Stacking the Deck (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 2)(61)

She forced a smile, he could tell, because her fingers clenched the legal pad tightly despite her bright expression. “Glad I caught you, then,” she said.

He watched her throat move as she swallowed.

“I’m glad you stopped by,” she said. “I want to thank you for the lights. The smiley-faces?” She gestured with the notepad in the general direction of the shed and then sucked it back to her chest again when she saw the words she’d written there waving around for all to see. “They’re charming. The lights. Very sweet.” Her tongue darted out to her lips. “And, I want to apologize for overreacting yesterday.”

Carter looked at her. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. It was hard to be peeved when she was extending the olive branch like that. Especially dressed the way she was. “Two,” he finally said.

“What?”

“I have two fillings.”

She stared at him a moment, a nonplussed expression on her face. “I have five.”

“Five?”

Her lips tilted guiltily. “I liked sweets as a kid.”

He smiled, genuinely now, inordinately pleased that perfect Liz had her faults, too. “So, I stopped by because I wanted to talk about the design for the side walkway. I was thinking a more fluid curve instead of hard angles. I could sketch a couple op— Wait. I brought some brochures…” He leaned out the door a moment to retrieve the flyers he’d placed there. He heard paper tearing behind him. He turned back around. Paused.

Liz waited, her breath coming in light bursts, the legal pad at her side.

He squinted at her. Frowned. “Hmm.” he said.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just…” He gestured vaguely toward her chest where she’d clearly stuffed the paper. “Are you a little, um, lopsided?”

“What?” She clutched the legal pad to her chest again. “NO! Why would you even ask?”

He met her eyes. “Because I could have sworn things were, um, even five seconds ago.”

Liz’s face turned crimson. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

My God, she was cute when she blushed. He decided to take pity on her. “My mistake. So, are we doing the side walkway or not?”

Liz pushed her wet hair aside like she was still trying to figure out whether she could trust him. Short answer? No.

“I’m still running the numbers.” Her gaze skittered away from his.

She chewed her bottom lip.

He stifled a groan.

“Pavers would certainly dress the place up,” she said. “But I’d want to do the front walkway, too, so it would all match.”

“The front, too? You’re snowballing on me.”

“Snowballing?”

“Otherwise known as while-we’re-at-it-itis.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, holding the notepad like a shield. “I just always had this vision of what the place should look like, you know? What I would do if it were mine. I even had a scrapbook I made of it, if you can believe that. It’s kind of hard to let it go.

“It was my grandparent’s house before my parents bought it and rehabbed it. I always thought it would stay in the family.” She shook her head as if to rid it of ridiculous notions and backed toward the swinging door. “I’d better get to town if I’m going to finish priming the kitchen today. And, I need new paint for the front door...”

“Want a ride?”

She stopped, the door at her back. “I can call Trish.”

“I’m happy to do it. Nothing better to do. It’s still raining.”

“I have to dry my hair… Get dressed…”

His smile grew wider. “I can wait.”




IT WAS NOT A BIG DEAL. If he saw the list, he saw the list, right? What was on it anyway? Liz unfolded the wad of paper she’d stuffed in her bra and winced.

Skinny dipping at noon.

Okay, in the scheme of things, that wasn’t such a big deal. How many people have gone skinny dipping? He’d probably think it was out of character for her, borderline exhibitionist given the timeframe, but he wouldn’t be put off by it.

She groaned as she looked at numbers two and three. Obviously she’d had naked skin on the brain, because ‘Try a thong’ and ‘Play strip poker’ came next, followed by ‘Learn to play piano’, ‘Visit the Grand Canyon’ and ‘Ride Space Mountain.’ ‘See Niagara Falls’, ‘Explore a real castle’ and ‘Learn to shoot an arrow’ were all innocuous enough.

But what made her worry her lip as she pulled on a pair of jeans and T-shirt was number ten. Dear heavens, why had she put pen to paper on that one? Crumbling the list into a little ball, she went into the bathroom—and promptly flushed it down the toilet. There. That was where silly thoughts like that belonged.

Carter was waiting for her when she descended the stairs ten minutes later with the shreds of her dignity as taped together as she could manage. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Waiting? That was the fastest I’ve ever known a female to get ready in my life. I’m impressed. Nice hair, by the way. The new style suits you.”

Liz felt the heat of his compliment warm her cheeks as she gathered her purse and coat.

The ride to town was companionable despite the fact that she’d been caught stuffing her bra with paper products.