But did she backpedal and get herself out of what she knew she shouldn’t do?
No, she didn’t. Instead she got in deeper. “Most things are open until about eight. I could run home after this next appointment, grab a quick bite to eat, and be back at six-thirty or so…”
“Terrific—a tour by a native. That should give me the ins and outs.”
“Maybe you could persuade Theresa to go with us,” Neily said then, thinking that getting the older woman to leave the house would put this back in the realm of work.
“I’ll ask,” Wyatt said. “But no one will be more surprised than me if she goes.”
“Maybe if Mary Pat comes along, too?” Neily suggested.
Apparently that had been transparent because Wyatt’s smile turned quizzical. “Are you afraid to be alone with me? Because I’m harmless…”
Harmless maybe, but definitely not charmless.
“No, I’m not afraid to be alone with you.” She was afraid of these strange things that came to life in her when she was. “I just thought it would be good for all of you to see Northbridge and learn your way around.”
“I’ll do what I can to persuade Gram but I wouldn’t count on it. And if Gram stays, Mary Pat stays.”
Neily nodded. “Well, six-thirty one way or another then?”
“I’ll be ready. Unless you tell me how to get to your place and let me pick you up…”
“It’s just easier if I come get you.” Because then she could have the control and it could seem more like work than a…
A date?
No, this definitely was not—in any way—a date!
Then why was she so nervous?
To cover that up, she looked at her watch again and said, “I really should get going. I can guarantee that my next stop won’t be quick.”
Wyatt nodded, pushed away from the wall and went to the front door to open it for her, smiling still as if she’d thoroughly entertained him.
“I’ll see you tonight,” he said, his gray eyes never wavering from her.
“Tonight,” Neily confirmed. But for no reason she understood, she ducked her head bashfully as she passed in front of him to go.
And as she got into her car, she discovered that there was a small part of her that hoped that Theresa and Mary Pat would stay home tonight.
Chapter Three
Neily was well aware that when she’d met Wyatt Grayson Sunday night she’d been a mess, and that when she’d seen him earlier Monday afternoon she’d had a full day’s wear and tear on her clothes, hair and makeup. She wanted to improve on those two impressions the third time he saw her, so she skipped dinner Monday evening in order to devote every minute to her appearance before picking him up.
But it was only for her own sake, she told herself. For her own sense of self-esteem. Something about the man unnerved her in a way no one had ever unnerved her in the past. She had five brothers, for crying out loud—she hadn’t even been that awkward around boys when she’d been a girl. Yet there she’d been this afternoon, sounding like a shy kid.
And that just wouldn’t do. Especially not when she was in the position of judging Wyatt Grayson’s stability, his character, his demeanor. She needed some stability of her own, some sense of decorum and authority. None of that was conveyed by presenting herself looking like a chimney sweep or in her geeky teenager imitation today.
So tonight she was going to make sure she looked…good. But not to wow Wyatt Grayson. She was just trying to amend the two previous messages she may have sent.
There clearly wasn’t any reason to try to wow Wyatt Grayson anyway, she told herself as she changed into a fitted cashmere turtleneck sweater and the leg-lengthening, hip-slimming pinstriped slacks that she usually referred to as her first-date pants. There was no reason at all to try to wow him. He was an integral part of a case she was handling and that made any personal involvement a conflict of interest.
Yes, he was great-looking and charming, but there were a lot of great-looking, charming guys in Northbridge who didn’t do anything for her.
Even so, there was no denying that something about being around Theresa’s grandson had turned her into an airhead this afternoon and no matter what that something was, she had to get a grip on it and stop it.
“Stop it in its tracks!” she said to herself as she powdered her nose and applied some blush and mascara. Then she took her hair down from the clip that held it and brushed it before using a very large curling iron to smooth it and curve the ends under her chin.
But getting a grip on herself and on the weird effects caused by Wyatt Grayson didn’t worry her. Now that she knew that a simple touch of his hand or a little conversation or just being around him could knock her for a loop, she knew to go in steeled against it. And once she was steeled and ready for anything, there was no getting to her—that was something that being tormented by five brothers had prepared her for.
“So you’re nothing but another case to me, Grayson,” she said out loud as she finished with the curling iron and combed her hair to fall silkily around her face.
Besides, tonight she would have the advantage of being in her car, of walking around her town. And while they were in her car and walking around her town, her only goal was to do her job. To subtly get to know the man solely in his role as Theresa’s grandson in order to determine if he was a fit caretaker and guardian for the older woman.
Which meant that this was absolutely not a date.
Even if she did have first-date-like butterflies in her stomach to go with her first-date pants.
“You must think I’m an idiot,” Wyatt said later that evening as he and Neily sat at one of the bistro tables in the new coffee emporium that had just opened in Northbridge.
Neily took a sip of the hot chocolate they’d just been served. “Why?” she asked, having no clue what he was talking about.
“I drove up this street when I came in last night. I didn’t know it was all there was of Northbridge or that I hardly needed a tour guide to navigate it.”
Neily gave him a mock frown. “Are you calling us a one-horse town? Because we’re so much more than that. We’re a one-T town—there’s Main Street that runs north and south to South Street, which goes east to west to make the T. Turn left on South Street at the town square and you get to the college and the houses and farms and ranches in that direction. Or turn right on South Street to go to your place and the outlying houses, farms and ranches in that direction—”
“And don’t forget those four cross streets along Main—they’re teeming with at least six or eight stores and businesses,” he added, playing along.
“Plus we have a stoplight and now even this coffee shop,” she reminded.
“Just one coffee shop and just one stoplight, but who’s counting? You’re practically a metropolis.”
Again she pretended affront. “Didn’t you get everything you needed tonight?”
“I did,” he conceded over his own cup. “Although I noticed that there’s a lumberyard but not much in the way of a hardware store.”
“Did you want something more than the nuts and bolts they sell at the Groceries and Sundries?”
“No, it was purely a professional observation.”
“You’re the hardware police?” she asked, joking still.