Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Kinsley
I’m standing by the desk when Shane walks inside, holding a pizza box in his hand. I wasn’t expecting him today—and I know he’s not on my client list since I went over it this morning—but I can’t help but smile at him surprising me here since he can’t call or text me. Well, he can … he just doesn’t know that he can.
“Pizza?” I ask, stating the obvious.
“Hopefully you haven’t had lunch yet,” he says, setting the pie down. “I would’ve called or texted but …”
Scott chuckles, knowing all about Shane wanting my number. “I’m starved.”
He reaches over to open the box, but Shane grabs the box first and sets it out of Scott’s reach. “Not yet.” He glares at Scott, then looks at me, his features softening. “I’ve tried to think of how to ask you to be my girlfriend since I left your house the other night, and the only thing I’ve come up with is that I suck at coming up with romantic shit, so I’m just going to throw it out there.”
Scott snorts, and I stifle my laugh at the same time my dad walks out to join the party.
“What’s going on?” Dad asks, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m about to ask Kinsley if she’ll be my girlfriend,” Shane says.
In the corner of my eye, I see my dad’s brows hit his forehead because he thinks I’m going to say no.
“Kinsley,” Shane begins, “since the moment I saw you all puffy and struggling to breathe, I knew I wanted to make you mine.”
The guys laugh, and I shake my head because this just might be the worst speech I’ve ever heard, but it’s also, in a weird way, very sweet.
“You’ve got this way about you that draws me in, like a bag of Sour Patch Kids. I crave the sour and look forward to the sweet.” He steps toward me, and suddenly, it feels like we’re the only people in the room.
“Even when you were trying to fight the inevitable and push me away, you still welcomed my daughter into your fold with open arms.”
He places a hand on my hip, and hot tears sting my eyes because I wasn’t prepared for this. I thought he’d just ask, not give an entire speech.
“I love how creative you are, how passionate you are about your work, and the way you can’t stay awake during a movie to save your life.”
Dad chuckles, and I quickly glare at him before looking back at Shane.
“But there’s so much more I want to know about you. I want to spend every day with you, getting to know you, learning about what you love and hate. I love spending time with you, and when I’m not around you, I wish I were. I meant what I said before—I want to help breathe life into you again because when I get to see you living your life, laughing and smiling and being carefree, it breathes life into me as well.”
Shane reaches out and palms my face, and his thumb wipes away a tear I didn’t realize had fallen. “Kinsley Bryson, will you be my girlfriend?”
I don’t even have to think about it when I choke out a, “Yes,” and then jump into Shane’s arms and kiss him like we’re the only two people in the room.
“Great. Now, can we have pizza?” Scott asks, reaching for the box.
“Sure,” Shane says, carrying me over to the desk and setting me down on it.
“What the hell is this?” Scott asks, holding up a paper. “ This might be cheesy, but will you be my girlfriend? ” He glances between Shane and me. “Was this your doing?” he asks Shane.
“Yep,” he says with a shrug. “In my defense, Taylor suggested it, and I vetoed it, but then I second-guessed myself and grabbed it in case I needed a grand gesture. That”—he points to the pizza—“was my backup plan.”
I bark out a laugh, totally imagining him and his daughter discussing how he could ask me to be his girlfriend.
“It was either that or I rent a helicopter.” Shane leans in and kisses me. “Thankfully, this worked because I’m not going to lie. I looked up helicopters, and they’re expensive as hell. I’m going to need you to stick with the firefighter trope and stay away from the billionaire ones. I can’t have you getting any ideas.”
He shoots me a playful wink, and butterflies swarm my belly because—holy shit!—I’m Shane’s girlfriend.
“What’s going through that beautiful head of yours?” Shane asks, handing me a slice of pizza.
“I never imagined being anyone’s girlfriend again,” I admit. “I really hope I don’t suck at it.”
“Hey,” he says, “I haven’t had a girlfriend since high school, so if we suck at it, at least we can suck at it together.”
* * *
After we have lunch, my next client arrives, so Shane leaves, but not before inviting me to dinner with him and Taylor tonight. Apparently, she’s leaving for a cheer competition so they’re having dinner tonight together, and he’d like to introduce me to her formally as his girlfriend.
I tell him he’s a goofball, but since my last client is a small tattoo and I should be done by five o’clock, I agree to meet him at his house. But since he doesn’t want me walking, he insists on picking me up from work.
* * *
“Kinsley!” Taylor rushes over and envelops me in a hug. “I can’t believe you’re actually dating my dad. This is so awesome. I thought for sure he was going to blow it, but look at him, handling it like a good book boyfriend.”
