Hooked on You by Kathleen Fuller

Author:Kathleen Fuller [Fuller, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2021-05-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Stunned, Hayden stared at his image on the white page in the sketchbook. It made him remember Riley’s skill as an artist. She had captured him well, even the cowlick on the side of his head. Then realization dawned. She drew a picture of me.

He looked up to see her standing a few feet away, wisps of her brown hair blowing around her beautiful face. Without a word he closed the sketchbook and handed it to her.

She took it and hugged it to her chest. “Thank you,” she said, icicles hanging from her words.

And with that she was distant again. He marveled at how she could turn from warm to frigid in a split second. But he wasn’t irritated. He understood why, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to leave. When she started to walk away, he jumped in front of her.

“Don’t,” he said, keeping his voice low. A few members of the team were still in the parking lot, but he didn’t want to risk getting their attention.

Her eyes turned cold. “Mimi’s waiting on me.”

He saw Erma talking animatedly with Junior. “She’s occupied right now.” He looked at Riley again, this time at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say to her? Don’t leave? Don’t be an ice queen? Let me hold you again? Obviously, she had been thinking about him and, from the accuracy of her sketch, watching him. He didn’t mind that one bit. What he did mind was that she was running away from him again when she didn’t have to.

“I really need to—”

“Wait. Just . . . Wait right here.” He ran over to Erma and Junior. “Hey, man, would you mind taking Erma home?” he asked Junior, who was so easygoing that Hayden was sure he would say yes. He also hoped Erma understood that he wanted to spend time alone with Riley.

“Sure thing, Hay.” Junior tilted up his sweat-stained ball cap. “Anythin’ for Miss Erma here.”

“Why, Junior, you charmer.” Erma lifted her brow at Hayden and gave him a small nod before turning to her willing chauffeur.

Thank God Erma was so sharp.

“I’d be glad to catch a ride with you,” she continued. “You can finish telling me about that fish you caught last week. Twenty pounds, you said?”

“At least.” Junior started to push Erma toward his light-green pickup truck. “Might have been twenty-two.”

“My goodness!”

Hayden blew out a breath, relieved that Erma was taken care of and that Junior had someone to talk about his fish with. Then he turned around, glad to see that Riley hadn’t moved. She didn’t look so happy, though, and now he wondered if he hadn’t made things worse by taking care of Erma without asking Riley first. But he wasn’t going to let her get away so easily this time. He rushed to her, skidding to a stop on the grass. “Junior’s—”

“Taking her home. I can see that.” She scowled. “Why did you do that, Hayden?”

“Because I didn’t want you to leave.” There. The truth was out.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.