“Thank you for making me do this today,” Adam said from behind his menu. He peeked over it, and she could tell by his eyes that he was smiling.
“You’re welcome. But I didn’t make you do anything. I just asked, so thank you for coming.”
The server appeared at their table to take their drink order. “What do you have on tap?” Adam asked. She rattled off a short list, and at the end of it, she mentioned Salty Shockoe Lager. “Hmm,” he said. It appeared that he was considering his choices, but Carrie was suspicious. She could tell he was up to something. “Have you ever had Salty Shockoe?” The server nodded. “And what’s it like? Is it any good?”
Carrie thought back to her first experience with the beer and their discussion regarding the label, and she was so relieved that he hadn’t put her in the position that he was putting this girl in right now. She was almost nervous to hear the answer for fear that the girl would say something negative about it and ruin their meal. Carrie didn’t want anything to mess this up.
“It’s delicious, actually. It’s one of my favorites.”
“Are you just saying that to make a sale?” he asked, grinning.
“No, sir. It really is one of my favorites.”
“Good to hear. I trust you. What will you have, Carrie?” he asked. “Have you decided?”
Carrie had been so enthralled in the conversation about Adam’s beer that she hadn’t really thought of what she wanted for herself.
“Um, I’ll have a Salty Shockoe.”
Adam looked at Carrie and winked. “Two bottles of Salty Shockoe, please.”
After the server left, Adam set his menu down and said, “You didn’t have to get my beer just because it’s mine. If you’d wanted a glass of wine or something, you could’ve gotten it.”
It was true that she hadn’t given the order much thought, but it had been the right drink for the moment. The memories of having beers with her father were warm memories—warm like she felt tonight. It felt as right being with Adam as it felt with her own family, which was a brand new feeling. She’d never felt it before. When Adam looked at her, she felt pretty, and when he listened to her, she felt confident. While her friends all had glasses of wine or mixed drinks, that wasn’t who she was. She was the girl who had a beer with her dad. And now with Adam. And it felt great.
“I really love…” she heard herself saying the words and her heart raced in her chest. What she wanted to say was that she really loved being with him no matter what she had to drink, but instead, she said with a smile, “I love your beer.”
The huff. The smile. She laughed out loud, unable to contain her happiness. There was something between them—a kind of chemistry that can’t be forced, it was just there. It was as if she felt who he was before she even knew him. She was in tune with his mannerisms, his quirks, what made him laugh, what set him off. She’d fallen for Adam Fletcher. Hard. What would she do when her time with him was up, when she couldn’t see him anymore?
And then there was the fact that he hadn’t given her any reason to think he wanted to take things any further than their employer-employee relationship. For all she knew he could be romantically involved with Andy. Just thinking about Andy made her chest ache. Carrie was setting herself up to be hurt—she knew that—but the problem was that it was out of her hands. She was at the top of the roller coaster, teetering, looking down the hill, knowing she couldn’t get off. And she didn’t want to. Her feelings were speeding faster with every moment, and there was nothing she could do to stop them. She hadn’t meant to fall for him, but she had. She hadn’t followed any of the dating strategies in her ridiculous books—she hadn’t tried anything at all. Feeling something for Adam was as easy as breathing. It was beyond her control.
“I’m excited to see Olivia and David in their play tonight,” he said, to Carrie’s surprise.
“I am too. I have Olivia’s angel outfit laid out and ready to go already. And David’s Joseph costume is all set too. I just need to see if I can tighten his belt a little. It keeps slipping when he moves too much.”
“They’ve been practicing with their mother. I know she’s been taking them to church for Sunday school, and they’ve worked on this for quite a while.”
Adam was actually excited to see his kids in their play, which was a revelation to Carrie. With his work schedule, she’d originally assumed that he didn’t care, but it turned out he did. She had such a different picture of who he was now than she had when she’d arrived. Adam was a loving, sweet, charming man. He just had trouble letting people see it. Had Andy seen that side of him? Carrie felt a ripple of jealousy as she thought about how Andy got to see him all day long and then even some evenings. Was he this charming with her, too? Of course he probably was. And they even had work as their common ground.