Chapter 5
As Brennan made up the couch, he went over their interactions tonight.
Had the attraction been one-sided? On one hand, he was sure they’d shared more than one moment through the evening, particularly in the kitchen when she hadn’t shut him down or dismissed his concerns and actually told him why she was upset.
That meant more to him than anything. Even more than the sizzling attraction that had been sparking between them before he’d backed off and attempted neutrality while patching her up.
When he’d finished cleaning the kitchen, and left the salvageable chunks of the bowls in a container in case Evie wanted to try to put them back together, he’d gone to check on her. But she hadn’t been where he’d left her. He’d heard the squeak of cupboard doors and followed the sound.
He hadn’t caught what she was muttering, but the flush on her cheeks when she’d turned to him suggested he was affecting her as much as she was him. Which, in his eyes, had been a positive, putting them on equal footing in one respect.
When she’d handed him the blankets and their fingers brushed, she’d snatched her hand back from the spark between them. Her cheeks and the flare of attraction in her eyes were further proof he wasn’t the only one aware of what was dancing between them.
Maybe he was just seeing what he wanted. Especially given his suspicions concerning his interactions with Lacey and Rowan this evening.
With the couch made up into what he hoped was a reasonably comfortable, if somewhat short, sleeping area, Brennan made a quick trip to the bathroom. After a double-check of the fire, he stripped down to his boxers and settled under the blankets.
Staring at the roof, he continued his assessment of the evening.
No, he was sure he hadn’t misread things.
He might not have dated a lot lately, but he knew body language well enough.
When people were scared, they couldn’t always tell you what was wrong and could be unpredictable.
Which was why he’d researched body language to help with his job.
It was a bonus if it helped him with Evie too.
There were plenty of signs she was interested, at least physically. The question was, did she want more?
He did.
Brennan wanted what his parents had. Not someone to fill a void, stop the loneliness, or be a temporary physical distraction.
He wanted someone he’d walk through the fires of hell for.
Someone who’d do the same for him. It had taken him some time to learn he wouldn’t find that by ticking off boxes on a mental list of what the perfect partner would be like.
He’d never forget the night he’d found his mother sitting in her favorite chair, crying silently toward the end stages of his father’s life.
She’d never wavered from her love and commitment to him.
She’d admitted missing what they’d once had.
And that, though she hated he was sick and dying, and wished it wasn’t so, she wouldn’t trade a day in their life for an easier ending.
Hard as it was, she said love—and marriage—was about it all.
The good. The bad. The ugly and the beautiful.
And if you couldn’t take it all, then you didn’t take any of it.
It wasn’t fair to the other person if you weren’t all in.
She’d also told him that when the right person came along, his heart would tell him, and no amount of protest from his head would make a difference.
Perhaps she’d already seen the truth about his feelings for Evie.
Because five months ago at his father’s funeral, Brennan’s heart had finally shouted loud enough.
Evie.
Yes, he’d been attracted to her from the first moment, but he’d fought it. She was his opposite in so many ways. Also, given she was Lacey’s best friend, it had been an automatic no, just on that.
He wasn’t as shy as his siblings thought.
Just because he wasn’t a charmer like Rhett, or an over-the-top flirt like Corbin, didn’t mean he couldn’t talk to women.
But he did have a problem. The stutter during his teenage years, gone by sixteen, had left him struggling to find the right words to make the first move with a woman.
And with Evie, that inability was magnified.
Perhaps he should’ve realized sooner something was different.
Now, with his mental list gone, all he needed to do was find the courage to be brave and reach for who his heart needed.
Brennan closed his eyes, focused on his breathing, and not analyzing the evening any further.
But with the quieting of his mind came the awareness of the howling wind outside.
Lacey said Evie didn’t do well in storms, but she hadn’t explained further.
Hopefully it wasn’t serious. He wasn’t sure how well he’d handle a panicked Evie.
He’d almost kissed her over a broken bowl because it had been the only thing he could think of to take away the pain in her eyes that had nothing to do with her physical injury.
It was clear his normal logical brain hadn’t been functioning all that well at that moment.
Kissing Evie to distract her wouldn’t have been the smartest move.
No, if a kiss was to happen—and he very much hoped it would—he needed to be absolutely sure she wanted it as much as he did.
And with that vision and all its wonderful possibilities in his head, he drifted into a light slumber, scattered with dreams of a certain gorgeous and chaotic, blue-eyed, blonde and what might happen if he worked up the courage to ask her out.