Page 40 of Guarding My Love

The lawn mower all but blowing up and how he saved her once again, then showed her what to look for next time.

Finally dinner at his house.

“Sounds like a slow burn to me,” Amanda said. “You haven’t said his name once.”

“Oh,” she said. “Foster.”

“Last name?”

“I don’t know it,” she said. “I just realized that. It’s just Foster to me. I never said mine either.”

“I want to say I don’t like the sounds of that, but it also tells me you know what you need to. You know where he lives. He told you what he does for a living. You’ve seen his house. If there was any woman around, you’d see a sign of them, so can’t be he’s lying there.”

“No,” she said. “I’m not worried about that. He’s talked about his family and his siblings. He’s only said one by name and that is fine. The youngest is a girl. I don’t know. I guess it is a slow burn. He’s probably as slow as me. I’m not sure his reason, but he knows mine.”

“And yet he keeps coming back,” Amanda said. “Maybe he’s giving you space because you’ve been so open with your past.”

“I didn’t think of that.” Why hadn’t she thought of that? “There is one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“He kissed me the last time I saw him. Which was over a week ago. We’ve had no contact since so it’s frustrating.”

Amanda laughed. “Maybe he’s waiting for you to make that move. Or he’s busy. Could be he thought you were busy. You said you told him you were coming here this weekend.”

“He offered to watch Marco for me,” she said softly.

“And there is another sign,” Amanda said. “Your face and voice.”

“What about them?” she asked.

“You just got this tender almost in love look in your eye. Your voice softened as if you were ready to sing a ballad.”

“No,” she argued.

“Yes,” Amanda said.

Her shoulders dropped. “He loves Marco. He said he never had a dog growing up and didn’t realize he’d like it so much. I told him to get one now, but I know he works a lot. Then he said his boss would let him bring a dog to work.”

“Maybe he’ll consider it,” Amanda said. She felt more pressure on her fingers but held back the wince. “Or he’ll wait and spend more time with you and Marco.”

“The end,” she said.

“What?” Amanda asked.

“The end of the story. Now I should get Drew. You’re having contractions.”

“I’m fine,” Amanda said. “There is time yet. For both of us. Because it’s not the end for you. It’s only the beginning.”

14

ABILITY TO ESCAPE

He scared her away!

Foster had spent years getting his emotions under control and not losing his shit.

Or if he did lose it, it was around family that knew him well enough to know it wasn’t a big deal. Most times.

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