Alex responded well to the petting. Panting lightly, the dog leaned forward to get as much attention as possible from Angie as they drove. Meanwhile Kyle took the pause in the conversation to gather his thoughts.<br/><br/>He was sure the innocent touch on his knee was meant to be a simple gesture of friendship. If he hadn’t been harboring feelings for his old lover, though, he wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Instead, the tap on his knee from the beautiful, former lover in his truck sent electricity throughout his entire body. He did everything in his power not to show it, but inside he lit up like a Christmas tree. If she was willing to be so familiar with him, he wondered, maybe there was still as chance for them to be together? He pushed thoughts of romance out of his mind as he tried to concentrate on her other comments. Clearly she was very venerable right now, and the last thing he should do was joke about her career status or about him taking advantage of her in any way.<br/><br/>“I think your help would really make a big difference, thanks for offering – it’s a great idea.” He then reached over and took her left hand in his right – the one that had just touched his knee.  His eyes darted between hers and the road as he continued.<br/><br/>“I know you’re joking around, but I want to be serious for a minute. Two things. One, I’ve been your friend for a long time. We were good friends before we were a ‘thing’ and ever since, so you know if you need anything, you just ask – it’s yours. You can crash here as long as you like while you get things sorted. The property is a great place to write if you like woodsy and quiet. You might really get your groove back after some downtime here.”<br/><br/>He made sure he had her full attention before continuing, giving her hand a gentle squeeze in the process.<br/><br/>“Two, I would never, ever, ever try to take advantage of you or even try to make you uncomfortable. Driving you out here might look like a setup, but it isn’t. You will have your own room and bath, and I’ll give you keys to the Lexus so you can come and go as you please. Not only are you totally safe with me, but I am going to personally make sure nothing bad happens to you out here. Okay?” he asked with a sincere expression.<br/><br/>He blushed a little after realizing he may have tried too hard to convince her he didn’t have any ulterior motives. In truth he did hold a small candle of hope that they might be able to get back together, but either way he wasn’t going to push the idea too strongly. Still, there was a damn good chance she could see right through him as she had in the past. Kyle then wondered if the hand-holding may have actually worked against him and he released his hold. The potentially awkward moment that followed was interrupted by a phone call.<br/><br/>“Sorry, I need to take this,” Kyle apologized as he touched the Bluetooth button on his truck’s stereo, pushing the phone call over the truck’s speakers so that both could listen.<br/><br/>“Larry how’s things?” Kyle asked. Larry, his structural steel guy, responded with a short status report that all the new beams were in place and they were packing up for the weekend.<br/><br/>“Great news, man, you’ll be gone before I get back. Good luck out there tomorrow, I hope they’re biting for you, see you Monday,” Kyle said before hanging up.<br/><br/>“It’s amazing how fast guys work on Friday afternoon,” he commented to Angie. “I hope you’re hungry, but the way,” he added with a smirk. “I’ve taken up cooking and I’ve worked up something special for us for dinner.”<br/><br/>“Oh, and by the way, I am all over horror stuff, so bring on your writing. I’m so not afraid,” he added with a wink.