Page 16 of A Tempting Seduction
“I'll think about it.”
“That's all I ask. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I set the phone down and stared at the digits I'd scribbled on the back of an envelope. Ruby's number. Ten simple digits that represented either an opportunity or a recipe for humiliation.
I picked up the desk phone and dialed the glazer's number first. Business before personal life.
Always.
But as I listened to the phone ring, Ruby Miller's green eyes and that dimple in her left cheek stayed firmly lodged in my mind.
I had to remind myself that some risks were worth taking.
Chapter Four
I stared at my car keys for the third time, second-guessing everything about this morning. The oversized gift bag sat in my passenger seat like a neon sign advertising my meddling, complete with an enormous pink bow that matched the color of the present inside. The diaper bag sprawled across my backseat, stuffed with enough snacks and activities to entertain two small humans for the next hour and a half. I’d purchased it after I started babysitting Carrie, Trenda, and Fiona’s kids so often.
I grabbed my purse and slung it over my shoulder, then reached for the gift bag. The bow caught on my rearview mirror, and I had to angle it just right to get it through the door frame. The diaper bag came next, heavy with juice boxes and goldfish crackers and the emergency iPad that Fiona had suggested I might need if things got desperate.
“One trip,” I muttered, balancing everything in my arms. “I can make this work in one trip.”
I swung my car door shut with my hip and took exactly one step before I heard the tear of tissue paper and looked back to see that half of the present was trying to get loose because the pretty pink paper was caught in my car door.
“Dang it!”
I stepped back in time so that the fragile gift didn’t come tumbling out of the bag. That would have pissed me off and made me cry.
I hit my key fob and then lowered my purse and diaper bag onto the pavement so that I could concentrate on getting the gift unstuck.
Success!
“Ruby Miller, what in the Sam Hill are you doing with a diaper bag?”
I spun around to find Harvey Sadowski standing beside his pickup truck, his weathered face creased with curiosity. Great. Of all the people to witness my graceful morning routine, it had to be the one of the biggest gossips in the construction industry.
“Oh, hi, Harvey.” I pushed the paper back into the gift bag, then hoisted my purse and diaper bag back onto my other shoulder, getting a solid grip. “I’m just helping out a friend.”
Harvey's eyes narrowed as he took in the diaper bag slung over my shoulder. “Must be Simon and Trenda’s boy, he’s still in diapers. Can’t be Carrie Ford’s kids. I mean Carrie Lancaster, I don’t think her kids are young enough to still need diapers,” he continued.
Heat crept up my neck. Harvey wasn't being nosy to be mean, but the man had a memory like a steel trap and a mouth that ran like a leaky faucet. Whatever I told him would be all over town by lunchtime.
“It's complicated. Can we leave it at that?”
“How complicated can it be? Either you're watching someone's kids or you're not.” Harvey crossed his arms and leaned against his truck. “And that present looks mighty fancy for a casual babysitting gig.”
I bit my lower lip, weighing my options. I could lie outright, but Harvey would see right through it. I could tell him the truth and blow Fiona's secret. Or I could stick to my guns and hope he eventually lost interest.
“It's a secret, Harvey.”
His gray eyebrows shot up into his baseball cap. “A secret? Now you've got my attention.”
“Can't you just trust me and leave it at that?”
“Ruby girl, you've been living in this town for what, two years now? You know a secret doesn’t last long around here. You’re up to something interesting.”
I wanted to bang my head against my car door. This was exactly why small towns could be a blessing and a curse. People cared enough to help you move furniture and bring you casseroles when you were sick, but they also noticed every deviation from your normal routine.
