Page 72 of Feeding Hope
He was quiet and she turned to look at him only to see his eyes looking down at her lap. Well, she was rubbing at her stomach. Of course he’d look.
Wayne looked up and met her gaze, his face reddened and he looked out of the windshield, starting the truck. “Sorry.”
She shook her head, even though he probably didn’t see the gesture. “No need to apologize. I kind of called your attention to it.”
He pulled the car out onto the road, following the one-way road around the block that had been turned into businesses. Itgave her a chance to look at the other places along the way. “What’s your verdict on the restaurant? Should we go back in the future?”
“Absolutely!”
She hadn’t even taken a minute to think about it. She looked at his face and saw him smile. “Sounds like an honest opinion to me.”
“Honest and emphatic,” she agreed. “I’d love to go back.”
She sat back and looked out of the windshield at the passing streets. Smiling. She spoke again. “The company was even better.”
They continued to talk, but the combination of a full stomach and the warmth inside his truck had the effect of lulling her to sleep. She fought it, but in the end, she couldn’t help herself and dozed off.
*****
She woke up to the soft sounds of music and a warm, male voice humming along. She cracked open one eye wondering who was singing and realized that she was still in Wayne’s truck, in the passenger seat.”
He turned and smiled at her. “You’re awake.”
Avery let out a long, exhale. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She drew in a breath and sat up straighter in her seat.
“Sorry. I hope I didn’t keep you out too late.”
She reached for the handle on her door.
“Wait.”
Avery bit into her lip and lowered her hand from the door handle. She turned back to look at Wayne.
“I don’t have anything to do in the morning,” he explained, “so you don’t have to worry about keeping me out late.”
“Oh,” she was completely awake now and her face was flushed with color, “good. I can’t believe I-”
“You don’t have to apologize, Avery. I was listening to some music while I waited. “If you didn’t wake up soon, I was going to take you to my place.”
She sat up even straighter at that. “Oh?”
“Well, I don’t know where you would keep a key on you. You don’t have a purse that I could see.”
Avery looked down at her dress and realized that yes, she hadn’t brought her purse. And she certainly didn’t tell people where she kept her key and her bank card when she didn’t.
Her hand reached out and touched her phone on the center console.
“I guess you weren’t in a mood to frisk me.” Her cheeks burned at the idea and when she looked over at him, he looked a little darker in the cheeks as well.
“So,” he nodded, “if I took you to my place, I could use the keypad and put you in my spare room, but I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about that.”
Avery nodded, thinking about that very thing. “Good call. I’m just sorry, I made you wait.”
She looked up at her window through the windshield and made an offer that she might not have made if she hadn’t been startled awake. “You want to come up for some coffee? I... I don’t know where you live, but I’d feel horrible to send you off without something to keep you awake and safe on the drive.”
Wayne smiled at her and reached across to cover her hand with his. “You don’t have to hard sell me. I’d love to go up and see what books you have at home.”
For a brief moment she remembered telling him about ‘etchings.’ Then she wondered if he was remembering the same comment she’d made. Either way she was sure of one thing. If he tried to kiss her and she didn’t want him to, she knew he’d stop.
