Her approval was gratifying, he had to admit. “I’m glad you think so. Maybe you ought to stop by when I’m there so I can show you a couple things.”
“Sure. I could do that,” she said slowly. “I’ve stopped by a few times but...I guess I’ve missed you.”
That color ratcheted up a notch or two, he noticed. He wasn’t the only one who picked up on it. Her mother was giving her a very curious look. He wanted to ask why she was avoiding him but he couldn’t very well do that with Mary Ella standing there.
“It would be good to have your input a little more directly. Could we arrange a time to...” He almost said hook up but didn’t want her to think he meant that in the sexual sense. “Meet up?” he quickly amended. “I can meet you after your shift at the restaurant, if that works for you. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.”
“You’ve got the day off tomorrow, don’t you?” her mother said, quite helpfully, he thought.
Alexandra frowned just briefly but long enough for him to pick up that she didn’t appreciate her mother’s input nearly as much as he did. “Yes. Yes, I do. I guess I could swing by at some point in the day.”
“We should be there all day. Come over anytime that works for you.”
“I’ll do that.” After a bit of an awkward moment, she gestured to the coffee. “You probably should go, unless your crew likes cold coffee.”
“Right.” He had completely forgotten his objective. “See you later, Alexandra. Mrs. McKnight, it was a pleasure to meet you.”
Both women gave him smiles of varying warmth—Mary Ella’s looked welcoming and friendly while Alexandra’s struck him as guarded and wary.
Why? he wondered as he walked out of the bookstore and back to his truck, parked on a side street. They had a great time together, so why was she so determined to keep him at a distance now?
She obviously regretted their kiss. His ego might have been bruised by that if he didn’t remember her heated response, the way her mouth had softened under his and how she had held on to him as if she couldn’t bear to let him go.
He did remember those things, though, which made her reaction afterward all the more baffling.
The woman was a puzzle. A beautiful, funny, complicated puzzle.
One he very much wanted to figure out.
* * *
AFTER SAM WALKED OUT of Books & Brew, taking all that masculine strength with him, the fine tension that had clenched Alex’s shoulders when she saw him standing there began to seep away.
She inhaled deeply, ridiculously aware that she had been holding her breath during the conversation, on edge and off balance.
Drat the man! He had no business bursting into her life right now and messing with her head and her hormones, not when she was so close to grabbing for everything she had ever wanted.
“I’m so glad you could meet me for coffee this morning,” Mary Ella said. “I know you were working late last night.”
She focused on her mother instead of this jittery mess of nerves in her stomach. “I love Maura’s coffee.”
“Your sister runs a fine shop, doesn’t she?”
The pride in Mary Ella’s voice made her smile. “She does indeed. Remarkably well, and all while raising the most beautiful baby in the world.”
“Our Henry isn’t that much of a baby anymore.” Her mother’s expression was soft, as it was when she talked about any of her children or grandchildren. “He’s going to be a year old in June. Maura said he’s been trying to take a few steps along the furniture.”
“The time is just flying by. Any day now he’s going to start growing a beard.”
Mary Ella made a face. “Okay, he’s still a baby for a while now. But the older I get, the faster time seems to spin.”
They reached the front of the line and placed their orders, then found a couple padded chairs in one of the conversation nooks Maura had placed throughout her store for the convenience and enjoyment of her customers.
They chatted about Maura and Jack and Sage, just finishing her third year of undergraduate work at the University of Colorado in Boulder, then moved on to talk about Riley and Claire’s upcoming happy event.
Throughout the conversation, Alex became aware that she wasn’t the only one who seemed unsettled this morning. Mary Ella—usually calm as Silver Strike Reservoir on a summer morning—fidgeted in her chair as if she couldn’t quite find a comfortable spot, and her fingers drummed with impatience on the padded armrest as they awaited their order.
When their drinks arrived, Mary Ella took a single sip of her tea and set the cup back on the saucer so abruptly some sloshed over the side and onto her lap.