Chapter 6
Chapter Six
HOLLIS
Iroll up the sleeves of my shirt and release a few of the buttons from the top. I’ve been in the kitchen for twenty minutes pacing back and forth when I should be cooking dinner for the two of us. My whole body feels like a live wire, and I’m trying to figure out how to sort this all out.
I should just come out and tell her. Here I was telling her I wanted her honesty when I’m not giving it to her. There were a few moments when I thought I saw flirty shyness light up her face, but then she’d quickly pull her eyes away from me.
Does that mean she’s interested? Normally, the women my mom throws at me try to cling, but Gwen is the opposite.
When I showed her to her room, of course picking the one right next to mine, she kept space between us, even going to the other side of the bed so that it separated us.
I hadn’t wanted to leave the room, but I also didn’t want to creep her out.
I can only hope that distance is because she thinks I’m engaged. Holy shit. I run my hand down my face. What if I tell her the truth and she gets mad? She was barely in the door, and we were lying to her. Would it even matter to her, though? My thoughts are all over the damn place.
My phone goes off with a call from Kindred. “You alone?” she asks when I answer.
“Yeah, I’m in the kitchen. I showed her to her room.”
“Did you pick the one next to yours?” There is a teasing tone to her question. I swear she can be like an annoying sister when not in work mode.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes, it matters!” She laughs. “It tells me so much if you picked that room.”
“Did you need something?”
“Ahh! So that’s a yes. Wow. Hollis is into a girl.”
“A girl that thinks I’m engaged.”
“Oh yeah, forgot about that. I thought I was doing you a solid.” I know she meant well, and I am the one really at fault.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she’s very pretty, and I can tell she’s sweet.
” I nod in agreement, though Kindred can’t see me.
“I can’t see her as a party planner, though.
They have to be cutthroat at times and bossy.
She doesn’t give me bossy vibes unless it’s over a kindergarten class she is teaching, and even then I bet it’s sugary sweet. ”
"I think she's capable of being anything she wants," I say defensively.
"Ahh, you're in deep already. I love this so much." I can't help but smile. I am in deep. I can't explain it. Love at first sight is bullshit. That's not how the world works, but here I am crashing out hard.
"I'll talk to you later," I say when Gwen steps into the kitchen, ending the call with Kindred.
Gwen has removed her coat and hat, letting me see more of her. Her snowy-white blond hair is thicker and longer than I first thought, but I nailed the curves and flare of her hips. Even if she’s trying to hide them behind a baggy sweater. She’s a fucking vision, doesn’t matter what she’s wearing.
Her eyes curiously peek around, taking everything in. "You like it?" I ask.
"I do." Why did I want her to say that so badly? What is wrong with me? Suddenly, her approval is the only thing that matters to me.
“I love the room you gave me too. You did good with preserving the history while updating at the same time.”
“I can’t take a ton of credit. The crews that came in here and did the work should have it.” A smile lights up her face. I swear it makes my heart stop beating for a moment.
“A lot of people would have stolen the credit.”
“You don’t need to steal anyone's credit if you’ve got your own in life.”
“I like that.” She nods, running her hand along the edge of the kitchen island.
“Sit. I was going to start our dinner.”
“Can I help?” she offers.
“I got it. You traveled today. It can take it out of you.”
“It was easy.” She shrugs. “I took a bus, so I read on my Kindle.”
“A bus? Don’t hear that often anymore.” We have one bus stop in this town, and it’s not often the bus ever comes here. A ticket has to have been purchased, or they skip the town altogether.
“I guess I’m a city girl because I never learned to drive.”
“I can teach you,” I find myself offering. Then I could spend more time with her. I don’t want her riding the bus. So many things could happen. Maybe a driver would be best. One with a lot of experience and ready when she needs them.
“Maybe.” She slips into one of the chairs on the opposite side of the kitchen island. I grab a few things out of the fridge.
“I have a few pre-made things.”
“You’re a meal prepper? You’re full of surprises." She laughs.
“Nah, I can cook a few things, but Tyler comes over and preps them. I never know what I’m going to get, but I’m happy to let him try out his skills on me before he takes off for culinary school next year after graduation.”
“You sound like a really good man.” A man that’s been lying to you. I’m digging my own grave now.
“You’re not used to that?”
“I’ve been questioning a few things. It’s kind of why I’m here. I needed to get away.” I pause what I’m doing. Is she taking a break from a man? Was taking this job her way to escape for a while? Lots of thoughts filter through my mind.
