Free The Secret She Kept by Amy Knupp Page B

sparks it sent through her were powerful and dangerous.
    “We’ve agreed to dinner, right?” he asked, his eyes penetrating and his body still crowding her, making her want things that she would never take.
    “I suppose.”
    “Let’s just go with that. Find out if we can get through it without arguing more. For the kids.”
    She hesitated briefly, then ducked away from him. “You’re treating?”
    “I’ll treat.”
    “And we can go where no one will know us?”
    She could tell that pained him, but he agreed. She hollered at the kids to get their shoes and jackets on, and practically rushed from the kitchen to escape the close quarters.
     
    “W HAT’S PERSPECTIVE ?” Allie asked Jake after she’d finished her pizza and pulled out her pad of paper.
    Savannah shoved her last bite of salad into her mouth. She was ready to be done and out of here. When the hostess had led them to this booth, Jake had insisted on sitting next to her. Instead of acting as though it was a big deal, Savannah had gone along with it, but ever since, they’d been inches away from each other, their thighs sometimes touching.
    She wished she could say she wasn’t affected by his nearness, the warmth of him along her side, but she’d be lying. She kept inching away surreptitiously, but there wasn’t a lot of extra space in the booth.
    They’d decided it would be best to get out of Lone Oak if they didn’t want to be recognized, and Jake had suggested a pizza place in the nearby university town that his sister swore was the best. So here they were at Luigi’s, in Manhattan, Kansas. Savannah had to agree with his sister’s assessment. They even had goat cheese for Logan, who was allergic to regular cheese.
    Her son frowned at Allie’s question. “Can’t we go play foosball again, Jake?”
    “Logan, we’re done with foosball for the night,” Savannah said. “Let Jake sit and relax.”
    “Relaxing is boring.”
    “Sometimes boring is okay,” Jake told him. “I don’t think I can handle getting beaten again tonight.”
    That put a smile on her son’s face. She opened her purse and pulled out the small plastic bag of Lego blocks that she always toted around.
    “Smart,” Jake said.
    “Coping mechanism. Little boys don’t do sitting still very well.”
    Allie pushed her tablet toward Jake expectantly. He turned to a blank page and started sketching something, trying to explain what perspective was. He spoke in terms an eleven-year-old could understand, and Savannah remembered he’d taken care of his little sister after their mom had died. He’d always been pretty close-mouthed about it, but keeping things private in a town the size of Lone Oak was hard.
    She had to give him credit for being attentive to both her children. He’d played foosball with Logan and paid just as much attention to him as to Allie. That endeared him to Savannah more than she cared to have him endeared.
    Between that and the attraction that wouldn’t quit, she would have to be doubly on guard whenever they were together.
    As Jake finished his sketch, a woman approached their table, someone who’d just come in from the street. She wore black leather pants, a colorful tank top beneath a transparent black shirt, and had multiple earrings and studs in her ears and an emerald stud on the side of her nose.
    “Emily,” Jake said, standing and putting his arm around her. “You’re supposed to be working.”
    “I’m on break. Called in an order for takeout.”
    Jake stood back and motioned to Savannah and the kids, introducing them. “This is my little sister.”
    Oh, yes, his sister. Savannah should have remembered her name. She would never admit to the flutter of jealousy she’d felt before realizing who the woman was. Savannah held out a hand to Emily and greeted her.
    “I have to grab my food and get back. No one’s there to answer the phone in case it happens to ring for the first time all afternoon.” She rolled her eyes. “Stop by the