Page 43 of Trophy
She crawled over her side of the bed so she could kiss him. “You are such a liar.” When he tried to pull her over on top of him, she resisted. “No. I really have to go.”
Rob gave an exaggerated sigh and dropped his hands to his sides. “Fine. Just leave me in my torturous state.”
She gave his crotch a quick look. “Doesn’t look too torturous yet.”
“Well, he’s tired. He had quite a workout last night.”
She giggled and kissed him again before she climbed off the bed and leaned over to pick up her bra and then slip on her shoes. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
“Yeah. Oh, hey, I almost forgot. I’m having a cookout on Saturday. You should come.” He made sure to give the invitation casually, as if it had just crossed his mind. He’d actually been thinking through how best to ask her for a ridiculously long amount of time.
“What? What do you mean?” She looked confused but not horrified, which he took to be a good sign.
“I’m having a cookout. Just some friends and folks from the neighborhood. Since you’re from the neighborhood, it would be perfectly normal for me to invite you.”
“So I wouldn’t be your date?”
“Would that be so wrong?” He met her eyes evenly but made sure to keep his tone relaxed.
“We agreed to keep this private for now.”
“I know, but things seem to be going well. Why would it be a problem for other people to know about us?”
“You know why. I’m not ready for a relationship. I thought you understood that. I thought you were okay with it.”
He let out a hoarse breath. “I am. It’s fine. We can go on keeping it private.” He smiled at her, trying to convey easy acceptance.
She obviously didn’t believe his smile. “Does it really bother you? Keeping it private? I thought you were okay with it.”
“I am okay with it.” He was mostly telling the truth. It wasn’t that he wanted to brag all over town about dating Allison. Mostly he was feeling a bit insecure about the relationship. Worried. Like he shouldn’t be investing too much in it if she wasn’t in this for real. If they could tell other people about it, then he could know for sure she wasn’t just playing around with him.
He’d been played around with by women before. He wasn’t going to let it happen again.
They’d only been together a couple of weeks, though, so he was being impatient. Allison needed time. She was coming off a bad divorce. Her hesitancy didn’t mean she was just going to use him the way other women had.
“I’m sorry,” he added, sitting up. “I didn’t mean to pressure you. I’m really okay with things as they are.”
She relaxed her shoulders and smiled at him. “Okay. Good. Just tell me if you’re not happy with things. I’m not trying to string you along or anything.”
“I know that.” He was telling her the truth, so he knew it was convincing. “And I would like you to come to the cookout. Not as my date but as my neighbor.”
“Then I’ll come. When is it?”
“Folks will start coming around four, I guess. They’ll probably stay until eight or so. You can come by whenever you want.”
“Will there be a lot of people?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know how many will come. It’ll be low-key, though. Nothing intimidating.”
“Okay. I’ll give it a try.” She grabbed the top she’d been wearing yesterday from the dresser where it had landed. “I really have to go now. See you in a bit.”
“See you.”
He let out a breath as he heard her leaving the house. He knew she watched out the window to make sure no one was in sight before she stepped outside and crossed the street. She was serious about not wanting people to know they were seeing each other. It would be really nice when the day came that she didn’t feel like she had to sneak out of his house in the morning, when he could show the world that she was into him, that he could be with someone as incredible as her.
She wasn’t ready yet, but that would change. She was being honest with him—something his two ex-wives had never done. She wasn’t going to make a fool of him like they had. She just needed to feel more comfortable here. Maybe meeting more people at the cookout would help.
He wanted her to like this town.
