Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [47]
His deep-hooded brows relaxed and his brown eyes lit with more enthusiasm than they should have as he bounded toward her, his voice thicker than ever with his Dutch accent. “I won’t let you down, Katy. I—”
Throwing both palms in the air, she quickly interjected, “Don’t”—and he stopped—“misunderstand. This has nothing to do with us.”
His expression wilted, making him seem boyishly vulnerable. He hooked his thumbs in his slim jeans and studied her with tilted head. “You saying you want to be friends?”
She rolled the question distastefully around in her mouth. “More like what you said at first. I’m just trying to tolerate you. It’s the decent thing to do. Sisterly.”
He made a face. “Sisterly?”
“Christian. Sisterly.”
“Oh.” His stupid grin returned. He moved forward again. She froze, not sure what he was up to, but thankfully she must have presented a formidable presence, for once again he hesitated. Still, he stood too close. He looked down at her with his dark gaze, and she hoped he said something, did something soon, before she passed out from lack of oxygen. Then he did. Reaching out, he wrapped his forefinger in her ponytail, like he had so many times over the years. He gently untangled it from her purse strap. She lowered her gaze, making it eye level with his neck. He had a handsome Adam’s apple. He swallowed as if the gesture affected him the same as it did her. But neither of them would admit it.
“Thanks,” he murmured.
“Hey, Jake”—the electrician broke off his sentence when he saw he’d intruded on an intimate moment.
Jake, never one to act embarrassed, slowly turned without dropping his hand.
But she jerked away.
“Yeah?” Jake asked, if anything showing only irritation at the interruption.
“When you get a minute, I’d like to show you something.”
Jake turned back to Katy with furled brows, and she knew their business wasn’t finalized, but it had gotten more personal than she’d hoped. She was grateful for the interruption.
“Go on.” She motioned with a wave. “I’ll go find Lil and check out the new shower.”
“Okay.” His gaze roved over her in a leisurely manner. “Meet me back here in five minutes, and we’ll go over the church project.” He gave a mocking tip of his ball cap and strode away.
She stood still for a moment longer, both mourning and exulting over the leap their relationship had just taken with its flirtatious undercurrent. It had all happened so quickly that she feared where it might lead in the future if she kept melting a little each time she was in his presence.
She found Lil in the bathroom, flirting with the plumber. Ignoring that, Katy snapped, “You abandoned me.” She lowered her voice. “You knew the plan. You were supposed to back me up, so I wouldn’t have to talk to him alone.”
Lil gave an offhanded frown with a small toss of her hand. “I didn’t even know you were here. But now that you are, check out the shower.” She opened and closed a glass door. Stepped in and out. “Don’t you love it?”
She did. The shower compartment wasn’t fancy like the travertine walk-in shower Lil had cut out of a magazine. It was an unpretentious white, but it was new and would serve the purpose. Well, after they scraped the stickers and handprints off, Katy thought, grinning. “I call the first shower.” The back of the plumber’s neck reddened, and she clamped her hand over her mouth, backing out of the room. In the hall, they both burst out laughing.
“He’s kinda cute, don’t you think?” Lil asked.
“Married?”
“I don’t know. Either that or just shy. I’ll have to ask Jake.”
They met Jake back in the living room and settled down on the plastic-covered floor for their meeting. Over the next ten minutes, they discussed all the pertinent details of the future fellowship hall’s kitchen.