by Eve Gaddy
“I’ll leave that up to you.”
“They really should know by now. I mean, both of them danced with me and talked with me. I don’t look that different, do I?”
He looked her over, his gaze sliding over her in a slow, appreciative perusal. “Yes,” he said simply.
She wanted to ask in what way but that would be fishing, so she didn’t. “You should take me back in. Zack and Levi sure aren’t going to figure out who I am if they don’t see me again.”
“I like having you to myself. In fact, I think we should find out if we can see any of the other fountains. I hear the Baron’s fountain is pretty phenomenal.”
Was he really interested in her, or was that just Travis and his way with women? “You’re as big a flirt as you ever were, aren’t you?”
“You say that like there’s something bad about it.”
“You don’t need to flirt with me. I’m not in the market for a man in my life. Even if he is cute.”
Chapter Two
That put him in his place. Or she meant it to, anyway. But all it did was intrigue him more. Travis liked a challenge. Always had. And something told him Tobi Lynn Robinson would be worth the trouble.
“Why not?”
“What?”
“Why don’t you want a man in your life?”
“Been there, done that. Several times. I’m taking a break.”
He led her to a bench a short distance away from the fountain and they sat. “Seems a shame. But if that’s the way you want it…”
“It is,” she said firmly.
He studied her a moment. “I had a thing for you in high school. Did you know?”
She stared at him with her mouth open. “You did not.”
He nodded. “Oh, yeah. I absolutely did.”
“Then why didn’t you ever—”
“I did. But you shot me down.”
“I shot you down?” she asked, surprised. “When did that happen?”
“I hoped you’d remember. The prom, our senior year.”
“Oh, that. Of course I remember,” she said, clearly irritated. “And it doesn’t count. You stepped up because my boyfriend dumped me the day before the dance. You found me crying and wormed it out of me.”
It hadn’t taken a lot of “worming” as he recalled. “I stepped up, as you put it, because I wanted to.” Luckily, he’d planned to go stag so when Tobi told him what her boyfriend had done to her, he convinced her to go with him.
“Because you felt sorry for me.”
“No, I didn’t. Is that what you thought?” he asked, truly surprised.
“That’s what I knew. It was a pity date.”
Travis put his fingers beneath her chin. That mouth of hers was every bit as seductive now as it had been way back in high school. Only more so. She wasn’t a girl anymore, but a grown woman. And what a woman. “Far from it. You’re forgetting the kiss.”
“The kiss? You say that like it was a big deal. You only kissed me because you felt sorry for me.”
“That kiss felt like pity to you? Honestly?”
“Travis, it was a million years ago. Are you telling me you remember one kiss we shared when we were seventeen or eighteen years old?”
“Like it was yesterday, babe.”
She laughed. “You are so full of it.”
“If that’s really what you believed I can see why you blew me off the next day.” And every day thereafter until he’d taken the hint and gone back to being her buddy. And trying to forget about the kiss. “You made it crystal clear that all you wanted from me was friendship.”
“You’re trying to tell me you were interested in more? Back then?”
“I was. I definitely was.”
She patted his arm. “Nice theory but I’m not buying it. You found comfort with another girl soon enough. Remember Stephanie?”
“Stephanie? Oh, her. She only liked me because I played baseball and had scouts looking at me.”
“I doubt that was the only reason,” Tobi said dryly. “Why are we talking about this, anyway? It’s ancient history.”
“All right, let’s talk about now. Why don’t you come out to the airfield tomorrow and I’ll take you up.”
“Take me up? You mean in a plane?”
He laughed. “Sure. I’ll even give you a flying lesson.” Puzzled, he looked at her. If he hadn’t known better he’d have said she looked horrified. Hell, she did look horrified. But why? “Tobi? Did I say something wrong?”
“No.” She shook her head. “No. Thanks, but I don’t fly.”
“You don’t like private planes?” He knew more than one person who didn’t trust private planes.
“I don’t like planes, period. I don’t fly. Ever.”
He started to ask if she’d had a bad experience but it was pretty damn obvious she had. And equally obvious she didn’t want to talk about it. “Okay. Maybe you’ll tell me why some day.”
She didn’t answer that. “Let’s go in. I’m cold.”
He walked back with her. As they reached the French doors into the ballroom, he put a hand on her arm. “What are the stakes?”
“Stakes?”
“Don’t we have a bet?” She looked mystified. “About Zack and Levi,” he continued.
“Oh, that.” She thought a minute. “I think Zack will figure it out. I’m not so sure about Levi.”
“I’m not either. Levi can be a bit out there sometimes. Like when he’s dreaming up a new invention. So, no ideas about the stakes?”
“Five bucks,” she said.
“Okay, one of them recognizes you without you having to tell them, I’ll pay you five bucks.”
“And if they don’t, I’ll pay you.”
“Nope.” He shook his head. “I have a different wager in mind.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, really? And what would that be?”
He pretended to think about it. “A kiss. If I win you owe me a kiss.”
“That’s silly.”
“Nevertheless, those are my terms.” He waited a moment and added, “Unless you’re afraid.”
