“Exactly.”

His answer seemed to flummox her. “You hardly know me.”

“We’ve lived under the same roof for almost three weeks now. I know you better than you think.”

She smiled and cocked her head flirtatiously. “And here I thought you didn’t know I was alive. You hardly ever say anything to me.”

That was because she often made him tongue-tied. It certainly wasn’t because he didn’t notice her. With her swirly, bright-colored skirts and tie-dyed shirts and big, dangly earrings, how could anyone miss her? Not to mention that mountain of curly brown hair and those big, soft hazel eyes.

She was watching him carefully with those incredible eyes, and his mind went blank. Talking about finances, he was in safe territory. Anything else, and it was hit or miss.

“I didn’t mean to shut you down,” she said. “If you really want to tell me about how I should save for retirement, I’ll listen.”

He shook his head. “Never mind. I overstepped. I apologize.”

Neither of them said a word the rest of the way to Corpus Christi.

Chapter Two

Sara knew she’d blown it. She’d finally engaged Reece in a conversation-a real conversation, not just Would you like more coffee? or Thanks for breakfast.

But she’d gotten her back up because he’d asked her about her future, and she had a reflexive defense mechanism built in about that. Every time she visited her parents, they hammered her about how she chose to live her life.

Reece obviously disapproved of her, too. When he’d said he worried about her she’d softened, but it was too late-her reaction had sent him right back into strong-and-silent mode.

She wondered what to do next. She’d never been timid where men were concerned, and if she saw one she liked, she let him know, and she persisted until she found out whether there was any interest in her.