"Walk on the wild side. Eat between meals. " He grabbed her hand, and that was such a surprise she didn't think to protest until he'd pulled her toward one of the on-site eateries.
"I really shouldn't take the time. I told Roz I'd be back around four. "
"You know, you stay wrapped that tight for any length of time, you're going to cut your circulation off. "
"I'm not wrapped that tight," she objected. "I'm responsible. "
"Roz doesn't have a time clock at the nursery, and it doesn't take that long to eat a hot dog. "
"No, but. . . " Liking him was so unexpected. As unexpected as the buzz along her skin at the feel of that big, hard hand gripping hers. It had been a long while since she'd enjoyed a man's company. Why cut it short?
"Okay. " Though, she realized, her assent was superfluous, as he'd already pulled her inside and up to the counter. "Anyway. Since I'm here, I wouldn't mind looking in the shops for a minute. Or two. "
He ordered two dogs, two Cokes and just smiled at her.
"All right, smart guy. " She opened her purse, dug out her wallet. And took out a five-dollar bill. "I'm buying the CD. And make mine a Diet Coke. "
She ate the hot dog, drank the Coke. She bought the CD. But unlike every other female he knew, she didn't have some religious obligation to look at and paw over everything in the store. She did her business and was done - neat, tidy, and precise.
And as they walked back to his truck, he noticed she glanced at the readout display of her cell phone. Again.
"Problem?"
"No. " She slipped the phone back into her bag. "Just checking to see if I had any messages. " But it seemed everyone had managed without her for an afternoon.
Unless something was wrong with the phones. Or they'd lost her number. Or -
'The nursery could've been attacked by psychopaths with a petunia fetish. " Logan opened the passenger-side door. "The entire staff could be bound and gagged in the propagation house even as we speak. "
Deliberately, Stella zipped her bag closed. "You won't think that's so funny if we get there and that's just what happened. "
"Yes, I will. "
He walked around the truck, got behind the wheel.
"I have an obsessive, linear, goal-oriented personality with strong organizational tendencies. "
He sat for a moment. "I'm glad you told me. I was under the impression you were a scatterbrain. "
"Well, enough about me. Why - "
"Why do you keep doing that?"
She paused, her hands up in her hair. "Doing what?"
"Why do you keep jamming those pins in your hair?"
"Because they keep coming out. "
To her speechless shock, he reached over, tugged the loosened bobby pins free, then tossed them on the floor of his truck. "So why put them in there in the first place?"
"Well, for God's sake. " She scowled down at the pins. "How many times a week does someone tell you you're pushy and overbearing?"
"I don't count. " He drove out of the lot and into traffic. "You've got sexy hair. You ought to leave it alone. "
"Thanks very much for the style advice. "
"Women don't usually sulk when a man tells them they're sexy. "