Page 23 of Two Risks I'd Never Take Again

Garrett blinked and pulled the frozen peas away from his face. “You want me to eat pineapple?”

“Is that so weird? You aren’t allergic, are you?”

“No. I just...” He scratched his head as he walked away from the counter, then turned back around. “Why pineapple?”

“Because it has some enzyme in it that fights pain and is an anti-inflammatory. Why are you acting like pineapple is weird?”

He shook his head. “Turning up the heat is a good plan.”

But the hot tub wasn’t a good plan. I could feel how bad the idea was all the way to my toes. But the other thing I felt all the way to my toes was attraction. I blamed it on his lack of shirt.

“Let me change into my swimsuit and grab us some towels.” I hurried back to the bedroom.

“I’ll meet you out by the hot tub.”

The fluffy robeI’d found hanging in the bathroom helped keep the cold at bay as I tiptoed out to the hot tub. Garrett had said he’d meet me out there, but I didn’t realize he meant in the hot tub.

I tossed my robe over the back of a chair. “Why did you get in by yourself? You could’ve slipped.”

He kept his back to me, his head leaning on the ledge and his eyes closed. “Swimsuit fell off, and it was easier to just get in rather than wrestle that thing back on with my thumbs.”

I yanked my foot out of the water. I couldn’t get into the hot tub with him when he was... not dressed. I shivered as my brain struggled to think of an excuse. And the bubbles made it hard to see below the surface of the water.

Scanning the ground, I tried to spot his swimsuit. How far had he walked without it on? “Oh. I, um... I think I’m going to go back in and...”

“Watch dough rise? Tessa, I was...” He turned around, and his unfinished sentence hung in the air as his gaze traveled from my head to my toes. The moment of silence was brief but obvious. “I was joking. I have a swimsuit on.”

“Okay.” Easing into the water, I sighed at how good the warm bubbles felt after standing in the cold. “Sometimes I have a hard time knowing if you’re serious or not.”

“I’ve gathered that. And it’s kind of fun.” He eyed me as I moved toward him.

My plan was to sit beside him. Not too close. But the strands of hair hanging into his face were going to bug me. I stood in front of him and combed my fingers through his brown hair. “Sorry I didn’t offer to help you comb it. I didn’t think about how hard it was for you to hold a comb.”

Garrett stayed quiet as I smoothed down the parts that were sticking up and pushed a few strands away from his eyes.

“I like your hair this length. It has a nice wave to it. I bet the ends start to curl when it gets longer.”

He rested his hands on my hips, and I slid my hands out of his hair and pressed them to his chest, ready to push away.

“Tessa, if any other woman played with my hair like that—especially in a hot tub—I’d assume she was flirting. And if I were attracted to her, I’d respond with a long passionate kiss that would make her toes pop off. And maybe make my toes pop off too.”

I wiggled my toes, staring at the bubbles dancing on the surface. Because he was sitting and I was standing, we were almost eye to eye. I didn’t pull away.

“But in the few days that we’ve beencompadres, I don’t think you’ve intentionally flirted once. Shoot, I’m not even sure if you like me. You might not.”

I shook my head because I didn’t want him thinking I didn’t like him, but all the words I wanted to say were tangled in a lump in my throat.

“And it’s okay if you aren’t attracted to me. I can live with that. I’ve been turned down by beautiful—sorry, I won’t call you that—by women before, and I’ll deal. We can be friends though and have a great time this week.”

Nodding, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t trust my voice. But I loved the idea of being Garrett’s friend.

“And just so we’re clear on a few things. I’m not asking out a different woman every weekend. In fact, when I asked you out a few weeks ago, that was the first time I’d asked a woman out since moving to Texas.”

“More than a year ago. That’s why Ava was so surprised to find me at your cabin.” I braved a moment of eye contact.

His head bobbed slightly. “You remind me of Ava, and I mean that as a compliment. She’s giving and caring and makes it seem effortless. She can make a person feel welcome with only her smile. I imagine that all those kids at school who bragged about going home to fresh baked cookies had moms who were like Ava.”

I knew Ava well enough to appreciate what a compliment it was. “She has a heart of gold.”

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