Suddenly Texan by Victoria Chancellor Page B

“I’m not sure and I don’t want to risk it. I told you I can’t afford another night.” She dropped a small duffel bag next to the suitcase.
    Leo stepped around the suitcase into the room. “Christie isn’t going to charge you for another night.”
    â€œI won’t inconvenience her when she and your sister have been so nice to me.” Amanda kept scurrying about, way too fast for Leo’s diminished morning functioning.
    He frowned. “What about me? I’m nice to you.”
    Amanda stopped and stared at him as if she were startled he was standing in her room. “Oh. Right. Yes, you are. But you’re a guy.”
    â€œThankfully, yes.” He glanced at her rumpled bed. It was probably still warm and smelled of nearly naked Amanda. He shook his head to clear the image. “What do you mean, ‘I’m a guy’?”
    She shrugged again. “You might have…you know, ulterior motives.” She added a multicolored tote bag to the growing pile by the door.
    â€œRight. Those ulterior motives again.” If he’d given in to his “ulterior motives” he would have kissed her and maybe more last night in the coffee shop. But no, he’d been the perfect gentleman. Okay, maybe he’d been a little calculating, but he didn’t want to scare her off. He didn’t want her thinking about his “motives.”
    Not while he was trying to figure out hers.
    And if he weren’t such a gentleman this morning, he’d see if he could convince her to forego thrift shoppingfor a much more pleasurable activity. Like putting the next four hours of paid-for motel room to good use.
    â€œThere, that’s everything,” she said, rushing around the bed and pulling up the covers. “I don’t think I left anything.”
    â€œWhat do you want to do with this?” He pointed to her bags.
    â€œPut them in my car, I suppose. Is there a safe place to park?”
    â€œWe have private parking in back of the condos, but it’s not secured.”
    â€œWell, that’s okay unless you’ve had break-ins. Everything I own is in that car, so I want to make sure it’s safe.”
    Everything she owned was in one car? How could that be? He’d assumed she still had an apartment or a house someplace in Oregon. Where were all her personal things? Didn’t every woman have a bunch of sentimental stuff from high school or birthdays or whatever?
    He opened his mouth, but decided it was better not to express his surprise. “No break-ins,” he said instead. “I’ll get someone to check on your car while we’re gone if it would make you feel better.”
    â€œIf it’s not too much trouble, that would be great.”
    â€œNo problem.” He picked up her suitcase and duffel bag while she snatched up the tote, which seemed to hold her laptop.
    She turned back for a moment. “Goodbye, room,” she said wistfully.
    Leo suspected this wasn’t the only time Amanda Allen had bid farewell to a place she really liked.
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    â€œH OW MUCH FOR THE WHOLE BOX ?” Amanda asked the hefty, bored-looking woman lounging inside thegarage. At least she wasn’t smoking. The value of items decreased when they smelled of cigarette smoke or were covered in dust and pet hair.
    â€œAll of them old postcards?”
    â€œYes. I don’t think my friend has the patience for me to go through them here,” she said, nodding toward Leo. His hands in his jean pockets, he looked very bored as he stood near a table of assorted dishes and glassware. “You know how men are.”
    â€œUnless you got some huntin’ and fishin’ items for sale, they couldn’t care less.”
    â€œI like old postcards and I can look at them later.”
    â€œWell, how about five bucks?”
    Normally she’d bargain, but the price seemed more than fair. She could sort them later into packets of two