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

broke the awkwardness of him holding on to her longer than was polite. Before he could say anything,she started walking away.

“I don’t want to be late for our reservation,” she said.

The steakhouse didn’t take reservations, but he didn’t correct her. He followed her out the door, trying to keep his gazestraight ahead and not on her. He wanted to blame the clothing for his intense attraction, but who was he kidding? She couldwear a muumuu and he’d find her just as desirable.

When he saw that she was almost to the passenger door, he hurried and opened it for her. He couldn’t decipher the look shegave him before getting in the car, and he figured he was really pushing things now. But he’d open the door for any woman.Those manners were ingrained in him since his youth.

As he drove to the restaurant, he searched for something to say. This was supposed to be supper with a friend, and conversationshould have been easy. Instead, he turned on the radio and they listened to country music on the way to the steakhouse. Whenhe pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine, she started to open the door.

“Wait,” he said, instinctively touching her arm to stop her. When she glanced down at his hand on her arm, he pulled it back.“My mother would never forgive me if I didn’t open the door for you.”

Her lips curved into a half smile. “Southern manners?”

“You know it.” Relieved, he smiled back, then dashed out of the car and opened her door, holding out his hand. When she slippedher hand into his palm, he tried to imagine he was helping one of the BBs out of a car, something he had done a time or two.It didn’t work, of course, and he realized how nice Riley’s hand fit in his the same moment she let go.

After they walked into the restaurant and were taken to a table, Hayden insisting on pulling out her chair for her, they satdown and read over the menus. More silence, and that had diminished his good feelings from moments ago when she had smiledat him.

Maybe he’d made a mistake by asking her to dinner. They probably should have met at Erma’s, which would have been neutralterritory, sort of. The waitress showed up and they ordered their food, then handed the menus to her before she took off.When he saw Riley fidgeting with the corner of her red cloth napkin, he was sure tonight was going to be uneasy at best, andpossibly a disaster. Since his track record with her wasn’t great, he steeled himself for a long, uncomfortable evening.

*  *  *

Although she tried, Riley couldn’t stop feeling uncomfortable. It had started when she first saw Hayden staring at her whenshe came from the back of the shop. All the confidence she’d had in the bathroom evaporated when he kept gaping at her, notsaying a word. That was what made her nervous—Hayden was rarely silent. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Did he thinkher new outfit was ugly or that she’d overdressed? She couldn’t read his expression, and when he didn’t say a word about herclothing, she figured she’d made a mistake wearing it. She should have stuck with her original jeans and T-shirt plan, althoughshe noticed that Hayden not only looked nice but smelled amazing. She probably smelled like old yarn and cardboard boxes.

She had to admit that she was disappointed. Hayden was straightforward, and she liked that about him. If he liked her outfit,he would have said something.

Then there was the moment she tripped over the rug. She’d meant to get rid of that old thing already, but it kept slippingher mind. And while she might have caught her toe on the corner while wearing the sandals, it only made things worse thatshe had new shoes on—shoes Hayden didn’t seem to notice, either, until she pointed them out.

The waitress came by with glasses of water, and as she set them on the table, Riley tried to relax. She quickly picked upthe glass and took a big gulp, only to spill half of it on her shirt. She was mortified. She couldn’t even do a friendly supperright. She put the glass down and picked up her cloth napkin, dabbing it at her neckline. Then she saw Hayden was staringat her again, only to clear his throat and take a sip of his own water. Of course he didn’t spill a drop.

She sat back in her chair. This was ridiculous. She refused to spend another minute ill at ease. This was Hayden, and theywere here to discuss their ideas for Maple Falls, and they couldn’t do that if they weren’t speaking to each other.

“Let’s talk about Maple Falls,” she said, getting to the point. She never thought she’d ever say those words out loud.

He shifted his gaze for a split second, then looked at her again. “Okay, well, my first plan is to convince my parents tosell me the store.”

Her brow lifted. “You want to buy it?”

“Yes. I can’t accept that it won’t be our family business anymore. The only way to make sure that happens is if I own it outright.”

It didn’t escape Riley that they had very different opinions on the value of family businesses. “What about your house? Isn’tit going to be expensive to fix up?”

He shook his head. “Not if I do the work myself. I crunched some numbers, and although it will take more time than if I contractout some of the work, if I do as much as I can, I’ll save a good chunk of money, and I’ll put that toward the hardware store.Money isn’t the issue. Talking to my folks will be.”

“Why?” She took another sip of her water, this time making sure she didn’t spill it. “You have a good relationship with yourfamily.” Something she was a bit envious of.

“I’m still irritated that they didn’t tell me about the sale.” He frowned. “I understand their reasons, at least the onesHenry told me. But they