Page 18 of Almost Love

“My own hovel is taking up a lot of my time.”

Grover hummed and then looked her companion up and down, an excited gleam in his eyes. “And who is this?”

“Oakley West,” he said, tattooed arm appearing around her. She didn’t even bother to hide the way she stared at the veins running along his forearm as he shook hands with Grover. “Clementine’s being my food guide.”

“Grover Capaldi, enchanté.” He did a whole dramatic bow that made her roll her eyes. “She brought you to my literal hole in the wall? I better whip out my best crockery, then.”

With a flourish, Grover turned around and walked off, leaving them in the entryway. Shaking her head, she moved to one of the oddly shaped tables. The high-backed chairs were her favorites, with soft cushions she could sink into and sturdy backs she had slept against countless times.

“Do you trust me to order for you?” she asked once Oakley was seated as well.

“Uh…yes?”

Narrowing her eyes, she bit back a smile as she looked over the menu briefly. Grover returned with plates and cutlery and after a guffaw at her insistence they didn’t need it, took their order and vanished out of sight again.

“So…” he started and she arched an eyebrow for him to continue. “Are we going to sit silently the whole evening?”

“What do you expect us to do?”

“Talk? Get to know each other.”

She made a face and she instantly regretted it. Sighing, she nodded slowly. “Sorry, I’m obviously not good with people. We can…get to know each other. Sure.”

This is why I don’t make friends, it’s too much.

CHAPTER 6

Pretty much everything about Clementine fascinated Oakley. Her prickly personality was at the top of the list, he loved how she didn’t filter her thoughts. He wondered if others got upset or angry with her, but he had figured that she wasn’t saying it rudely. She was just stating things the way they were and wasn’t going to apologize for any of it.

Plus, she’d implied in a roundabout way that people were too much.

Yet, he saw a different side of her that evening.

Starting with the fact that she wasn’t wearing her standard pastel shaded chef’s coat, instead dark pants hugged her ass and thighs, paired with a gray T-shirt that clung to her breasts. He’d always prided himself on being someone who didn’t stare at physical attributes of other people. She had been testing him since they got to the shelter. When she shrugged out of her coat, it had taken Oakley a few minutes to gather himself. Then she’d walked right into him and he’d felt her warm body against the tips of his fingers and he almost lost his mind.

The thing that really did kill him, though? The dip at the base of her spine, before it curved over her full ass and down to those glorious legs.

Ms. Wilder caught him staring a few times. But he wouldn’t apologize for being spellbound by Clementine. Because she held back in previous interactions, he thought of her as tightly wound. At the shelter, she seemed so relaxed. Her shoulders weren’t pressed up against her ears and she smiled a little more freely, even if they were brief.

Oakley wanted to get into her head so badly, under her skin and burrow into her soul to figure this woman out. He didn’t know how to define his feelings, because could he really feel this way about someone he barely knew? It was a crush, a fascination and if he allowed himself to think about it deeper, an infatuation.

In one evening, he’d seen different sides of Clementine and if he wasn’t already so completely drawn into her orbit, that would have done it. The slightly annoyed woman at the bakery when he showed up, with her clipped responses. The charitable one who brought leftover baked goods—and made fresh ones too. Then the one who was charming and joking around with people at the shelter.

In San Clemente, he would ride around on the back of his friend, Austin’s, bike as they offered free haircuts and clean-ups for the unhoused. It was one of the few things that he had enjoyed when he was still living there. They would put out chairs, let the folks choose their music and clean them up. For an hour or so every weekend, they would make conversation with people others ignored. When the job was done, they would give them some money or take them for a meal, whichever they preferred. Even when Austin was busy, Oakley would ride around town and make sure that people knew he was offering the same services. It was a little way he could give back to the community. Seeing people happy? Best feeling in the world.

Knowing that Clementine did this regularly made him like her even more. Plus, he got to interact with interesting people in one evening and he would never take that for granted. Putting asmall smile on someone’s face because of a good meal, haircut or shave was an incredible feeling. And he admired Ms. Wilder for using her name and money to do something like this for those that couldn’t.

The whole evening, his attention shifted between Clementine’s smiling face and filling soup bowls. It was a miracle any of the hot liquid landed in the bowls. Which meant that Jim and Toby had caught him in the act of staring at everyone’s favorite baker.

“If you keep staring at her, young blood, she’s going to stop smiling.” After a pat on the back, Jim had asked, “What are your intentions with our favorite baker?”

“At this point, I just want to be her friend.”

“Let me guess, she’s not interested.”

He frowned at the two men who were grinning widely. “Has this happened before?”

Jim nodded and finished peeling the foil off the other dishes of food before returning to their little huddle. “Ms. Wilder has been introducing her to people for years, but nothing ever happens. They’re all absolute duds and certainly not worthy of her.”

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