon as she seemed to realize it, she went stiff and still all over again. “I said,” she uttered louder, more clearly, “my father was anxious to get home.”
He was pretty certain that had not been what she’d muttered, but he wasn’t going to call her on it. “Once things calmed down, I discovered y’all had left the hotel.” He didn’t add that he’d also heard through the hotel grapevine that their luggage had been shipped back to them. As if they hadn’t been able to leave Rambling Rose fast enough.
Not that he believed anyone had been responsible for the balcony accident, but if Teas felt the need to be suspicious of someone, why couldn’t he be suspicious of someone making such a quick getaway like that? The entire team working the front desk had talked for a week about how obnoxious Arabella’s father had been.
She took another half step. “You checked?”
“Of course.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. Then her head shook slightly and the tail of her ponytail drifted off her shoulder again. “Why?”
“Because I really liked meeting you. Now can I at least take you wherever you were waiting for the bus to take you?”
She moistened her lips. “I wasn’t actually waiting for the bus. I was—” She broke off, taking another step nearer. So near that she could close the fingers of one hand over the truck door. “I was deciding whether or not I wanted to stay in town. For a while.”
“I hope you do.”
“Why?”
“I told you. I really liked meeting you.”
She angled her head slightly. “But...?”
“But...” He mimicked the way she drew out the word questioningly. “What?”
She pressed her lips together. They looked soft and pink and perfectly, entirely natural.
Entirely enticing.
As if coming to a sudden decision, she pulled open the door and worked the strap of her bag free. She dumped it with a thud on the floor and climbed up into the passenger seat. “You can drop me off at my car. It’s still at the police station. Or as you call it—” her dimple appeared, again in an unsmiling sort of way “—the municipal building.”
Whatever it was called, Jay wanted to go back there about as much as he wanted a hole drilled in his head.
But since that wasn’t something he wanted to admit, he waited for a passing car and then pulled out onto the street.
He glanced at her. “It’s a long drive here from New York if you’re not planning to hang around awhile.”
He received the side-eye on that one. “Or maybe I just don’t like flying,” she countered.
“Do you?”
Her lashes swept down as she fastened her seat belt. “I haven’t done all that much of it, if I’m being honest.”
“I like flying.”
“Suppose you have done a lot of it.”
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and shot her a quick look. “Why’s that?”
She shrugged, seeming oblivious to his sudden suspicion. “Everyone’s done more flying than me.”
The tension leaked out of his shoulders. “Well, I have done enough flying to get my license.”
She looked at him with even more surprise than he felt making the admission. “You’re a pilot?”
“I have my private.”
“Which means what? You fly private jets?”
He laughed. “No. It means I can fly a single engine in clear conditions. I don’t have an instrument rating.” He’d intended to get it but life and circumstances had gotten in the way.
“You’re talking the tiny little planes, then?” She shuddered. “They look terrifying.”
“They’re exhilarating,” he corrected.
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” she said dryly, then pointed. “That’s my car there. End of the block.”
When he’d left the police station earlier, the street had been lined with parked cars. Now there was only hers.
He pulled up behind the small tan vehicle. “I can prove it to you.”
She’d released her seat belt and was gathering up the long strap of her bag. “Prove what?”
“That it isn’t terrifying at all. I’ll take you up sometime.” He didn’t stop to think about the complications of that particular offer. Yeah, renting the plane would be pricey for a guy on Jay Cross’s salary, but he could explain it away.
She gave a laugh that was full of disbelief. “My brothers are always telling me my head is in the clouds, but I think I’ll keep my feet firmly on the ground.” She hopped down out of the truck. “Thanks for the ride.” She closed the truck door and quickly hurried around to the driver’s side of her car.
He watched her toss her bag through the opened window. Then she opened the door and got behind the wheel.
And just sat there.
He waited, his curiosity mounting even more when she got out a few seconds later and walked back to the truck. She stopped next to his door. “You don’t have to wait for me.”
“Blame it on my upbringing. A guy just doesn’t drive away until the girl is safe inside.”
“I was safe inside and you didn’t drive away.”
“Safe inside a car that wasn’t locked to begin with doesn’t exactly count.”
She showed him the cell phone in her hand. “I have a few calls to make. So, you know, feel free to go.” She jerked her chin toward the building next to them.
