Page 29 of Two Risks I'd Never Take Again

Right now, I didn’t care about the friend zone. I could tell myself I was only snuggled here because the air was frigid, but that would be lying. And I was horrible at making a lie believable. Being alone with Garrett like this felt comfortable. And this week, I was going to let myself enjoy it. I didn’t care about any zone.

Life would settle back into normal once he returned home to the ranch and I went back to making doughnuts every morning.

“My parents married really young. Mom was seventeen. Dad was nineteen. They’d dated all through high school and then married a week after her graduation. My earliest memory is of my mom screaming at my dad. Standing toe to toe with him and yelling right in his face. And they’ve continued that way ever since. Sometimes it’s dad who does the yelling. They never hit each other, so that’s good, I guess.”

“I’m sorry you had to grow up with that.”

When the fireworks ended, I rested my head on his shoulder. “They both worked, so I stayed with my aunt during the day, Eli’s mom. Aunt Patsy always wore a smile, and she had the best laugh. She was a cookies-after-school kind of mom. I love my parents, but being around them isn’t enjoyable. Oh, I also forgot to mention the houseful of pets. My parents have seven cats—named after the dwarves—a chihuahua named Diablo, and the dumbest chocolate lab on the planet. Her name is Coco.”

He rubbed my shoulder. “Are you a cat or a dog person?”

“I’m a neither. I don’t hate them. I just have no desire to have a pet. That probably makes me sound like a horrible person.”

“Not at all. Do you get home often?”

“Often enough. I was on my way home from their house when I found you. They moved out near Johnson City several years ago, so I see them a few times a year. They work; I work. But I drove out to have Thanksgiving dinner with them. It was more of a lunch.”

“You closed the shop?” There was a hint of tease in his question.

“I closed early. I only stay open until eleven on holidays.”

He blinked before looking down at me. “You’re open every single day?”

“Yeah. That’s too much, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Tessa, it’s too much.”

“Delaney told me the same thing.” I picked at a piece of lint on the blanket. “I should probably change that.”

He rested his head on mine.

“Why were you out on Thanksgiving? Didn’t Ava have a big dinner at the ranch?” I wanted to keep him talking because if he went to sleep up here, I’d be in trouble.

“We ate early. I didn’t miss it. But I left after we ate because my client had left me a message about her husband.” He quieted with his head still against mine.

The wind gusted, and I snuggled closer to him. It would be too easy to fall asleep beside him.

Wriggling my hand out of the blanket, I reached up and touched his face. “Please don’t go to sleep. I can’t carry you down the stairs. And if we sleep out here, we’ll freeze.”

His cheek moved against my hand as he smiled. “I’m not falling asleep. I was contemplating an idea.”

“What idea?”

“I’m not trying to pull you away from your family, but what if you took a few days off at Christmas and stayed out at the ranch? The cabin by mine is empty. It could be like a mini vacation.”

Was it cold enough to freeze tears? I was about to find out. Worrying my bottom lip, I imagined spending Christmas with people who laughed. Then I imagined spending it with Garrett. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to decide right now. The offer stands.”

“If you feel like retracting it by the end of the week, I’ll understand.” I managed to get the words out without a waver in my voice, but my favorite spy could probably tell I was about to cry.

Warmth tickled my ear as he leaned in close. “We’re friends. Nothing will change that.”

How did he know the right words to say? “Thank you.”

“Let’s get back inside before we turn into icicles.” He slipped out from under the blanket and held out his hand. “I’ve kept you up past your bedtime.”

Going into my own room spawned a sense of loneliness, but sleeping snuggled against Garrett simply because I liked how it felt was not allowed in the friend zone even with the most generous of definitions. With my bedroom door open, I slipped under the covers and closed my eyes.

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