Under the Lights by Shannon Stacey Page B

grinned.
    â€œMrs. Clark wasn’t watching where she was going, huh?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get yourself too puffed up. She’s seventy if she’s a day.”
    Chase had intended to try to get another screw or two into the dunk tank sign, but it was good enough. Since the battery drill he’d borrowed from Coach had run out of juice, he’d been using a regular screwdriver, and he’d had about enough of that. He climbed down the ladder and stood in front of Kelly. “How does it look?”
    â€œOld. Are you sure it’s safe?”
    â€œIt might look a little shabby, but structurally she’s still good to go. I just need to turn on the hose and fill it up while I grab a quick bite to eat. Have you had lunch?”
    The amusement on her face changed to uncertainty. “I’m on duty.”
    â€œWhich I assume includes meal breaks, since you need to keep your strength up if you’re going to chase down criminals.” He didn’t think it had anything to do with being on duty and everything to do with their kiss in the kitchen. “I wasn’t asking you out on a date. I planned to grab a couple of steamed hot dogs at the gas station and sit on the picnic table while I watch for leaks in the tank.”
    Her expression cleared. “I could go for a dog right about now. How about I go get the hot dogs and a couple of sodas while
you
put your damn shirt back on so the women in this town can get back to what they’re supposed to be doing instead of watching you.”
    He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
    As he watched her walk away, appreciating that extrasway in the hips, he wondered if Officer McDonnell had been one of the women watching him instead of doing what
she
was supposed to be doing.
    Snatching his T-shirt off the ground, he walked over to the spigot. Before attaching the hose, though, he turned the water on and stuck his head under the flow to cool himself off. Then he splashed some of the frigid water across his chest before turning it off.
    When he pushed his arms through his T-shirt sleeves and tucked his thumbs into the neck hole to pull it over his head, he caught a glimpse of Kelly, who had stopped at the curb and was looking back at him. He grinned and pulled the shirt on, and by the time he could see again, she’d turned away.
    â€”
    K elly paid for the hot dogs and sodas, calling herself every variation of
idiot
she could think of the entire time. After their kiss in her parents’ kitchen, she should be avoiding Chase, not having a picnic lunch with him.
    Avoiding him was easier said than done, though. Besides the fact that he was an honored Eagles Fest guest and was staying with her dad, he was in the town square. Not crossing paths with him would be harder than simply pretending the other night had never happened.
    For instance, just a few minutes before when she’d started across the square before spotting him, and he’d seen her first. Turning around would have been obvious, and she refused to give him the satisfaction of her running away. Of course he had to be shirtless and glistening with sweat at the time, because that was just her luck.
    â€œKelly?”
    She jerked her attention back to the change being offered to her, embarrassed to have been caught staring out the window, lost in thought. “Sorry. I was just running my to-do list through my head.”
    The lie made her face feel hot as she realized she’d mixed Chase with
to-do list
. She was not doing Chase. Period.
    By the time she made the long walk back to the picnic table where Chase was waiting for her—thankfully fully clothed—Kelly had herself back under control. He was a volunteer, working to make Eagles Fest a success alongside everybody else, and she was bringing him a steamed hot dog. No big deal. She’d do the same for anybody.
    She sat on the picnic table bench across from him, but a little offset so they