Page 31 of Two Risks I'd Never Take Again

“I’m not sure there is a bad kind of breakfast taco.”

“Very true.” He picked up three and tore away the foil. “There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, so if you can stay awake, we could go up to the roof again.”

“I’d like that.” It was irrational to have feelings for a man who I’d only known for seventy-two hours. Well, I’d known him longer than that because I’d met him weeks ago, but still. We hadn’t spent much time together before I’d picked him up off the side of the road. Attraction and infatuation. That was all this was.

He’d probably agree with me. The only reason he’d wanted to kiss me was because I’d helped him and because it was a perfectly romantic scene with us snuggled in the hot tub. Those were the reasons.

I ate way too many tacos before finally pushing away from the table. “That was so good. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You’ve been amazing. This was the least I could do.”

I refilled my coffee and mixed in more cream and sugar. “I found a battleship game and a deck of cards upstairs. Want to play a game?”

“Sure.”

Garrett picked up the plates, and it was obvious from how he moved that he was still in pain. “I’ve got the kitchen. Go enjoy your free time.”

I thought about his words. “I don’t know what to do. I rarely have free time. I man the shop, run errands, make dinner, and sleep. And I get together with Delaney and Eli sometimes.” I reached for a rag. “I can just—”

He set the plates down and stood in front of me. “No, Tessa. I’ll clean up.”

“But you’re in pain. I can tell.”

“I’ll live. I’m putting away leftovers and throwing away trash. Go pretend like this is a vacation.”

“You’ve given me something to think about.” I brushed at a spot of salsa on his shirt.

“Me?”

Honesty was the best policy, but it often landed me in uncomfortable situations. “I’ve been thinking about you since you landed on top of me in the ditch.”

Before he could tease me, I hurried back to the bedroom. I had a book to read. Why wouldn’t I want to read about a happy couple kissing and falling in love? This was turning out to be a frustrating week. And it wasn’t even Monday.

When it wastime to go up to the roof, I filled mugs with hot chocolate and followed Garrett to the patio sofa. He only grabbed one blanket which meant we’d have to share again. I didn’t mind that.

Cuddled beside him and staring at the sky, I sipped my hot chocolate. I probably wouldn’t get a better time than right now to explain why I wasn’t open to the idea of a relationship. “Garrett, last night when you said that about what I wouldn’t do, you were right.”

He nodded. “I know. It wasn’t just an educated guess. Weeks ago, when I asked you out, you told me you didn’t date.” After a sip of his hot chocolate, he looked at me. “And I’m guessing that the reason for that is related to the reason you were so upset about waking up next to me Saturday morning.”

“Being a mind reader must’ve really helped with the investigator gig.” I pulled my knees up to my chest. “I started dating a guy my senior year of high school. He was two years ahead of me.”

“I bet your parents hated that.”

“Oh, yeah. Even though it was exactly like them, or maybebecauseit was exactly like them. But Skeeter—that was his nickname—and I dated for a year before he asked me to marry him. I’d only been out of high school a short time, so we scheduled the wedding for the following year. I worked at the doughnut shop. Mrs. Sweet owned it then. I’m not making that up. And I loved it. She taught me how to make doughnuts. We made up new flavors together. That was a wonderful year. Then about two months before the wedding, she didn’t show up one morning. I made the doughnuts and covered the morning rush, then closed the shop to go check on her.” I used the blanket to wipe my face. “She had a heart attack. A neighbor found her, but she didn’t make it.” Warm cocoa soothed me as I regained my composure.

Garrett wrapped his arm around me. “She sounds like a cookies-after-school kind of person.”

“She was wonderful. And she left me the shop. That’s how I ended up with my own business at twenty. And I promised her I’d make it a success.”

A shooting star streaked across the dark sky, and I wished that my heart had never been broken beyond repair.

“I think you’ve kept that promise.”

“I left out a part. After Skeeter and I were engaged, he got more persistent about wanting to... sleep together. And I don’t mean in the same bed. He wanted me to—”

“I get it, Tessa.”

“Sorry. Of course you do. Anyway, I didn’t want to, and eventually he backed off. Just stopped bringing it up.”

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