Raegan considered this as she and Rocky finished cleaning things up. If she could talk him into coming over for dinner tonight, there was a good chance she could learn more about her new neighbor…and the security firm he claimed to work for.
“Since I’m already here, is there anything else you need looked at?”
The offer was as kind as the expression on his face, and for a second, Raegan felt guilty for her deception. But then she remembered her initial reasons for the ruse—and for moving here in the first damn place—and those same tendrils of guilt quickly faded away.
“Nope.” She shot her friendly neighbor a smile. “That’s it.”
Ask him.
“Okay, then.” Rocky began following her out of the room. “Let me know if that starts acting up again, and I’ll come back over.”
Ask him.
“I will. And…thanks again. I really appreciate it.”
Having reached her front door, the tall man stopped and turned his head toward her with a smile.
“No problem.” Those slashes in his cheeks appeared again. “My work schedule’s not always predictable, but I’m happy to help with whatever I can.”
Careful what you offer, big guy.
“Speaking of helping…” Raegan shoved her hands into the pockets of her cutoffs while giving him her best doe-eyed stare. “You mentioned being done with your shingle repair by dinner time, and since you were nice enough to abandon that task to come and help me with mine, I was thinking maybe I could have you over for dinner as a thank you for today.”
“That’s nice of you to offer, but it’s really not necessary. Like I said, it wasn’t a big deal.”
“I know.” She tried not to look or sound too desperate. “And it wouldn’t be anything fancy. I was just going to order a pizza and maybe some wings and thought it would be nice to have the company. But I totally understand if you already have plans or?—”
“I don’t.” Rocky gave a slow shake of his head. “To be honest, I was probably just going to end up ordering a pizza, myself.”
Here’s your chance. You’ve got him hooked now slowly reel him in…
“So…should I go ahead and order two?”
Those blue eyes of his remained on hers a few seconds longer, and then, “Did you say something about wings?”
Bingo.
“You like mild or hot?”
“Hotter, the better.”
Yes, I do believe I would have to agree.
“Six-thirty sound good?”
“Works for me, but only on one condition.”
The roots of mistrust began crawling their way inside, but Raegan held them off long enough to ask him, “What’s that?”
And when Rocky smiled down at her with that penetrating stare, he rumbled softly, “I get to bring the dessert.”
3
Rocky walkedalong the sidewalk connecting his driveway to Raegan’s. With each booted step he took, he tried like hell to figure out why he felt so nervous.
It wasn’t as if this was a date. Not like pizza and wings screamed romance. The adorable woman had only invited him over as a thank-you for helping fix a clogged pipe.
That was it.