Page 39 of Two Risks I'd Never Take Again

Laughing, I shoved the last few things into my bag. “I’m really glad you’re feeling better.” I sat down beside him and stared at his lips, imagining how they’d feel pressed to mine. What was I doing? Yanking myself back to reality, I jumped up and pulled my swimsuit—that I’d just packed—out of my bag. “Give me a second to change.”

“I’ll meet you out there.”

We’d gotten a lot of use out of that hot tub this week, especially considering that it was cold. There was a lot I’d miss about our little getaway, but the long conversations in the hot tub and on the roof were absolutely at the top of the list.

I’d enjoyed myself more than I thought possible, and it was because Garrett had let me decide what our friendship would look like. Not once during the week had he asked me to reconsider my promise. Around him, I could be myself. I didn’t have to risk anything.

A small part of me feared that leaving here would change our friendship.

I slipped on the robe and padded out to the hot tub, ready to eke as much friendship out of the week as I could get.

Easing into the water, I took one last opportunity to enjoy gazing at his chest. Even if it did have funny-colored bruises on it. “What kinds of cookies do you like? What kinds did your grandma make?” Selfishly, I stopped in front of him, knowing he’d wrap his arms around me.

He did. “My grandma made a mean snickerdoodle cookie. But I think my favorite is the good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie.”

“Soft or crunchy?”

He rubbed his whiskers on my neck. “Soft. That’s not even a question.”

For the next forty-five minutes, we covered a range of topics. Both of us were stalling. Neither of us wanted to leave.

I leaned back and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for a great week. If we don’t leave soon, they’ll charge you for another day, and it will mess up someone else’s schedule.” I walked to the stairs. “What time does your dad arrive?”

“They flew in last night. I had my dates wrong.” Garrett followed me into the house. “You can join us for dinner if you’d like. Ava always makes more than enough.”

“Not tonight because I have to get the shop ready, but I might take you up on that one night. Don’t say anything to them, but now that Delaney and Eli are engaged, I spend more evenings by myself. I know they don’t care if I hang out with them, but I don’t want to be in the way.”

“You are welcome on the ranch any time.”

Garrett tossedhis bag into the truck, then turned to face me. Goodbye seemed like it would be easy when I said yes to this week, but now my chest tightened. I would not cry about this.

He brushed my cheek.

Okay, so maybe I’d cry a little.

“I’d like to cash in that raincheck for a hug now.” He opened his arms.

Instead of reminding him that I’d hugged him more than once during the week, I reminded myself not to squeeze him too hard. It was silly to be upset. He lived ten minutes away. With my face buried in the curve of his neck, I held him. “I’m glad I didn’t run over you on the side of the road.”

“You and me both.” With one hand on my back, he threaded his fingers into my hair with the other. “I’ve pelted you with thank yous all week, but I’ll say it again. Thank you for playing nurse, for closing your shop to take care of me, but mostly for being my friend. Texas feels a little more like home now.”

“You’re welcome.” I pulled back and wiped my eyes. “Usually I rotate my specialty flavors, but the pecan praline doughnuts will now be available every day.”

“I’ll remember that.” He cupped my cheek and smiled before letting me go and climbing into his truck. “See you later.”

It was good I had work to do at the shop. I desperately needed a distraction.

I tossed my bag inside the apartment, then drove to the shop. After my normal closing time, I’d take down my handwritten sign, but for now, I’d stay closed and clean up. Four was going to feel really early tomorrow morning. I hadn’t exactly stayed on my normal schedule this week.

The rest of the afternoon, I replenished ingredients and cleaned. I guessed that once word spread that I was open again, doughnut-craving locals would swarm to the shop. That would help make up for the lost revenue.

Not surprisingly, five minutes after Delaney’s store closed, she knocked on the front door.

“Hey there. I was hoping you’d stop by.” I was glad I could finally tell her why I’d been gone for a week.

She crossed her arms. “I want to hear about your week. This has to be a good story.”

“I am now at liberty to tell you what happened.” I went back to sweeping as I talked. “When I was driving home from my parents’ house on Thanksgiving, I spilled coffee on myself and pulled over to clean it up. I found Garrett beat up on the side of the road. At the time, I didn’t know it was Garrett because his face was really messed up and it was dark. You might want to leave out the part about how I didn’t know it was Garrett because if Eli thinks I picked up a stranger—which I totally did—he will give me grief about it.”

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