Free Tequila And Tingles: Turtle Pine, Book 2 by Keri Ford Page A

blink twice at us anymore?” Ugh. She pushed her plate away. “A little heads up, that was my first horribly embarrassing drunken appearance and I’m aiming to make it my last. If you get off on that sort of thing, that was my one and only time.”
    “Actually, you were my first.” He lifted his drink. “I mean, the first to pass out on me. If I had known just how wasted you were, I never would have taken you with me. I thought you were just a little loose. Your eyes were focused, your speech wasn’t that slurred. You were a little loud—”
    “Oh, God.” She dropped her face in her hands. “I don’t want to know more.”
    He was still smiling. “Basically, if I’d known you were that far gone, I would have put you and your friend in a cab, or in a room with each other until the morning or something. I wouldn’t have taken you with me. But I did. And it was interesting.”
    “I’m positive I don’t want to know more.” She pushed hair away from her face.
    “It’s not as bad as you might think. It was a good interesting for me.”
    Oh, she was going to be sick. “I bet I can’t wait to hear this.”
    He winced. “It was no big deal, but there you were, in my care. I had a plan all worked out for you.”
    She eyed him and decided instead to stare at a crack in the wall. It wasn’t near big enough to crawl into. But she could think about it really hard. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”
    “I didn’t get to do too much. Covered you up, pulled your hair back—”
    “You fixed my hair?”
    Pink tinted his cheeks and he looked away as he took a sip. “It was all in your face. A couple of times I thought you were going to suck a wad of it in your mouth and choke. You’re a heavy snorer.”
    She straightened. “Am not.”
    He lifted a shoulder, a smile marking his lips and dotting his cheek. “You left that morning before I could get you aspirin or breakfast or see you home or to wherever you wanted to go. I lived and so did you.”
    “Oh, almost like a happy ending there.”
    “Almost. But then you disappeared. And I like you and want to get to know you more. That’s all.”
    “This still isn’t a good idea. I’ve got young kids and it takes a lot of energy to meet all their needs.”
    “I have a high metabolism and am surprisingly great with kids.”
    “Surprisingly?”
    He winced “Maybe a bad word. I’ve worked with lots of teenagers but never with young ones. They’re fun.”
    “Good for you, but what I meant was, it takes a lot of my energy to meet all their needs. I don’t have a lot of extra time for whatever this is you’re proposing. That night in Buckleberry is never going to happen again.”
    “I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me.”
    That was a hell of an offer, but she couldn’t. Not really. Not logically. It was dumb to even consider that. Damn, why did he have to look so good? Sure, he was attractive. And from what she could remember, a hell of a good kisser. That wasn’t enough for her to be considering this…whatever this was.
    Apparently, that would be up to her. But, no, definitely not. “You’re crazy.”
    He pointed at her with a fry. “You’re not scaring me off. I find you completely fascinating and your smartass mouth humorous. I’ve never met a woman like you before.”
    She stabbed her ice with her straw. “I’m not prepared to do anything like this. Not for a long time. I just got divorced a year ago and it wasn’t easy. I’m not recovered from that, and Katie took it hard. So I’m flattered, and thank you for lunch, but I’d like to get my shoes and whatever else and go.”
    He kept eating. “I’ve noticed Katie is…distant compared to the other kids in class.”
    “She is a little.” She straightened. “I put her in this class to help her social skills. She’s doing well.”
    “She is, but she doesn’t trust me.”
    That’s because her dad is a fucking asshole. She cleared her throat since she couldn’t say that. “There