Free More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3) by Christine DePetrillo Page A

quietly.
    “Blond ones in particular,
right?” He ran a hand over his own blond buzz cut.
    She nodded as she met his gaze,
and heat whooshed through him. “Thanks for fixing my tire and getting me a new
spare. Rick drove my car to my house, and I was all prepared to thank him, but
he said it wasn’t him.”
    “I had some time today. No big
deal.” He grabbed a shot glass and poured some Captain Morgan into it.
    Hope accepted the glass when he
slid it toward her. “It was a big deal to me. Now I don’t have to worry about
it. How much do I owe you?”
    Adam shook his head, but Hope
held up her hand. “Do not say I don’t owe you anything, Adam. You went out of
your way to do that for me, and I want to pay you back. You’re either going to
let me do it with money or… some other way.”
    “Some other way?” He’d already
decided he wanted some other way. “What did you have in mind?” His heart was
beating overtime now, but not in the usual panic attack way. This was more like
anticipation. Good anticipation.
    Hope called him closer with a
single finger, so he rested his hands on the bar and leaned toward her. She
stood and put her lips right near his good ear. He loved everything about
having her there.
    “Let me come over after your
shift, and I’ll show you what I had in mind.” She eased back down onto her
stool and looked at him.
    His head nodded without him
consciously telling it to do so. He just hoped he could handle what she had in
mind.

Chapter Six
     
    She had absolutely no idea what
she was doing, but the time for action had come. No more beating around the
buzz cut. Hope wanted Adam. She’d tried to forget him and had been somewhat
successful when he’d been gone for months. As soon as he’d turned up again,
however, it was like having an open package of cookies sitting on the counter
and trying not to eat one… or ten. It couldn’t be done, and she was sick of
trying to be not interested in him.
    A short guy sidled up next to
her and waved money at Adam. “Can I get two Long Trails and a sangria?”
    Adam’s eyes were still zeroed
in on Hope, and it was as if he hadn’t noticed the customer.
    Hope cleared her throat and
angled her head toward the waiting man, who was now looking from Adam to Hope,
Hope to Adam.
    Still, Adam didn’t move.
    “Adam?” Hope gently touched his
hand clamped tightly to the edge of the bar. Was the notion of her going home
with him scrambling his brain?
    He blinked a few times and
frowned. Rubbing his left ear, he focused on the man now. He took a step away
from the bar and asked, “What can I get you?”
    The man looked at Hope again as
if to say, What’s wrong with this guy?
    She’d pay big bucks to know so
maybe she could fix him.
    “Two Long Trails and a
sangria.” The man said it slowly as if perhaps English was a new language to
Adam.
    “Right.” Adam filled two tall
pilsners with the beer and a large, globe-like glass with sangria, chunks of
fresh fruit mingling with ice. “Here you go.”
    “Thanks.” The man paid and took
his beverages, carrying them with a grace Hope hadn’t expected.
    “I should probably go find Rick
and Lily,” she said. “You know, so you can concentrate on your work.” She
grinned, hoping she pulled off a coy look. It’d been a while since she’d
attempted coy. An out-of-practice coy was the worst.
    Hers must have not been so out-of-practice,
because Adam balled up a napkin and tossed it at her. “Yeah. The farther away
the better. You’re too distracting.” He motioned with his hand for her to back
way up.
    Laughing, she ordered a rum
swizzle and took off toward the pool tables, but not without looking over her
shoulder once. Yep. He was watching her walk away. Her coy definitely wasn’t
rusty.
    When she reached Rick and Lily,
one striped ball and one solid ball remained on the pool table along with the
eight ball. Lily was lining up her shot on the solid ball.
    “I’m going to enjoy breakfast
in bed for