Maybe sturdy wasn’t the best word, but he couldn’t think of a better one. “You know, women who like being outdoors and don’t worry about breaking a nail.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sorry to be wicker in your rock maple fantasy world.”
He leaned against the counter, one eyebrow arched. “How come it’s perfectly okay for you to tell me I’m not the kind of man you’d date, but when I say it about you, you get offended?”
“It’s a character flaw. I have a lot of them, so you don’t want to be around me.”
“I don’t, huh?”
“You don’t. And you should stop touching my neck, too.”
“I see.” And he did. “You want me to go away because you don’t trust yourself to resist me.”
“I can almost feel your ego sucking the air out of the room.”
“Let me ask you a question. If the first time you ever met me was the day I did the safety class, would that have changed things?” When she hesitated, he smiled. “Be honest.”
“Okay, yes. If that was the first time I ever met you, I probably would have already gotten you to ask me out while making you think it was your idea.” She held up her hand to signal she wasn’t finished. “But, I can’t forget the version of you I met in the woods.”
“You do realize that was the tail end of a two-week vacation, right? Just me, my dog and my dad in a cabin in the woods?”
“I get that. It’s not so much the appearance that’s the issue. It’s the fact you obviously love being outside and doing all that outdoorsy stuff. Hunting and fishing and playing in the mud and all that.”
He laughed. “Playing in the mud?”
“You know what I mean. The four-wheeling and all that.”
“I love being outside, yes. I didn’t become a game warden accidentally. As a matter of fact, I really don’t like being inside at all. The only good reason to be in a house is indoor plumbing, heat and not having mosquitoes attacking your ass while you’re having sex.”
“You couldn’t pay me to have sex outside.” She paused, then cleared her throat. “Of course, you can’t pay me to have sex anywhere because I’m not a hooker. It would be awkward if I was since you’re a law enforcement officer. Trust me, the new game warden citing the town librarian for prostitution would probably be the biggest scandal in Whitford history.”
“I love the way you babble when you’re nervous. It’s cute.”
“Cute?” She made a sour face. “If I agree, can this conversation be over?”
“Yup.”
“Fine. I’ll go on a date with you. Your kind of date.”
Oh, the sweet thrill of victory. “Awesome. Be ready to go about four-thirty.”
“That’s a little early for supper, isn’t it? And the library’s open until five.”
“In the morning. Tomorrow morning. Four-thirty a.m.” The way her eyes widened made him chuckle. He knew she was going to balk, but he was counting on her pride to keep her from backing out entirely.
“I have to work.”
“I have tomorrow off and you’ll be back in plenty of time to get ready, especially since you don’t have to work until ten. Which must be nice, by the way.”
She laughed on her way out the door. “You’re probably going to want to take that nap if you’re getting up before four-thirty.”
“I’ll be ready. Don’t be late.”
When she was gone, he looked down at Bear. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s just one date.”
ELEVEN
THE LAST TIME Hailey remembered being awake—deliberately and fully clothed—at four-thirty in the morning, she’d been in college. And it had been a case of still up rather than got up.
It wasn’t her best time, that was for sure. And Matt hadn’t given her any clues as to where they were going, so she’d spent ten minutes glaring at her closet over the rim of her coffee mug. They probably weren’t going dancing or to a movie before dawn. Knowing Matt, it involved being outside, so she settled for jeans.
Bundled into a fleece pullover, hat and gloves to ward off the early morning chill, she stood at her counter and drank coffee until she heard Matt’s truck start. Then, because the idea of hanging her naked ass over a log to pee was nothing short of ludicrous, she went to the bathroom again.
He was just pulling up to the curb in front when Hailey walked out of her house. She wiggled the handle to make sure the door was locked, and then walked toward Matt’s truck. She liked that he got out and walked around to open her door for her. And he’d either cleaned his truck last night or he was the neatest guy she’d ever ridden shotgun with. There was more tech equipment than she’d seen in other trucks, but not so much as a gas receipt in the console.
“No travel mug?” he asked once he was in the driver’s seat.
“I figure there’s a good chance there’s no indoor plumbing where we’re going.”
“And yet you’re here anyway.”
“I said I would.”
He grinned and put the truck in gear. “It’ll be worth it. I promise. Well, as long as we don’t get stood up.”
“Whoa. Stood up? I’m willing to put up with you at freaking dark o’clock, but this isn’t exactly social hour for me.”