I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. My mind was drawing a blank. The only thing I could think of is my recent attraction toward him. And it wasn’t just physical. That and I wondered where Haley was.
“Saw you take on the poly ropes.” He glanced down at the loose, thick, blue ropes at my feet. “We usually just cut those off.”
“Well, now they can be reused,” I remarked calmly. I waited for him to release the drapes, but instead he uncrossed his legs and pulled on his end of the fabric, taking slow steps toward me.
I swallowed and glanced around us.
“Always thinking ahead,” he offered, never taking his eyes off me.
Before I could think of anything to say, he was less than a foot away from me and had dropped his end of the fabric. Before I could protest, he pulled my hands off the drapes and turned them so my palms were face up. It wasn’t until he looked down at my hands that I’d realized they were a little red and sore from the friction of the ropes.
“Not too bad.” Rick observed. He ran his thumbs over my palms—so gently I barely felt it. He looked up. “You’re lucky you didn’t get robe burn. In this heat, you probably wouldn’t have even noticed until it was too late.”
“It’s fine,” I said, pulling away from him. I was afraid if he got any closer, he’d hear my heart racing. Why was he having such an effect on me all of a sudden?
“Is everything all right?” he asked quietly.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” I remembered his interrogation outside the pool gate when he’d insisted that he’d sensed my tension, and I hadn’t been nearly as close to him then as I was now. The mere thought of it only intensified my fluster.
He finally took a step back, looking around the stage. “Well, I’ve never seen anyone so focused and determined on a task like you just were.” He turned his head back to face me. “Unless you were thinking about something.”
In my case, I was trying desperatelynotto think of something: Rick and Haley together.
“Yeah,” I finally caved, convinced it was the fastest way to get away from him. “I was a little lost in thought. I didn’t even think it was all that difficult.” I shrugged.
Rick studied me intensely for a moment. His eyes twinkled even in the shade. He finally nodded and broke his gaze. “Can I help you with these?”
I let Rick help me gather up the heavy canvas drapes and fold them up. We placed each piece on the cart. I glanced down at my sore fingers again once we were done. Rick reached into the bottom of the cart and pulled out one of the first aid kits that were scattered around the event. He pulled out a little green-labeled sample pack, ripped it open, and moved closer to me. He took one of my wrists and laid the back of my hand on his palm.
“Now, please don’t be a baby about this, but I’d like to put this on just to be safe. It’ll also relieve some of the pain.”
I didn’t say a word and let him apply the cool gel ointment on my fingers and palms.
Once he was done with both hands, I lifted them in the air and waved them around. “What now?” I joked.
Rick laughed and gently put my arms to my sides. “It’s just serving as a coolant and antibacterial. You don’t have to wrap it or anything.”
I smiled and stood back, leaning against the down-stage column, unsure if I could do or touch anything any-time soon.
“Are you going to the fireworks party tonight?”
“Was considering it. I mean, I do have so many other options.” I rolled my eyes.
“’Cause I was thinking maybe I should drive you there. You know, being that it’s probably best that you don’t turn any hard-leather steering wheels in the next twelve hours.”
“What about Haley?” I was surprised at my own honesty, but I’d figured there was no point in beating around it.
Rick gave me that same twinkling look again, this time with his head slightly tilted and a lazy smile forming on one side. “Haley does a great job pretending she is something that she’s not.”
I nodded slowly, feeling immensely relieved. “You know they give Emmys for that,” I joked again. It appeared to be all I could do.
“Well, this actress needs to know when the curtain has closed,” he suggested, his annoyance clear. When he focused on me again, his smile came back almost instantly. “So, pick you up at eight?”
An hour later, I opened the door to my room to find Rachel passed out on her bed. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t possibly have lain down. I had way too much going on in my head. It wasn’t just the excitement of Rick asking me to go to the fireworks party. There was something deeper and not good. It was eating away at me.
Emily.
Right about now, I would be calling her to tell her about Rick and the strange growing attraction. And our so-called date. She would be the one to tell me if it was a date or not. I flopped on my bed, holding my cell phone in my hands. I took a deep breath and dialed.
