Chapter 23 #2
A sigh escaped my lungs. I didn’t realize how tense I’d been. Making up with Zina released a weight from my shoulders. It seemed easier to breathe. “About that burger . . .”
“Give me ten minutes to freshen up, and I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Deal.” I squeezed her hands before I let them go, then I headed downstairs to wait.
While I sat on the duvet, scrolling through the pictures I’d taken of the penguins that day, Gramps came through the front door with Herbie trotting behind him. “I thought you would have gone on that date by now.”
“Zina will be down in a minute. Thanks for the suggestion.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad to see the two of you have patched things up. It’s been getting pretty damn boring watching you mope around here like a lovesick pup.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t try to play games with me. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
Yeah, like I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and rush her upstairs. Doubtful Gramps meant that kind of look. “Maybe we need to get your glasses checked.”
“I don’t need my glasses checked and I don’t need you telling me what to do. Have you talked to your sister about me moving back to the ranch yet?”
“I mentioned it.”
“And?” Gramps pressed.
“It didn’t go well. She said even if you move back out there, we’ll need a backup plan. You’ll have to have someone checking on you on a regular basis. Char’s got her hands full as it is and I’m not going to be sticking around.”
Gramps glared. “You didn’t say anything about that when we made our deal. I’m doing my part by helping out around here. I expect you to do yours.”
“I’m trying.” I hadn’t been to the family ranch in years, but if Char said it was too much for Gramps to handle on his own and too far outside town for her to be able to stop by and check on him on a regular basis, I believed her.
“Who put you in charge? You think because you’re younger, that gives you the right to decide what I do?” Gramps patted his leg, and Herbie nudged his nose into the old man’s hand. “My wife’s still there. That’s where I belong.”
I hadn’t heard Gramps talk like that before, especially not from the heart. I lowered my voice and reached out to put my hand on my grandfather’s arm. “I know you miss her.”
“You don’t know shit.” Gramps slapped my hand away. “Until you’ve given your heart, your soul, your whole self to the love of your life, don’t you try to talk to me about what you know about love.”
I looked up to see Zina standing on the bottom step. I hadn’t even seen her come down the stairs. My breath caught in my chest at the look on her face.
She glanced at Gramps, her brow wrinkled with concern. “Maybe we ought to stay in tonight. I can throw a salad together real quick, and—”
“You two go have fun.” Gramps shook off his dark mood like a duck ruffling a little water off its feathers. “I’ll be fine. Sometimes this old man needs some quiet time to reflect on all the blessings he’s had in his life.”
Zina moved across the foyer to take Gramps’s hand. “Your wife was a very lucky woman to be loved so much.”
Gramps gave her a smile before he headed toward the stairs. “Herbie will keep me company tonight, won’t you?”
The dog trotted along behind him, his tail wagging a mile a minute.
I waited until Gramps reached the landing and then slid my gaze to Zina. “You ready?”
Zina
“So where are we headed?” I gazed out the window as Alex raced down the county road.
“I thought we’d go into Swynton. There’s a sports bar not too far from Char’s. I need to stop and pick up some stuff at her place after if that’s okay with you.”
“I’ve got no plans tonight.” I glanced at his profile—the strong jawline, the hint of scruff covering his chin, the full lips he’d had all over me a few nights before. “I’m all yours.”
His head snapped my direction.
I smiled in return. It was time to make up. Living under the same roof and being at odds was taking a toll on our non-relationship.
“All mine, huh? You sure about that?” His gaze bounced back and forth from me to the road in front of him.
“The only thing I’m one hundred percent sure about is that there’s no way I’m going to get all of the dogs rehomed before you have to double down on the wedding plans.”
“What are we looking at?”
“Best-case scenario? I might be able to place another dozen or so in a shelter up in Beaumont until the roof gets fixed or they get adopted, whichever comes first.” There was no telling how long it might take for the pups to find a new home.
Some of the dogs I’d had in the past only stayed long enough to get their medical clearance before they found homes.
Others, like Buster, had been with me for months before he’d found his place.
Alex ran his hand over the steering wheel, letting it rest on the top. “So that would leave us with about a dozen dogs at the warehouse?”
“Give or take one or two. But I can move them back out to my place once Bodie gives me the okay.”
“No.” His tone left no room for negotiation.
“Excuse me?”
“Someone out there is trying to scare you. You’re not safe until Bodie figures out who it is and what they want. I know you think you can take care of yourself, but—”
“I can take care of myself.” I backed up against the door of the truck. “And I don’t need you or Bodie trying to tell me any different.”
“That’s not what I meant. I know you can look out for yourself. But you don’t have to. You’ve got me.”
“I’ve got you?” I barked out a laugh. “What makes you think I want you?” Ouch.
I didn’t mean to come across so harsh. Truth was, I did want Alex.
Wanted him in the worst way. Wanted him to be there when I woke up in the morning.
Wanted him to be there when I went to bed at night.
Wanted him to stay. But I couldn’t tell him that.
If it were up to me, he’d never have any inkling of the way my feelings had snuck up on me while I wasn’t paying attention and tied up my heart in hopes and dreams and wishes I had no business entertaining.
His eyes shifted. I’d hurt him with that last remark. I could tell by the way his pulse ticked along his jaw and the way he held the steering wheel just a little too tight.
