Page 89 of Love Me Boldly

I swallowed down the lump in my throat, but nothing could wash away the goose bumps at his admission.

Graham had always had a way of making me feel special. Worthy. Sure, I’d maybe gone to him with a hand extended in self-defense, ready for the shoe to drop, but I’d had a reason for it then. I had a reason for it. Now, as I looked around his condo, his laptop opened and on the coffee table, and a glass of water set next to it, I couldn’t graspwhy.

Why would I keep pushing away someone who wanted to be close to me? Hadn’t I learned in the last six years that life required company and help? That friends and community made lifebetter?

I cleared my throat and grinned at him. “You’re still the same,” I told him, and I meant it as a compliment.

His smirk grew. “In some ways, I’m even better.”

“So arrogant.”

He knocked me with his elbow. “You like it.”

God help me, I did. I really did.

“Dinner should be here in a few minutes. I wanted us to have some time to talk first.”

“What’s first?” I asked and couldn’t believe I was being so blithe about the whole thing. “My family drama or your perfect life?”

“Not perfect,” he said, and while his grin flattened, his teasing tone didn’t. “Well-adjusted and healthy, maybe.”

Same thing, I figured, but what would I know?

“Want anything to drink? Water or tea?”

“Tea?” Back in college that was one of the first things I’d asked for.

Graham shrugged, like he wasn’t ready to admit he remembered the conversation I was. “I know how to purchase more than condiments these days.”

A soft laugh fell from my lips. “I’ll take water, but thanks.”

“Kettle’s above the coffee pot if you change your mind.” He reached into the fridge and proved his statement about purchasing more than ketchup correct. It was stocked with vegetables, drinks, and a variety of containers that looked like yogurt.

He came back with a bottled water and handed it to me. “Thank you.”

“I’m assuming you still don’t dhink…” He let that thought trail off.

I shook my head. “Not really, maybe something occasionally, but definitely not when I’m driving or when I have to pick up Jonah.”

“Understood.” He nodded. “Mind if I have a glass of wine?”

“Of course not.” He turned and went to the kitchen. I opened my water while he grabbed a corkscrew. Halfway bringing the water to my mouth, I paused, watching him work.

How was it possible for so many muscles topopusing a corkscrew? I didn’t even know if I’d seen that many arm muscles. Bottle open, he grabbed a wineglass, and while he filled it, I went and took a seat at one of the chairs.

Curling my feet up underneath me, my gaze drifted toward the ski slopes. It was early enough that the sun was still high, but it lit up the slopes and hills of the mountains for miles. In an hour or two, twilight would come, and the tops of the trees would turn everything to beautiful pinks and oranges and purples. Deer Creek had a lot of faults, and life there hadn’t been easy, but there was no arguing that I’d grown up and spent my entire life in one of the most gorgeous areas a person could live.

“What are you thinking?” Graham asked as he took a seat in the middle of the couch and slapped his laptop closed.

“What?”

“You had your thinking face on.”

I laughed. “I have a thinking face?”

“Yep.” He leaned back on the couch, legs bent and spread. He cupped his glass of wine gently, like he’d learned how to hold a glass with perfected manners, and draped one arm over the back of the couch. A king on his throne came to mind.

He said no more. I bit my tongue so I didn’t ask what it looked like.

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