Page 63 of Tempting Me

As I drive down Main Street, I spot Shay walking out of one of the boutique shops. She’s got a plant tucked under one arm and a reusable bag that looks full in the other. Mrs. Whittaker is walking toward her, and Shay stops to talk as I slow to the one and only traffic light this street has.

My eyes never leave her as I wait to go.

But then the light turns green, and the moment my truck inches forward, Shay looks in my direction. She smiles for the briefest of moments and bites her lower lip as she nods at me.

Fuck.

If I thought last night was a test of my restraint, tonight is going to be on a whole new level.

I’m nervous.

I gaze out the front window of my truck at The Marina.

I can't remember the last time I was this nervous around a woman. Hell, even with Grace, I wasn’t nervous. I just didn’t know what to say.

Right now, I know a hundred things I could say. Ijust don’t know how I want to say them or how I can say them without sounding like I’m some lovestruck fool. Because let's be real here. Admitting to yourself that you have feelings for someone is one thing, but admitting to someone that you have feelings for them is really putting yourself out there. It’s risky. Now the ball is in her court.

What’s she going to do about it?

Does she even want to do anything about it?

What are my rules now?

I pick up my phone and stare at it, debating whether I should call Hudson.

He’d have advice for me. But really, Miles is the one I go to about this stuff.

I tap the contacts button and find his name, but then I click out and toss my phone to the passenger seat.

I don’t need advice right now. I need to go inside and get to work, let her lead the room.

I nod, as if I need the gesture to convince myself that’s what I should do.

Then I get out before I can second-guess myself anymore for the night.

When I reach the door, it swings open.

Shay is standing on the other side, and she gasps, stepping back when she sees me.

“Oh, hi.”

“Hi.”

“I thought maybe you weren’t coming.” She looks at her watch. “You’re usually inside by now.”

She looks at my lips, then at the floor before her gaze finds mine again.

It doesn't take me long to decide how I want to go about this.

I’m an open guy. I speak my mind. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t. But with Shay, I don’t want to be anyone but me. That’s who she’s been working with these last few weeks. That’s who she deserves right now.

So I let out a breath and say, “I was working up the nerve to come inside.”

Her gaze snaps to mine, and just like she did earlier today, she tugs that plump pink bottom lip into her mouth and bites it.

I think I growl, but I can’t be sure. This urge is new for me.

“I was afraid you weren’t coming,” she admits. “And I was going to come find you.”

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