She’d known that was coming. Tori worked at home, but she claimed she worked best on a second shift schedule. So she didn’t mind working mornings and she could do lunch dates, but she was usually unavailable from early afternoon until hours most of them considered past their bedtimes.
Maybe. I’ll let you know.
With Paige and Tori satisfied, Hailey turned her attention to work and willed the clock to move. It did, but slowly, until finally she could turn off the lights and close the door.
His truck was in the parking lot, just as he’d said it would be. Once she’d secured the library doors and unlocked the night drop box, he got out of the truck and opened the passenger door for her.
“How’d it go?”
“Slow day today.” She climbed up onto the seat. “Except the rush to get details about our breakfast together. But that died out fairly early. They probably got bored and made up their own stories.”
He shook his head and closed her door. Once he was buckled in his own seat, he put the truck in reverse. “Does it bother you that everybody’s talking about you today?”
She laughed. “Not particularly. I’ve lived here my entire life. This isn’t the first time I’ve been the subject of conversation. What did you do today?”
“Maintenance stuff. Cleaned my weapons. Changed the oil in my quad and stuff like that. Laundry, which is my least favorite thing to do.”
Once they were parked in his driveway, he turned to face her. “I’ve got chicken and gravy in the slow cooker. If you want to come in for dinner, I can cook up some white rice to put it on.”
Hailey suspected if she went inside with Matt, they were going to do more than eat dinner. The kiss had been the end of denying there was serious chemistry between them, and if she didn’t put distance back between them, they were going to end up in bed together.
But, remembering back to the unfortunate horny monkey analogy, there was no reason she couldn’t climb this tree, and then climb down and find another.
“Hailey?”
“Sounds good. I’d love to.”
TWELVE
HAILEY HAD BEEN in Matt’s kitchen, of course, but she hadn’t seen the rest of the house. Because they went in through the front door, she found herself in the living room. It was sparsely decorated, not counting the shelving unit bearing what looked like the entire electronics section of a department store and a huge television.
A large brown leather couch dominated the room, with one end obviously belonging to Bear. The leather was pretty beat up and scratched, and the cushion had an indentation that would match a curled up black Lab.
There were still boxes here and there, so obviously he wasn’t done unpacking. Hopefully some of the stuff in the boxes was meant to be hung on the walls because they were totally bare. She didn’t like a lot of clutter, but his house was still lacking some personal touches.
They said hello to Bear, of course. Even though Matt had been home most of the day, he was greeted as if it had been days since the dog last saw him. Then it was Hailey’s turn to get the same treatment before he took off into the backyard.
Matt stepped up behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
“I stamped the wrong return date in about a dozen books because my mind was on our date and I forgot to change it.”
“I liked kissing you.” His breath was hot against the back of her neck and Hailey knew he was doing it deliberately. “I want to kiss you again.”
He did, pressing his lips to the sweet spot his breath had warmed. She shuddered, her hands sliding over his forearms. With her back to him, there was nothing she could do but surrender to the sensation of his light kisses over her skin.
When he ran his tongue from the base of her neck up almost to her hairline, she moaned and leaned backward so her body was pressed against his. She could feel his erection through their jeans and she rocked back against it.
“Pretty frisky for a first date,” she murmured.
“Mmm. Technically, this might be our second date. And if you count our walk in the woods and the OHRV safety class, this could be our fourth date.” He pulled back a little. “I feel like I’ve wanted you for a long time, but we can slow down.”
She gripped his arms, preventing him from backing up too far. Being rescued in the wilderness probably didn’t count as a date, but he was right about one thing. This thing between them had been building since they met. “I think fourth dates are a good time for frisky.”
The chime sounded, and Bear wandered into the living room. While it didn’t kill the mood, he was definitely a distraction.
“Come upstairs with me,” he murmured against her neck.
She nodded, and he took her hand to lead her toward the stairs. Nerves danced in her stomach, but there was no way she was backing out now. She wanted this man—had wanted him for a while if she was honest with herself—and she was going to have him.