Hooked on You by Kathleen Fuller (hot novels to read .txt) 📕

even know what happened to that woman, actually.I’m sure she found another baseball player to latch on to. Hopefully things worked out for her.”

“You’re not bitter she left you?”

He shook his head. “No. I think we had gone on a total of three dates. She wasn’t interested in nursing a broken player backto health, and that was fine by me. I didn’t need to be distracted.” He took another step closer. “But know this, Riley. I’mdistracted right now. Very distracted, in the best way.”

As his words sank in, a pleasant shiver ran down her spine. He even says all the right things. How could she not put him on a pedestal?

“I can’t claim to understand everything you’ve gone through or the pain you’ve felt. We’ve both been broken, in differentways. But I can tell you this—you can put the pieces back together. I want to help you do that.”

“Why—”

Hayden pressed his finger over her mouth. “Just listen, please. I like you, Riley. You might have thought you were invisibleback in high school, or at least you did everything you could to make yourself be. But I remember you. I noticed you, andI was interested in you back then.”

Her eyes grew wide. “You were?” Her words were muffled against his finger.

He chuckled and dropped his hand. “Yep. But my focus was on other things. Still is. I haven’t talked to my father yet aboutselling the store, but I’m going to. And I’ve been thinking a lot about making some changes in this town. Good ones, of course.I’m hoping people will see them that way. That’s going to take some time, I know, but I can at least try. I also have my newhouse to fix up, Erma’s repairs, the softball team—”

“And I’m getting in the way of all that.”

“No.” He paused, his gaze intensifying. “Even with all this going on, the number one thing I’m thinking about is you.”

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. This was too much all at once, and the strength of the emotions running through her were almostmore than she could bear. She didn’t know what to do.

Then she latched on to the conviction she’d seen in his eyes as he talked about improving Maple Falls. She thought about thedrawing she had worked on earlier in the day of Mimi’s shop. “Speaking of improvements,” she said, keeping her tone light,as if he hadn’t just made her heart sing. She opened the sketchbook and showed him what she had been working on all day.

He scanned the drawing. “Is this Knots and Tangles?”

“I’m hoping it will be. I’ve figured out a way to redesign the whole store.”

“Wow. You sure have.”

She found herself on solid ground now that they were talking about something practical. “I think instead of having the BosomBuddies hold their group in the back of the shop, they should sit here.” She pointed to a large seating area she had createdin the middle of the store. “I want to paint all the wooden shelves pure white, which will be a great contrast to the colorfulyarn.”

“I know all about white paint,” he mumbled with a half smile. “Just let me know when you need it.”

“I have to see if Mimi is on board first. She hasn’t been taking advantage of those huge picture windows in the front of thestore. Seeing people inside, even if it’s just Mimi’s friends knitting and crocheting and having a great time, will draw customersin.”

“That’s a great idea.” He checked the drawing again, then looked at her. “We’re on the same wavelength with improving thingsaround here, I see.”

“Yes, but also keeping within the character of Maple Falls. This place has Southern charm.” She had to give credit where itwas due. “I don’t think it should lose that.”

“I agree.” Hayden took the sketchbook from her and studied it. The sun was almost gone from the sky, but there was still enoughlight to see.

The tension in Riley’s back started to ease. She could handle talking about buildings and home improvements. What she couldn’thandle were the feelings he was bringing out in her a few moments ago. She also couldn’t admit the truth—that she had beenthinking about him all the time too.

Suddenly he started turning the pages of the sketchbook. Before she could grab it away from him, he came to her drawing ofhim. “And what about this?”

Her cheeks started to burn again. “Give me that back.” She tried to take the sketchbook from him, but he held it above herhead out of her reach. “I was just fooling around!”

“Just fooling around, huh? You just happened to be drawing a picture of me, even though you could have drawn anyone else?Erma, or one of the Bosom Buddies?”

“Stop being a jerk.” She couldn’t keep from giggling as she reached for it. He was only a few inches taller than her, buthis arms were much longer, and the book was well out of her grasp.

He held it above his head. “I will, on one condition.”

Her guard came up again. She didn’t like conditions. But the teasing glint in Hayden’s eyes tempered her automatic reaction.“What?”

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night. Not a date—I’ll make that clear. Just two friends getting together to discuss their ideasfor Maple Falls. How does that sound?”

She paused. That actually appealed to her. As they were looking at the sketchbook earlier, she’d gotten excited again, likeshe had in the shop when the idea first struck her. Besides, agreeing to dinner seemed like the only way she was going toget her sketchbook back. Unless she tackled him to the ground and took it, which wasn’t going to happen. He was too big, toostrong—and she was too weak to resist the thoughts that instantly traveled to an intimate place she couldn’t risk dwellingon, not with him standing a few inches from her and her resolve wilting.

“Fine,” she said, trying to sound casual. “What time?”

“I’ll pick you up at five thirty tomorrow night. There’s a steak joint a block down from the ice cream shop. They have decentsirloins and a gigantic