Page 33 of Her Favorite Fumble
“I did.” In his peripheral vision, he saw her turn and give him a brilliant grin. “It’ll be fine. I have a way with grumpy dudes.”
But Nick, still off-kilter from the feel of Lucy in his arms, imagined coming home after work to an empty cottage because she was working, and he didn’t even crack a smile.
Chapter Eight
I moved to Wayward Harbor last month. We bought a home on Seacrest Lane, but somebody on our road lets their chickens roam free. They can be quite aggressive, and they make it difficult to drive by constantly being in the road. I’m attaching a photo so you can see how large they are. Why don’t they have to be fenced in?
First comment: I’m not sure where you’re from, but those are turkeys.
Second comment: If you grab the big one that looks like a rooster with the feathers on the back end instead of the front and move him, the others will follow.
Theo Slater: Ma’am, as one of the first responders who will have to patch you up, donottry to engage with wild turkeys. There’s nothing you can do but be patient until they’re out of the road. Wildlife has the right of way.
—Wayward Harbor Online Community Group
By the time Nick got home from work, Lucy was practically glowing. She had a job. She’d reconnected with an old friend. Dolly liked her enough to take a nap on her lap.
And, while she was trying not to think about ittoomuch, remembering the feel of Nick’s arms around her for the second time was hard to resist.
Even though it only happened because he was much too nice of a guy to let her fall on her face, Lucy wasalmostsure Nick had thought about kissing her.
She’d definitely thought about kissinghim. For a moment, with her body so close to his, with their gazes locked and her hand on him, it would have been so easy to bring her mouth to his.
The sound of his truck door closing jerked her thoughts back from the delicious detour they’d been taking, and she pulled the lasagna out of the oven. She hadn’t made it from scratch, but since she’d found it in the freezer, she assumed it was one he liked.
“That smells good,” he said as he stepped out of his boots at the door.
“Perfect timing,” she said. “It’s almost time to eat.”
“Sounds good. I’ll just go wash up really quick.”
The lasagna looked good, as frozen foods went, and she hadn’t burned the bread she slathered with butter and garlic salt and stuck in the oven. And Nick responded to her attempts at small talk while they set the table, mostly about Helen because they’d exchanged text messages about her new job after Lucy got home, but she could tell something was bothering him.
“I’m sorry I embarrassed you in front of the whole town,” she said when it was time to put the lasagna on the table, but she couldn’t take it anymore.
His brow furrowed and he tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”
“When I…stumbled on the sidewalk earlier. I know I embarrassed you, and you seem kind of angry.” She frowned. “Or maybe you’re upset because we were talking about your dad. Either way, I’m sorry.”
“I’m not angry, Lucy.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, messing it up in that way she loved so much. “I don’t really want to talk about this, but I also don’t want you thinking you did something wrong and that I’m mad about it. I’m not angry or upset. I’m just…tense, I guess.”
“Tense?”
“I wanted to kiss you.”
“Oh.”
“And I’m tense because I’ve spent pretty much the entire time between then and now thinking about what it would have been like to do it.”
As if the words weren’t enough, his dark eyes were locked on her face with an intensity that made it hard to swallow. To even think, really. Vulnerability felt like such a risk, her fingernails bit into her palms. But if he could confess he’d wanted to kiss her, she could admit she’d wanted him to.
“I…wouldn’t have minded.”
“I would have minded,” he bit out, and she winced at the belated realization he might not be too thrilled about being attracted to her. “When I finally kiss you, it’s not going to be in the middle of the sidewalk with the entire town gawking at us out the windows.”
WhenI finally kiss you.
When.
