Page 77 of Searching for Bristol
He studied her for a moment, then nodded. “Right. Let’s go look at this house.”
* * *
When Rocky opened the door to his apartment later that afternoon, once again, delicious smells assaulted his senses. He’d heard from Bristol on and off during the day about what she’d been doing. She’d told him she really liked Drew and thanked him for asking his friend to help her today.
What shedidn’tknow was that Drew had made a comment the other day, questioning if Rocky wasn’t moving too fast and getting in too deep with Bristol without really knowing her. Since he had complete faith in Bristol to win him over, he’d purposely asked Drew to drive her around.
And apparently his plan had worked. Not only did Bristol seem to hit it off with his friend, but Drew sent him a text that said simply,She’s perfect for you.
The only thing bothering Rocky was a nagging sense that things were…toogood. That might seem silly to most people, but it was his experience that when things seemed too good to be true, the shit was about to hit the fan.
Of course, he’d never experienced the phenomenon when it came to a relationship, but he’d seen it time and time again while he was a SEAL. Things seemed to be quiet in regard to a terrorist or a particular country…thenboom! An explosion would shake things up. A mission was going off without a hitch?Wham!Their chopper pilot would get lost and wouldn’t be able to extract them on time.
He had more than enough examples of that kind of thing happening, and the last thing he wanted was for it to happen to him and Bristol.
Doing his best to push any paranoid thoughts from his head, Rocky inhaled deeply. The apartment smelled like something spicy. He couldn’t wait to see what Bristol had cooked up for them tonight.
He walked into the kitchen and couldn’t keep the smile off his face at seeing her. Desire hit him so hard, it was all he could do not to walk right up to her and carry her off to bed.
“Hi!” she said when she noticed him standing there. “How was work? Did you get rid of the mold? Oh! You should go shower, just in case some of that nasty stuff is sticking to you.”
“Do you think I’d bring that shit back to you?” Rocky asked.
She blinked. “Well, no, but it’s not like you can wag your finger at the mold spores and tell them to attach to someone else.”
Rocky burst out laughing. When he could talk, he said, “You’re right. But I can wear a protective suit and take it off and get rid of it when I’m done.”
“True. But I’m sure a shower would feel good anyway. And some of those spores are sneaky little shits and could’ve gotten under your protective suit.”
She wasn’t exactly wrong. To buy him some time and to help him get control over his desire to strip her naked right then and there in the middle of his kitchen, he nodded. “Right. I’m gonna go shower.”
“I don’t get a kiss yet?” she pouted.
“Sneaky little spores, remember?” he said with a grin. “Don’t want them attaching to you, Punky.”
“All right.”
“Sounds like you had a good day,” he said, finding it hard to leave her even though he really did want to shower before he stunk up their space.
“I did,” she agreed. “I like Drew.”
“Good.”
“He agreed to be my accountant,” she said.
The words were like a bombshell to his insides.
“Fuck,” Rocky swore lightly. It was taking every ounce of his control to stay where he was. To not march over to Bristol and prove how much he loved the idea of her moving to Fallport.
She smiled as if she knew exactly what her words had done.
Glad she wasn’t offended by his swearing, that she somehow knew what he was thinking, Rocky turned and headed for the bathroom without another word. He needed to get clean so he could show her just how happy he was with her decision to stay.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Six and a half minutes after finishing his shower and getting dressed, Rocky strode into the living area. His hair was still wet and he’d barely taken the time to dry his beard. He wore a comfy pair of gray sweats and a T-shirt. Bristol had her back to him, still standing at the stove and stirring something in a large pot.
He didn’t hesitate to wrap both arms around her. He pulled the spoon out of her hand, turned off the heat on the burner, picked her up and plopped her on a clear space on the counter. They were eye level as he wrapped his hands around either side of her neck. His thumbs rested in the hollow of her throat and he lowered his head without saying a word.
