“Closer to the stomach, actually.” She put the case down between her feet. “I know you said to meet you in town in four hours, but I wanted to come along.” She smiled brightly, determined to show she could be as much fun as his friends. “Besides, Mona came early to hang out with Rose, so I wanted to give them some time alone.” Rose’s friend rarely spoke to her directly, but there was always a tension in the room when she was over.

“How’d you know when I was leaving, anyway? You could have cooked yourself like a loaf of bread in here.”

“I rolled the windows down. Also, you check in at Ty’s every time you leave to see if he’s got a lead on any short-term work. You always say it’ll take five minutes, and it usually takes twenty or thirty.”

He chuckled and got in. “Plead the fifth on that one.”

She tugged at the hem of her skirt. “So where are we going?”

He was dressed for the heat, but nicer than usual, in black shorts and a short-sleeved white button-down that set off his gorgeously rich skin tone. He had a newsboy cap on instead of his usual Stetson, and it made his face a whole different kind of handsome. She liked both.

He started the truck and flipped the AC vents to face her. “Well, I have to rustle up some money so I can actually take you out, but you can probably explore around the French Quarter while I’m doing that.”

She pulled her seat belt across her lap. “Doesn’t it kind of ruin the point if you blow a bunch of money on a date, then I never get to see you because you have to earn it again? Why don’t you let me pay tonight? I have a pretty decent job, you know.”

His palm tapped the steering wheel. “Look, I know you can pay your way.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he turned toward her. “Let me show you I can pay mine.”

She sat back in her seat, thinking about the way he was always juggling dishes at mealtime, making sure she got the plate that didn’t have a chip out of it. It wasn’t important to her, but it was to him. “Okay. Yeah, of course.”

He jerked a nod and started to back out.

“So . . . when you say ‘rustle,’ do you mean you’re going to rob a train, or are you going to get in line again or something?”

He tapped the brakes and stared at her. Blinked. “Oh, do you mean a second line?”

She nodded. “Right. Second line. Isn’t that what you said you were doing a couple of days ago?”