I laugh at her, and Shane rolls his eyes.
“He handled it very well,” I tell her, remembering his speech. “You would’ve been proud.” I glance at Shane, who smiles warmly at me.
“Great,” he says. “Now that we got that out of the way, let’s eat.”
He cooked a delicious meatloaf, and while we eat, Taylor tells us all about her upcoming competition and what it will mean if they place.
When we’re done with dinner, Taylor helps with the dishes and then takes off to her room—because she and Casey need to go over their weekend outfits—leaving Shane and me to spend some time alone.
He pours me a glass of wine and grabs himself a beer, and we head out back. I haven’t been out here yet, and I immediately notice the big yard and beautiful porch, complete with a wooden swing. While Becky runs around the yard, we sit on the swing, me tucked into Shane’s side and his arm wrapped around my waist.
Neither of us is speaking, simply enjoying the cool night while sipping our drinks and watching the dog, but it feels nice. Relaxing … for the first time in a long time, I feel content.
“What are you thinking about?” Shane asks after a while, as if he can hear my thoughts.
“I didn’t realize how alone I felt,” I admit. “I pushed everyone away, and I didn’t grasp how badly I’d isolated myself until you came along and pushed back.”
“You did what you had to do,” he says, leaning in and placing a chaste kiss on my temple. “I looked it up, and they say everyone handles grief differently.”
“You looked it up?” I ask, shocked by his admission.
“I needed to know what I was working with,” he says, glancing down at me when I look up at him. “I’ve never been where you are, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t cross the line or say something stupid.”
Oh, my heart.
Without thought, I set my wineglass on the table and climb into his lap, needing to be closer to him. He immediately catches on and sets his beer down so he can hold me with both hands. With my legs straddling him, I wrap my arms around his neck.
“Thank you,” I murmur, my eyes locked on his. “I couldn’t see beyond my grief until you came into my life, and for the first time since I lost my family, I can see a future for myself, and it’s with you and Taylor. The way you both welcomed me into your life means so much to me. I’m so grateful for your patience and persistence … I just … I feel like I’m living a completely different life.”
Shane smiles and then captures my mouth with his, giving me a quick but emotionally filled kiss before he pulls back. “That’s all I want, Sour Patch. To live my life with you. To enjoy each other’s company. There will be good days and bad, happy and sad, but I want to have them with you.”
“I want that too,” I tell him, moving my arms down so they’re wrapped around his waist and I’m able to rest my head on his chest and inhale his masculine, comforting scent.
Shane tightens his hold on me, and we sit like this for a long time, content with just simply being together.
When my eyes start to drift closed, Shane chuckles, his chest vibrating and making me look up at him.
“As much as I love that I’m comfortable enough for you to sleep on, I should take you home, unless you want to spend the night.” He waggles his brows playfully.
“I’d like that, but I don’t want to set a bad example for Taylor. We only just started dating, and I think it would be best if we take things slow. For me too.”
“I love that about you,” he says, tilting my chin and giving me a quick kiss. “I always told myself that whoever I dated would have to accept the fact that I was a single dad. I dated a few women, but we never made it past a few dates before they would make comments about not wanting to deal with another woman’s child or saying that it must be rough, raising a teenage girl. One asked if I expected her to fill in the role of Taylor’s mother.” He shakes his head. “But with you, it’s different. Hell, I think you accepted Taylor before you accepted me.” He smirks.
“You’re not wrong,” I say with a laugh. “And those women were stupid because they had no idea what they were missing out on. Taylor is such a breath of fresh air. Anyone would be lucky to have her in their life in any capacity, and the fact that you two come as a package only makes it that much sweeter.”
I think about something and then sit up, needing to get this off my chest. “I really like Taylor,” I tell Shane. “And I know we don’t know what the future holds, but if things don’t work out with us, I need you to promise that I can stay friends with her. I mean, if she still wants to.”
“Of course,” Shane says, his brows furrowed in confusion. “Your relationship with Taylor is between you two, and I would never interfere with that. No matter what happens with us, your friendship won’t be affected. But, Sour Patch …”
He slides his hands down to my butt and pulls me closer to him so our bodies are almost flush and our mouths are only inches apart. “Unless you do something crazy, like cheat on me, nothing will make me walk away from you.” He traps my bottom lip between his teeth and tugs on it playfully. “I’m in this for the long haul.”
* * *
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I wake up and reach for my phone, ready to start my day. Last night ended with Shane kissing me goodbye with the reminder that he would see me today.
Only, when I turn off my alarm, I notice today’s date … and just like that, everything goes to shit.