Page 17 of Grumpy Spring Sunshine
“Good.”
“Good?” she repeated and I nodded.
“You deserve someone who will love you with every part of their soul, not a douche who cheated and couldn’t even tell you the truth.”
“Aww, Keith, are you going to fight in my honor?”
I hadn’t thought of it, wasn’t that type of guy. But with her, I did. Someone didn’t need to treat her like that. Not with her generous smiles and upbeat attitude. In fact, the fact that she still had that while being dealt with a shitty hand spoke volumes about her willingness to survive. Her willingness to have the upper hand. Her willingness to stay strong and happy, given whatever circumstances, fell her way.
And when was the last time I saw that?
When was the last time I had someone like that in my life?
And when you did find someone like that, shouldn’t you want to keep them? Not run scared in the opposite direction, like I wanted to do right now?
That was dangerous for me, and yet, I wanted it. Wanted more of it, of her.
I just had to get out of my own way, and that hardly ever happened.
Chapter 10
Brittani
Iglanced at my watch, hating to break up this spell, but I needed to. Work was calling me and I needed to get ready. I also needed a moment to collect myself because I hadn’t told anyone about my past. And yet, it just came out with this man.
And sad to say, that worried me.
Because if I could be so open and honest about a huge secret like that, it meant I could let this man in and that gave him the power to hurt me. I was also terrified because I think my heart was already diving headfirst into something that wasn’t safe. Into something that was a soft landing.
Honestly, I was worried that it was going to crash into a million pieces and it would suck a whole lot more to recover from this than my ex.
“Gotta jet?” he asked and I nodded.
“She’s off today so I have to go open up. Mail doesn’t stop, you know. Thanks for last night Keith. It was nice to see that side of you.”
“My pleasure. We’ll have to do it again.”’
“Of course.”
I gathered up my clothes, slipping them on. I turned as he jumped out of bed, still naked, not sure why I was all of a sudden embarrassed. We had already slept together a few times and I’ve seen this body. But I gave him the privacy he needed and then went downstairs.
A few minutes later, he came down, grabbed the keys to his truck, and tore off down the street. In the rearview mirror, I saw Tim’s car coming down the street and let out a quiet breath. So far, no one knew about us and I wasn’t sure what he wanted people to know or not know. That wasn’t something I could approach at this moment.
Minutes later, he dropped me off at my house. I grinned as the dogs started going crazy. I opened my door, waiting a beat before turning to him. This was awkward as hell because I had no clue what to say or do.
Instead, Keith leaned over, grabbed the back of my neck and hauled me close to kiss me.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he whispered against my lips and I just nodded, knowing I couldn’t trust my voice.
Still in a daze, I climbed out of the truck and made my way into the house, hoping a longer shower would snap me out of whatever I was in.
Six hours later, I was still in a daze. Not that I couldn’t work, but I was still just not quite focusing. Too many thoughts were racing in my head and I didn’t like it.
Finally, I closed up shop, grateful to be locking up. I turned, pausing on the steps as I looked at the man who was leaning against his truck, a smile on his face.
“The shop is covered. Thought you might like to join me for a drink and dinner.”
“Yeah, I skipped dinner, so that sounds good.” I pocketed the keys then walked to him, a smile on my face.