“It doesn’t matter whether you want me or not,” he ground out. His voice took on a serious edge. “I’m here and I’m not going to let anything happen to you or the dogs while I’m around.”
I hadn’t seen this side of him before. He usually deflected any effort at trying to hold a serious conversation. But tonight he was dead serious.
“Look, Alex.” I let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t mean to burst your bubble or dash your dream of being the white knight who rushes in to save the day.”
He grunted, shaking his head like he wasn’t going to even try to hear me out.
“Hey”—I put my hand on his arm—“I’m not your damsel in distress. I’ve been taking care of myself for years and I don’t have any intention of stopping just because you decided to play house for a little while.”
“You about done?” He jerked the steering wheel to the right and brought the truck to an abrupt stop on the side of the road.
“Maybe.”
“I’m not trying to play house. I’ve never pretended to be anything beyond what I am.”
“And what exactly is that? A guy who drops in when it’s convenient? Who keeps things on his own terms? Who only cares about himself?” I’d raised my voice and practically yelled at him, even though we were only separated by the small space inside the cab of the truck.
“You really don’t like me, do you?” He twisted his torso so he faced me. The spark of humor had left his eyes.
No. I didn’t like him. I was falling in love with him. The realization made me gasp.
“What?” His brow crinkled with concern. “You okay?”
When had this happened? How had I not seen it coming?
I stared at him, taking in the way his hair curled around his ears—a little too long but also just right.
The tiny scar on the edge of his mouth—the one he’d gotten while diving off cliffs in the Caribbean.
He craved adventure, adrenaline, action.
There was no way he’d be satisfied spending his life in a place as boring and uneventful as Ido.
“I’m fine. I don’t want to fight anymore.”
“Good.” The line between his brows softened. “There are much better things we could be doing with our time besides fighting.”
I struggled to fill my lungs with air. He hadn’t pretended to be anything different than what he was—a thrill seeker, a wanderer, someone who would always be incapable of settling down.
That meant I had two choices—either put an end to whatever was growing between us.
Or . . . take the temporary connection he could offer and enjoy it while it lasted.
Like I’d told him, I could take care of myself. I’d been doing it long before he showed up and would continue long after he left. “You’re right.”
“I am?” His eyebrows lifted. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t say that to people very often?”
I let out a soft laugh. “Because I don’t.”
“But you did tonight.” He looked like he was waiting for something to happen. Like I’d tricked him and was about to follow up with the knockout punch that would leave him tied up against the ropes.
“It seemed appropriate under the circumstances.”
He leaned over, closing the distance between us. “What circumstances are those, Ms. Baxter?”
“The circumstances showing me that you’re about to kiss me.” My hand went to his shoulder.
“Would you be receptive to a kiss from me?”
“What kind of kiss are we talking about?”
“What kind of kiss do you want?”
The kind that made my heart hammer in my chest, my stomach twist, and my panties seem to melt right off. “What kind are you offering?”
“Well”—his arm moved to the back of the seat behind me—“I could keep it soft and gentle like this.” He closed the distance between us and placed a delicate kiss on my cheek. My eyes closed and my pulse stuttered.
“That was . . . nice.” I opened my eyes. His face was inches from mine. I could see the flecks of gold in the blue-green irises I’d come to love.
“Nice? That’s tragic.”
“There’s nothing wrong with nice.”
“Maybe something like this would be more appropriate.”
My heart hitched as he moved in again, kissing a trail from my cheek to my mouth. His tongue pressed against the seam of my lips and I opened for him. I wanted to lean into him, deepen the kiss, and climb over the center console that so inconveniently separated us.
“Better?” His voice sounded rough around the edges.
“Mm-hmm.” I ran a finger around my lips, wiping away the traces of lip gloss I’d applied in anticipation of our burger date.
“What?” He sat back, his eyebrows drawn together.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, my ass. You’ve got to admit that was better than ‘nice.’”
“Sure it was. It was really nice.”
The edges of his mouth ticked up in a wicked grin. “You realize you’re asking for it, don’t you?”
Feigning innocence, I batted my eyelashes at him. Playing coy had never been my style. But I could see why some of my classmates had enjoyed it back in high school. “Asking for what exactly?”
He reached out, his hand going behind my neck. Pulling me toward him, he mumbled, “Really nice. I’ll show you really nice.”
Trying not to laugh, I let him pull me close.
But when his lips touched mine, the gentleness disappeared.
His mouth claimed mine in a hot, deep, hungry kiss.
I responded with an urgency of my own. His hands ran over my shirt, tangled in my hair.
I lifted myself up and over the console, eager to get my hands on him.
My skin burned in the wake of his lips. More, more, more. My entire body aligned in a singular purpose. I wanted him, no, needed him. Before I could tell him, he pulled back, practically ripping his mouth away from mine.
“Was that really nice?” The look in his eyes scared me a bit but also sparked something deep down inside. He looked tormented, like a man who bordered on the cusp between pleasure and pain . . . a line I was all too familiar with.
“Alex . . .” I placed my palm on his chest. “I don’t know what we’re doing here.”
He wrapped his hand around mine and brought it to his lips.
Kissing my fingertips, one by one, he listed off what exactly we were doing.
“We’re having fun. We’re getting to know each other.
We’re working toward a common goal. We’re helping each other.
” Only my pinkie remained. He held my gaze as he lowered his mouth toward the tip of my pinkie finger. “We might just be falling in love.”