Page 15 of Grey
“I like that,” Tatum said.
“So did you fall in love with someone already?”
Tatum rubbed the space over her heart. “I’m a little nervous. Gunshy. I don’t want to get burned by jumping in too fast again, but I can’t stop thinking about him.”
“Tell me about him.”
She shared about getting lost and being rescued, the first date, and then the amazing time last night in the park. But she skipped the part where she’d dreamed about him sexing her up all night.
“I know them, they’re all very nice young men and highly thought of around town. What makes you so nervous?”
“I don’t trust myself. I stayed with my ex for too long, and I can’t even say why I did when it was bad from the get-go. I came here for a fresh start, and what does it say about my heart that the first guy I meet I practically fall in love with after he rescued me?”
“I’d say that it’s kismet, which is really no different than love at first sight.” She patted her hands. “It’s okay to be nervous, but don’t let it put up walls around your heart and keep you from what might be the greatest love of your life. Tell him your past so he knows why you’re nervous.”
“What if he thinks I have too much baggage?”
Mrs. Fielder scoffed. “Honey, he researched the park’s fountain so he had something to talk to you about. If that isn’t a man in love already, I don’t know what is. You know what I think?”
“What?”
“That you should go see him tonight. Tell him your truths and lay yourself bare. The only way you’ll know if he’s the right guy for you, if he’s your one-great-love, is if he sticks around after you flay yourself alive for him. Metaphorically, of course.”
Something like anxiety rose up inside her, but it wasn’t sharp like panic, it was more a worry that laying herself on the line might bite her in the ass. But she knew that was her past talking and trying to hold her down. She wasn’t the girl who was afraid to put herself out there anymore, and even though she’d planned to stay out of the dating pool for a good long while until she healed from her past, she couldn’t deny that being with Grey was wonderful.
“I’ll go see him after work,” she said.
She didn’t know what would happen when she got to the farm, but she was sure that it would be a night to remember.
Tatum’s heart was in her throat when she knocked on the farmhouse door. She could hear low voices inside, and when the door swung open, Grey was there.
“Tatum! I wasn’t expecting to see you. How was work? Would you like to come in?”
Oh crap, she was full-blown trembling right now.
Not just because of what weighed on her mind, but because he was so freaking good-looking that whenever she was around him, all she could think about was getting naked and doing fun things together.
His brow furrowed. “Hey, are you okay?”
Finding her voice, she said, “Yeah, is there a place we could talk in private?”
“Sure,” he said, stepping onto the porch and pulling the door shut. “There’s an apartment in the storage barn that no one is using.”
“Oh. Why is there an apartment in the barn?”
“The original owner built it for his son. When Tris first came to work for us, she stayed there, but after she and Khyle built their home, she moved out and it’s been empty since.”
He pulled open the door to the barn and they walked inside, then up a flight of wooden stairs. He turned on the overhead light and she found herself in an efficiency-style apartment, with a kitchenette, couch, and television, plus a bed and dresser behind a screen. “Are you hungry or thirsty? We keep the fridge stocked.”
“No, I’m fine.”
She sat on the couch and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.
He joined her, their knees touching as he got comfortable. He put his arm on the back of the couch and gave her an encouraging look.
“I wanted to,” she started, then stopped and had to clear her throat. Gah, she’d never really shared her life story before. And there was something so significant about the whole thing right now because it was Grey and she liked him so much. Even though they’d only known each other for a very short time.
Before she lost her nerve, she launched into her story. “I had a really normal childhood. My mom stayed home and my dad worked long hours at a factory. She was always there to greet me after school with a snack and an encouraging “How was your day, honey?” And then when I was in high school, she got sick. Cancer took her when I was sixteen.”