“Afraid of what? Kissing you? What, you think I won’t be able to resist you once I kiss you?”
Travis lifted a shoulder. “If it walks like a duck…”
“Oh, please.” Tobi sighed and looked upward. “All right, Mr. Ego. You’re on.”
“Good. I look forward to it.”
“You’d better look forward to saying bye-bye to your five bucks.” With that she opened the French doors and walked inside.
He simply grinned, took her shawl for her and dropped it off at the coat closet. By the time he returned, she was dancing again, this time with a man he didn’t recognize. No surprise there. He’d have been shocked if she hadn’t had every unattached guy in town—and probably some who were attached—trying to meet her. But he had the rest of the night to talk to her. He could afford to wait.
And then his luck ran out. He got a text from a friend asking for help. His friend’s car had died and he couldn’t afford a tow. So he left early but he stopped by to tell his buddies he was leaving. Neither Levi nor Zack had figured out who Tobi was. Yet.
He smiled, thinking about the wager. He stood at least a 33 percent chance of winning. But he was going out of town on business the next day, so whoever won, payment would have to wait until he got back.
*
At the end of Tobi’s first week in Whiskey River the majority of her stuff was still in boxes. Only the things she absolutely had to have had been unpacked. As long as they were in a box labeled with a bit more detail than Kitchen or Bedroom. She had no excuse. Yes, she’d been working but it wasn’t as if she’d had no free time. She just hated unpacking.
The house she’d bought was a modest three bedroom not far from the clinic. In fact, it was close enough to walk to work if she wanted. It had been priced low because it needed some work. Just how much it needed, she didn’t realize until she moved in. The words fixer-upper should have warned
her. That’s what came of choosing the house in a weekend and not seeing it again until after she moved.
The kitchen desperately needed updating. Tobi liked to cook when she had time, but she also liked having a microwave that worked—hers didn’t. She also preferred a double oven but could make do with one. Unfortunately, the oven thermostat of the single oven didn’t work correctly either. At least the refrigerator was decent since the previous owners had bought a new one and had to leave it when it wouldn’t fit in their new kitchen. The rest was cosmetic but Tobi wasn’t certain how long she’d last with an olive-green, black, and bright orange color scheme. It looked like Halloween. The only other saving grace of the kitchen was the almost new tile floor.
The rest of the house wasn’t terrible, but new carpet and paint were definitely in order. Tobi wasn’t sure what she’d been thinking when she bought the house. Price and location, that’s what.
At some point she needed to figure out how to arrange for some remodeling. But it would have to wait. For one thing, she didn’t even have an idea of who to hire to do the work.
Along with the boxes she had two huge sets of bookshelves that held, among other things, her medical books. She couldn’t put anything up until the shelves were anchored to the wall and she was determined to do it herself. How hard could it be?
As soon as she drank her coffee, showered and dressed in her oldest pair of jeans, she set out for the hardware store. She’d googled how to anchor bookshelves and it didn’t look too hard.
“Who knew there were forty kinds of L brackets?” she muttered to herself.
“Need some help?”
I know that voice. She turned around to see Travis. Damn, he was cute. His dark hair hit a little below the collar of his T-shirt. It was a bit shaggy, with a shock of it falling over his forehead, and with a messy part. He should have looked scruffy, with his beard and mustache a two-or three-day-old stubble, but he didn’t. He just looked hot. He wore jeans and running shoes and a snug-fitting short-sleeved navy T-shirt with Devil’s Rock Airfield imprinted on it, along with a photo of the famous rock the airfield took its name from.
“Travis, hi. No, I’m just trying to figure out what size brackets I need to anchor my bookshelves. Plus I need a stud finder and I have no idea where to find it and the clerk seems to have disappeared.”
“How big are the shelves?”
“Really big. Not floor to ceiling but close.”
He grinned and picked out a large set. “These will probably work. Now about the stud finder, are you planning to use it a lot?”
“Probably not. Why?”
“I’ll lend you mine. And I’ll do one better. I’ll anchor those shelves for you. Unless you’re just dying to do it yourself.”
“That’s sweet of you but I don’t want to put you out.”
“You won’t be. What’s your address?”
She was a strong, independent woman who was perfectly capable of doing the job herself. But if Travis wanted to help, then why not let him? “If you’re sure you don’t mind,” she said, and gave him the address.
Tobi picked up a few other items, checked out and went home. Catching sight of herself in the mirror, she realized she wasn’t wearing a speck of makeup and her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail. She had to stop herself from fixing up a bit. This is just a friend helping out a friend.
She’d wondered after the ball if Travis was interested in exploring their friendship, and perhaps changing things up. But while he’d seemed interested at Boots & Bangles, he’d disappeared without saying good-bye and then she hadn’t heard a word from him until today when she ran into him by accident. Zack and Levi had both asked her out, both before they found out who she was and afterward. There wasn’t any reason Travis couldn’t have. So clearly, Travis wasn’t interested in anything besides being friends. Which was a good thing. That’s all she wanted too.
