Her eyes raked over him. Over the white T-shirt that fit his sculpted muscles like a glove. Over his biceps and the width of his shoulders, the contours of his abs that were easily visible.
Her eyes slid down the low slung, faded, jeans and the boots on his feet. Back up to the chin now covered in thick, blond stubble and that mouth—that generous, hot, and sexy mouth…
Before moving back up to the intense blue eyes that stared back at her.
The expression in his eyes was…she didn’t know what it was, but it sure as hell set off something inside her.
Something hot and fierce. Something that ached.
Something that ached so badly it hurt.
“I want to take you away for the day so that we can talk.”
She thought of the kiss they’d shared. Oh really.
“Talk?”
“Just talk,” he answered quietly.
“Does Lane Summers know you’re here?” Not that she was considering taking off with Beau. Her mind was too screwed up. She was off kilter and when Betty was off kilter, shit happened.
The new Betty cared about that kind of stuff.
Keep telling yourself that.
“Lane Summers and I aren’t together.”
She arched an eyebrow. “No? So she’s in town for the local ambiance? For the shopping in our lovely, discount boutiques? Or maybe she’s a few days early for the Farmer’s Market on Tuesday? Is that it?”
Beau took a step toward her. “We were seeing each other and now we’re not. I don’t know if she’s still in town and I don’t care.” He jerked his head toward the kitchen door. “Duke is fine with you leaving. So are you coming with me?”
He smiled, a slow kind of thing that made heat curl low in Betty’s stomach. She should hate him for the way he made her feel.
Except that she didn’t.
Don’t do it.
“Where are you going?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“I don’t know. Wherever the open road takes us.”
“Us?” She bit her lip.
Don’t do it.
“You’re real sure of yourself,” she said carefully.
Beau shook his head. “Actually, I’m not. But I’ll beg, if it will make a difference.”
“You’ll get down on your knees. Right here. Right now.” She almost smiled. “And beg.” The thought of Beau on his knees set off all kinds of bells. Loud bells.
Sexy bells. Bells that screamed, Yes!
A part of her wanted to get as far away from New Waterford as she could, but there was that other part. The part that told her she’d be crazy to go anywhere with Beau Simon. Crazy. Stupid crazy.
Stupid crazy.
Something she hadn’t been in a very, very, long time.