The sound of the ice maker reminded her of the towel that Brady had found. “My brother knows I was in the fitness center the other night,” she admitted abruptly.
His eyebrows rose. “How? I know we weren’t caught on the security camera.”
She told him about the towel as she reached for the pitcher of lemonade and began pouring. “And he knows I wasn’t alone. Because not only was my towel there, but your tennis shoes were as well.”
“You told him they were mine?”
“Of course not, but he’s not an idiot. He knows I’m—” She took a long drink of the cold lemonade, swallowing it along with the rest of her sentence. “I mean he suspects there’s something...you know. Going on. Between you and me.” Why on earth couldn’t she seem to stop her tongue?
A small smile flirted around the edges of Jay’s lips. “Does that bother you?”
“No!”
“So then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that he knows we were there when we shouldn’t have been. We broke the rules. I never break the rules,” she muttered. “I should have known we’d get caught.”
He pulled off the plastic wrap from the plate of fried chicken and set it in front of her. “The hotel would have to fire me before they could fire you, so I wouldn’t sweat too much over it.”
“I don’t know how you can sound so calm.”
He uncovered the bowl of potato salad and stuck a big mixing spoon into it. “I’ve weathered worse.”
She wanted to ask him more, but instead, followed him to the table, where he set the food in the middle. Then, when he pulled out a chair for her, she forgot to be curious in favor of being quietly charmed. The only other time a man had done that had been with Ham.
Just once.
“What’s so funny?”
Arabella looked at Jay. “Sorry?”
“You were smiling to yourself.”
She chuckled. “It’s nothing. Just remembering the last time someone pulled out my chair.”
“A guy?” He eyed her over the rim of his red cup. “Do I need to be jealous?”
She’d always thought jealousy was an unattractive trait. Yet the notion that she could even inspire him to such an emotion was entirely novel. “You be the judge. He took me to the fanciest restaurant in town.”
“Any guy can do that. Now this?” He gestured with a fried chicken drumstick. “Raiding grandma’s fridge? Takes real thought. So what happened after the restaurant?”
She bit the inside of her lip, but there was no real way to keep her smile from growing. “He dumped me during the soup course.”
For once, she was pretty sure she was the one to surprise him. “Were the two of you serious?”
“I thought so at the time.” She picked a drumstick of her own and took a bite. Even cold, it was delicious. “He’s getting married soon. Well, actually, maybe it’s this weekend. Or last?” She shrugged. “I can’t remember. Far as I’m concerned, he and Tammy Jo deserve each other.” She took another bite. “Is everything your grandmother makes delicious?”
“Yeah. Tammy Jo the reason he ended things with you?”
“Is that the polite term for getting dumped?” She grinned. “And no. There were a few other girls before Tammy Jo. Knowing Ham, she’ll be lucky if there aren’t a few other girls once they’re married, too.”
“Doesn’t sound like he left you with a broken heart.”
“Mildly bruised.” Another bite and her drumstick was demolished. She set the bone on the side of her plate and scooped up some potato salad. “What about you?”
“Mildly bruised.”
If jealousy was unattractive, she was looking as pretty as a toad, right about now. “Long time ago?”
His dimple appeared and he lightly tapped the edge of his red cup against hers. “The present company I’m keeping makes it hard to remember.”
“Better be careful,” she warned with a lightness she didn’t exactly feel. “Saying things like that, I might start to believe you.”
His gaze held hers. “Would that be so bad?”
Her throat suddenly felt too tight for words. She pressed her lips together and shook her head.
He set down his cup and rose from his chair enough to lean across the table. “Come here.”
She swallowed hard and just like he had, set down her cup. She rose and leaned toward him over the chicken and the salad until they were mere inches apart.
His voice was low. “Can I call you Bella yet?”
The sweet heat that had slid into her veins slipped into her heart. “Yes.”
He leaned two inches closer.
So did she.
Then his lips touched hers and the knowledge was suddenly just there.
Filling her.
I could love this man.
Not just a crush. Not just infatuation.
Seriously love him. As in good times and bad. As in now and forever.
He pulled back slightly then. His eyes searched hers.
Even though she’d been certain she hadn’t said the words aloud, she felt her cheeks warm. “What?”
“I’m really glad your battery died that day.”
She smiled. “So am I.”
“But—” His gaze dropped. “You’re smashing the grub.”
She looked down, too, then and realized she’d planted her hand right in the middle of the bowl of potato salad. “Oh, for crying out loud!”
He gave a bark of laughter and kissed her again. “Bathroom’s upstairs.”
Even though she had mayonnaise and bits of potato stuck beneath her fingernails, she was pretty sure she floated up the stairs.
The bathroom was as lovely as the rest of the place, with a separate tub and shower that both looked out over the top of the water wheel. She washed her hands and controlled the urge to peek into the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. Her dress had a gold zipper from the top of its scooped neckline to the hem that hit her midthigh. Feeling breathless, she lowered the zip a few inches. Then looked at her raccoon-reflection and yanked it back up where it belonged and left the room.
The wide bed