You’re really good at lying to yourself, you know that?
Chapter Three
Travis was no carpenter or handyman but he knew enough to be able to anchor Tobi’s bookshelves to the wall and probably do a few other things she needed done. Unlike his brother Harlan, Travis had never worked construction in high school. He’d been too busy with baseball. Not to mention, Harlan had a shit fit every time he mentioned helping out. It used to piss him off until his little sister Laurel, of all people, explained that Harlan didn’t want him to injure himself on the job and put his baseball career in jeopardy.
If he hadn’t been determined to succeed in baseball already, that sure as hell would have fueled his ambition. But as he’d told Tobi the night of Boots & Bangles, that was all a long time in the past. Since then he’d learned to do a number of things, although most had to do with airplanes.
“I remember how much you liked to read when we were kids. But that was fiction.” He gestured to her coffee table, dining room table and sofa, all of which were piled high with books. “Most of these look like medical books.”
“A lot of them are. I’ll take some up to work, though, once I sort through them.” She sighed and added, “I still love to read fiction, but I have to limit myself. I tend to get lost in the book and not get anything done.”
“I never read a lot until my injury. While I rehabbed I read a lot about my particular injury, but it was depressing as hell, so I turned to science fiction. And when I started flying I read everything I could about anything to do with aviation.”
Something flickered in her eyes, but he couldn’t identify it. “Can we put both bookshelves against this wall?” Tobi asked. “Or maybe it would look better to split them up.”
“I just perform the labor. Don’t ask me a decorating question.”
Once he located the studs, she decided to put one bookshelf on the wall across from the couch and the other on a shorter wall. “What are these things made of? Ironwood?” Travis asked as they inched a bookcase toward the wall.
“I don’t know. They were my ex-fiancé’s. I wondered why he let me have them without a fight, but I didn’t find out until I had to move them.”
“Ex-fiancé? When did you break up?” Damn, it would be just his luck if she still had feelings for the guy.
“Close to a year ago.” She stood back and eyed the shelf. “That looks good. I guess I better not change my mind on the position, huh?”
Travis laughed as he climbed the ladder. “Not unless you find someone else to help you. Did you really think you were going to move these suckers yourself?”
“I managed before. I work out, you know.”
Having seen her at the ball in her strapless, short dress, he didn’t doubt that. “What happened with the ex?”
“We were both doctors. Our hours didn’t match well. After a while, even when they did match, we argued every time we were together. So we called it quits before we started hating each other.”
“That sounds very mature.”
Tobi chuckled. “I think that was part of the problem. We had a very civilized breakup. I was the one who called it off, but I wondered why he didn’t argue more. It didn’t seem to bother him at all. I found out why three months later when he married someone else.”
Travis climbed down. “Ouch. That had to hurt.”
She shrugged. “It hurt my ego. But I’m not nursing a broken heart.”
“Good. I’d hate for that to be the case.”
She shot him a questioning glance but changed the subject. “Help me move this one.”
As he worked on the second bookshelf Tobi began putting some of the books on the first shelf. “What about you?” Tobi asked. “Is there a broken heart in your history?”
Jessica Bertinelli. Blonde, beautiful and opportunistic. Not that he’d realized the latter at the time. “Not anymore,” he said.
His electric screwdriver made enough noise that he couldn’t hear what Tobi said. When he stopped she asked, “That’s all you’re going to say? I spill my guts and you say two words?”
“That was
spilling your guts?”
“For me it was. I’m not as open as I used to be.”
That was for sure. There was a mystery to her that hadn’t been there when he’d known her years ago. “Jessica and I got engaged right before I made it to the majors. She broke it off the day I decided to accept that my baseball career was over and called it quits.” She hadn’t ruined him for women, but he admitted he hadn’t had a serious relationship since.
“What a bitch. That timing is just mean.”
He shrugged. “She knew what she wanted and an unemployable pitcher wasn’t it.”
“Did you love her?”
“No, but I loved the woman I thought she was.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t usually tell women that story.” Because it always made him feel like a complete loser. He couldn’t believe he’d ever been that gullible.
“We’re old friends. I don’t usually talk about my ex either.”
“Speaking of old friends, who won the bet?”
She paused with books in her arms. “The bet?”
“Yeah. The bet we made at Boots & Bangles. Did either Zack or Levi figure out your identity?”
“They didn’t tell you?”
“Nope. I just got back in town last night.” He could see the wheels turning. That’s when he knew he’d won. Would Tobi own up to it?
“Neither one knew. You won.” She set down the books with a bang.
“So…” He grinned at her, half expecting her to renege on the bet.
Eyes narrowed, she looked at him. “I owe you a kiss.”
“If it’s that big of a deal we can just forget it.”
“I don’t back out of my bets.” She marched over to him, put her arms around his neck, tugged his head down and kissed him.
A real kiss. With lips and tongue and building heat. She softened against him, deepened the kiss, but pulled back before she really got into it. She turned him loose and said, “There,” with satisfaction.
Travis wasn’t satisfied. That kiss had only whetted his appetite. But it was enough for now.
*