Chapter 36
“Y ou know you’re going to have to talk to me eventually right?” I asked, storming after Nick around the side of the house. “Other than to just be a bossy asshole.”
I watched his body tense, turning slowly to face me, his brown eyes flashing with anger and something else. I came toe-to-toe with him, crossing my arms and craning my neck to stare.
“You really wanna do this here?” he practically growled, glaring down at me. I took him in, towering over me, tattoos covering him from the neck down. Brown hair longer on top and threaded heavily with gray, along with his short beard.
Nick Larson was a forty-four year old man. Fifteen years my senior. The mysterious bachelor of the town that nobody knew.
A month ago he’d come into the cafe when we were closed and I’d forgotten to lock the door. Dazed and a mess from the shift he’d just finished. I hadn’t turned him away. I’d gotten him some cookies and hot tea. I’d been worried about the look in his eyes.
He’d almost seemed to stare vacantly through me. When he’d started to leave, I’d come around the corner and given him a hug without even thinking. I’d always had a thing for older men. When he’d come in with Lucas, Trevor, and the guys, I’d admired him from afar.
I hadn’t expected him to lose control that night. After the hug we’d pulled back and I’d been pinned under his stare.
The next thing I’d known we were kissing. It was unlike any other encounter I’d ever had. The way he’d taken control yet ensured consent. The way he’d reached over and locked the cafe’s door and then taken me.
I didn’t regret it.
But he seemed to.
“Caroline,” he said, rubbing his hand over his face, my eyes drank in the tattoos there hungrily. I loved every bit of him. I had since I’d gotten back into town and I’d first set eyes on him. “We can’t do this. It was a one time thing. I don’t do relationships. It's not you. I’ve always been this way.”
Scowling up at him I asked, “So, what happened that night? Everything that clicked with us was just a one off?” I whispered.
Something in his eyes softened before he threw his guard back up.
“You’re fifteen years younger than me, Caroline. This can’t happen.” he turned and stomped off to his police vehicle, slamming the door and peeling out.
I stood watching his taillights turn at the end of the street.
If Nick Larson didn’t want me, if Nick Larson was the same as every other male in my life, then I’d just raise this baby alone.