Page 75 of The Pretenders of Copper County
“I didn’tscream. Jesus Christ. I had a small but very justifiable fear for the dog’s safety, okay?”
“It’s the eyes,” he said knowingly. “Gets me every time.”
“Did you have a reason for coming over here? Or was it entirely to piss me off?” I demanded.
Watt’s lips twitched. “I just wanted to tell you I’m happy for you two. That man’s head over heels for you—” He tilted the neck of his bottle toward Chris.
Chris looked up from a conversationwith Dolores at precisely that moment and gave me a delighted grin that said,Can you believe this turn of events?
And I couldn’t. I really couldn’t.
“And you…” Watt snorted. “You’re fucking gone for the guy. Big-time in love. It’s kind of disgusting, frankly.”
“I… I’m…” I opened and shut my mouth like a fish, not sure where I’d been going with that statement.
Instinctively, I wanted to deny it.
I didn’tloveChris. I was attracted to him. Very. And I liked him. Liked him a lot. An aggressive amount.
And, yes, because I liked him so aggressively, I wanted to spend every waking moment kissing him, watching him cook, listening to him babble, sucking him off, snuggling him while he enjoyed low-quality television, working beside him, letting him remind me of who I really was, protecting him from every real and imagined threat up to and including paper cuts, and fantasizing about sinking into his delectable ass.
But that wasn’tlove.
I wasn’tin lovewith my protectee.
Jesus. I couldn’t even imagine what a clusterfuck that would be.
Because if I was in love, how would that even work? I might have been starting to cautiously consider my life outside of the Division, but that didn’t mean I was ready to make a move. Not now. Not yet. And I’d seen what happened to people who fell in love and then decided they weren’t happy, which was why I’d never wanted it for myself.
So Watt was wrong. Very wrong.
I wasn’t in love.
I was just… really fond of charcuterie.
I couldn’t say any of that out loud, though, obviously.Not to Watt. Not when he’d believed our well-acted cover story.
So I cleared my throat and managed to croak out, “I… am.” Then, I let out a long breath because it felt good to say it even if it wasn’t—couldn’t be—accurate. “Yup. I definitely am.”
“Good.” He knocked his shoulder into mine. “Chris is a sweetheart. The breath of fresh air we needed around here. I appreciate his friendship. Yours too.”
I took another sip of my beer. “Wasn’t aware you and I were friends.”
“Well, that’s only because we don’t know each other yet,” he said reasonably. “Do you like fantasy football?”
I snorted. “Not really.”
“Same! Do you like… car restoration?”
“Yeah, I… Wait.” I turned to look at him. “Did Chris tell you I was into cars?”
“Nope. Are you? ’Cause I have a couple I’m working on right now. I’ve got this sweet sunshine-yellow?—”
“Chevy Corvette!” we finished together.
“Holy shit. I saw that car in town. That was yours?” I demanded.
“Yep. I’ll bring it by sometime so you can see what I’m doing with the interior.” He smirked. “See how much we have in common? Tell me you like hockey and I’ll make us friendship bracelets right now.”
