Page 27 of Night Moves
She’d dated. Not a lot but she’d dated and had never felt anything like this. It was…it was electric. A cliché, but that was the best description for the sizzling warmth.
Her heart stumbled. Paused. Then pounded. Racing.
He jerked his gaze away and sucked in a sharp breath as he released the brakes. His strong fingers gripped the wheel tightly, relaxed, and gripped it again. Over and over, he followed the same pattern as if letting out pent-up emotions. She understood the need. She could use the same release, but she was still too shocked to act.
He got the vehicle heading down the driveway toward the main road, the tires crunching over the gravel. She waited for him to speak, as she couldn’t say a word, but he turned onto the road. The pavement rolled under them for miles, yet he remained quiet.
Was he going to ignore the little interlude? Probably a good choice. At least for the moment, but what about long term? Couldn’t it fester and become a big problem?
She wanted to get it out into the open, but she didn’t want him to think she was coming on to him. She wasn’t. Not at all. At least not on purpose. And with his mom into matchmaking, it was all the more important to talk about this so he knew where she stood.
“What was that?” she asked, her voice still unsteady. “I mean what happened between us back there.”
“I’m pretty sure you’d call that attraction.” He sounded as if he liked and hated it at the same time.
The exact same way she felt. “You didn’t expect that to happen, did you?”
He glanced at her. “You’re a beautiful woman. So yeah, I expected to be attracted to you. Actually I was the minute I laid eyes on you. But…” He shook his head. “I figured it would pass. Especially since I’m charged with your safety.”
“And it didn’t.”
“Nope.” He clicked on the blinker to merge onto I-5. “And it seems you feel it too.”
“I did. Do. But it can’t go anywhere. I’m not cut out for a relationship. No time or inclination. I live for my job and helping families. And right now I have the added responsibility of the Gentry children.”
“Suits me just fine,” he said, his tone unwavering.
His answer certainly bothered her. It shouldn’t. His response was exactly what she wanted. So why did it trouble her?
“I’ve got a whole lot of living to do before I settle down with anyone,” he continued. “And I sure don’t want to be responsible for kids.”
He glanced at her. “I don’t mean making sure they’re safe. I’m more than happy to ensure their dad doesn’t get to them. I mean be responsible in a fatherly way.” He mimicked a shudder. “Father. Can’t even hardly say the word much less imagine myself being one at this point in my life.”
“Right.” She was surprised at how much his stance on not getting involved bothered her. And his take on children? If she were ever to decide to get married, she would want children—would want to raise them the opposite way of how she’d been raised. But clearly that wouldn’t be an option with this guy anytime soon. He didn’t want children or a relationship.
The same thing she wanted right now. So what was the big deal?
He didn’t want her.
No big deal.
Or was it?
His quasi rejection brought back the feelings from her first serious crush. The high school quarterback, of course. But the dirt on the bottom of his shoes held more standing in his eyes than she did. Poor girl. Wrong side of the tracks. Crazy mother. Shy. Awkward.
Yeah, that described her perfectly back then, and at times that girl still showed up. Like today, she supposed.
Go away, Hand-me-Dunn.
She hated the nickname—the play on her last name—that her classmates had called her growing up. At her age it shouldn’t still bother her, but it did. She’d learned over the years that if you call someone a name long enough, the person starts to believe it. Sure, she wore secondhand clothes—thrift shop clothes, but she knew the slur wasn’t true.
Problem was, her emotions didn’t always get the message.
The pain and hurt still crept up when she least expected it. Often when she was tired and emotional. Just like now. Add in taking away her control over what was happening in her life, and she had the perfect trifecta of a storm brewing. A storm she wouldn’t let loose while confined in a vehicle with Drake, even this big SUV.
Turning this conversation back to the job at hand was the key. If she didn’t, she might regret what she said.
She took a breath to banishHand-me-Dunnfrom her thoughts and sought a safe subject. “I don’t think I’ve properly thanked you for your help. Not only for being so careful, but for dropping everything in your life and coming to our rescue.”
