Chapter 15 #3
As he drove us toward Main Street, I studied him in the light of the setting sun.
He’d changed out of his uniform before he’d picked me up at the resort and now wore a long-sleeved olive-green Henley that did amazing things for his eyes—not to mention his body—and worn, faded jeans that looked buttery soft.
So very different from the buttoned-up sheriff I normally saw.
“Do you usually bring a change of clothes to the station?” I asked.
“What?” He spared me a glance out of the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the road to find us a parking spot. “No, why?”
I shrugged, a smile tipping up the corner of my lips.
That meant he’d known he’d be taking me to the festival tonight—or hoping to, anyway.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the jeans and shirt with him.
Had he been busy cleaning up the town while also trying to figure out how to ask me out on a date, while also making sure my van was being looked at?
The thought loosed a flurry of butterflies in my stomach, the swoop and flip of my insides a new, if welcome, sensation.
I didn’t get heart-fluttery for men. Didn’t feel like a shaken-up champagne bottle, ready to burst with one little look. At least not until Brady.
With a grin, I said, “No reason. Thank you, by the way.”
“Don’t thank me yet. What if you hate it?”
“Not about the festival. Thanks for calling Frank about my van.” I reached out and rested my hand on his forearm. “That was really sweet of you to do that for me.”
He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with my gratitude. “It was no big deal.”
Maybe not to him, but to me, it was. I’d been making my own appointments since I was thirteen—doctors, dentists, therapists…
You name it, I did it. Had even perfected my mom voice to call myself out of school when need be.
His doing this for me was such a tiny thing—probably inconsequential to most—but sometimes those were what hit the hardest.
Showing someone you cared wasn’t always about surprise trips to Paris or spa getaways or a brand-new car with a bow on it.
Sometimes it was about filling up their gas tank or making sure their favorite coffee never ran out.
Sometimes it was dragging someone out of a thunderstorm, or hanging their only clothes to dry, or bringing them breakfast you’d never eat yourself, or making an appointment so they didn’t have to.
I had no idea how to convey that to him—or even if I should—so I stayed quiet as he parked us within walking distance of the festivities.
Main Street had been shut down, with blockades on each end to stop traffic.
The hodgepodge of old storefronts were the backdrop to the numerous white tents set up along either side of the street, strings of white lights draped between them to light the path.
The vendors ranged from various food booths to crafts to paintings and handmade goods, all from Starlight Cove and the surrounding areas.
A local band had set up in the large gazebo at the center of the park, and people crowded around it, dancing in the grass despite the fact that the band was only a couple steps up from awful.
“You wanna dance?” I asked, tipping my head in that direction.
“I honestly can’t think of anything I want to do less,” he said but still reached for my hand and clasped our fingers together.
I laughed, leaning into his side as we walked away from the gazebo and toward the tents. “You sure know how to make a girl feel special, don’t you?”
I’d meant it as a joke, considering his complete lack of tact, but no matter my teasing tone, it didn’t make it any less true. He’d made me feel special, and I wasn’t even sure he realized he was doing it.
Initially, I hadn’t known how to take Brady.
Hadn’t known what to do with someone so utterly focused on me.
I’d never doubted that my parents loved me, but they’d encouraged and cultivated my independence as a young child, and that hadn’t wavered.
They’d always assumed that I could take care of myself.
That they didn’t need to worry about me.
And though I could take care of myself, sometimes it was nice to know I had someone looking after me.
Concerning themselves over my well-being as if my being okay wasn’t a foregone conclusion.
It felt nice to be looked after when I’d spent a lifetime looking after myself.
While there was no denying Brady and I had started this relationship as adversaries, somewhere along the way, things had changed between us. Shifted in a way I hadn’t expected.
I’d stopped seeing him as just the pain-in-the-ass sheriff intent on throwing up every roadblock known to man to stop me from causing trouble in his little town.
Instead, I’d begun to see him as just Brady—the man who dragged me away from precarious situations, gave me a place to stay when I didn’t have one, let me crawl into his bed for a snuggle, and took me to a festival when it was very clearly not something he was normally interested in.
Whether he’d intended to or not, he’d allowed me a glimpse of the heart that lay beneath that rugged exterior, the single driving force in everything he did. And I didn’t know what it meant that I was ravenous to uncover even more.