“Are you hiding from someone?” I ask, my hackles starting to rise. I hadn’t thought about her having a partner.
I was too consumed with how the hell I was going to dig my way out of the fiancée hole that I created. It never occurred to me that she wasn’t single. I saw her and immediately thought she should be mine.
Did Mom know she was fresh out of a relationship? Was she in love? Did they live together? A million questions I want to ask her hit me, but what I notice most is the jealousy that flares to life inside of me.
That another person played with her hair while they kissed her soft lips. They lay in bed with her, stroking and learning every curve of her body.
I guess I assumed, because if she was mine, there would be no way she’d be walking up a long driveway to a man’s house that she’d never been to. I’d have to be dead. That might not even suffice.
“Hiding is a strong word.” It’s not, but I keep that to myself, not wanting to spook her from telling me more. “The space is letting me clear my head. You know when you’re in the middle of something, sometimes you can’t see things clearly.”
“It happens to the best of us.” People get used to others' behaviors and start to accept them as normal when they are not. It can be a slow build. So slow a lot don’t notice it happening.
“I’m feeling kind of stupid.” Her mouth turns downward, and I don’t like it.
“Why don’t you lay it on me?” There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep at night, knowing something is bothering her. I shouldn’t care, but now it’s the only thing I can think about.
“I don’t know.” She nibbles on her bottom lip, and I know she wants to talk about it.
“My scars.” I start opening up about myself. If I want her to share, I’ll have to do the same. Never in my life have I felt the need to explain how I got them, but I find I want her to know. “I was in a car accident. Went right off the side of a cliff. I shouldn’t have lived.”
“Oh my gosh.” She puts a hand to her chest. I keep going, enjoying her attention on me even if it’s a topic I don’t care to talk about.
"I don’t usually discuss this, and I lack solid proof since the evidence was destroyed in the fire, but I suspect that someone tampered with my brakes.
That’s one of the last things I remember before I crawled out, barely escaping the flames.
" I slammed on the brakes over and over, but it did nothing. The car wasn’t over a few months old.
“You think a person tried to kill you?” I know it seems farfetched.
“It lingers in the back of my mind.”
“That’s terrible.” She nibbles on her bottom lip again. I’m starting to think it’s a tell for her that she has more to say but is stopping herself.
“You can ask questions.”
“You’re telling me these things so I’ll share?” She tilts her head, watching me.
“Is it working?”
“Yes.”
“Then ask,” I nudge her along.
“Is the accident why you moved out here? I didn’t see any articles on it.” Gwen lets out a small gasp at her own slip.
“Googling me?” The thought of her researching me warms my chest. If it were anyone else, I’d think there was an angle. There often is when you have money.
“Maybe.” She cringes, her cheeks turning pink. I wonder if her blush spreads down to her chest.
“As you should. A girl coming out here all alone. Hell, you should have gotten a background check.” I don’t love that she is so willing to stay here. It was far too easy to talk her into it.
"Thanks."
"Thanks?"
"For letting me off the hook with that one."
"I'm not letting you off of anything." Gwen has no idea how deeply I mean that when it comes to her.
"But yes, it's part of why I moved. My grandparents used to own a home here.
I loved coming here as a kid, and I was over the politics of it all in the business world.
Everyone stabbing the other in the back.
I don't enjoy living my life like I have to question everyone's intentions." It’s wearing, and you start to ask yourself why you’re doing it at all.
“It super sucks when you have to question the people around you.” She speaks clearly from experience.
“It does super suck.” I wink at her, making her smile, that blush lighting up again. I had no clue a blush could be sexy as fuck. “And who are you questioning?”
“The person who I thought was my best friend. We’ve been friends since college.
He’s a few years older than me.” He? I grit my back teeth.
I’m already questioning his intentions too, but maybe I’m being sexist. Kindred and I can be close, although it’s more sibling-like, but I still don’t let her in that far, and I wouldn't call her my best friend. “I think maybe he has cornered me.”
I’m right. I already know what this fuckwit is up to. He wants her; there’s no way he doesn’t. Can’t say I blame him, but too bad for him, she’s mine.
“How so?” It’s a strain to keep my voice calm and not demand to know every bit of information.
“Where do I start?” She lets out a humorless laugh.
“If I get to pick, I say from the beginning.”
Gwen nibbles on her lips again, but after a few moments, she begins.