Page 40 of Make Mine Sweet
I nod and watch her disappear into her half of the duplex. I stay on my porch longer than I care to admit, watching the breeze rustle leaves down the tree-lined lane. Breathing deep. Flexing my fingers as though I can recapture the feel of her hand in mine.
I’ve been in a lot of delicate situations where one wrong move meant disaster, but this line I’m walking with Tess might be the most dangerous of all.
THIRTEEN
IAN
I don’t get nervous.I’ve faced twenty-thousand-foot climbs, staggering snowstorms, and vertical walls of ice without ever getting jitters. So tell me why all these butterflies are careening through my stomach when I’m only wandering around town?
I intended to head straight to Tess’s bakery and tell her not to restart the cupcakes of mercy. Just rip that bandage off and put a stop to her guilt-induced generosity. Instead, I veered off at the last minute. I’ve been walking up and down Maple Street for half an hour, neatly doing an about-face whenever I get within twenty feet of Blackbird’s purple awning. It’s ludicrous.
But I can’t bring myself to go inside.
I want the fresh start Tess offered. Maybe I want it too much. This brand-newwantstings like a foot that’s fallen asleep and is struggling to wake up again. At the same time, its newness excites me, too, a sensation I haven’t let myself experience in a long time.
But the legitimate concern I’ll get everything all wrong with her—yet again—keeps me out here on the sidewalk.
In jeans. On a day that’s well past seventy-five degrees. If I don’t get my butt in gear soon, I’ll have to head home to shower before I even consider crossing the bakery’s threshold.
I’m well aware Ishouldn’tcross that threshold. It’s a terrible idea, and at least two steps outside my commitment to being a better neighbor. Every interaction I’ve had with Tess has only made me want another. Yes, even when I thought she’d stared at my prosthetic leg out of morbid curiosity, a down-deep part of me still had a hand out, pleading for more.
I’m a grubby little beggar when it comes to that woman.
It’s an unfamiliar feeling. My relationship history is patchy at best. I’ve wanted women before, enjoyed the thrill of the chase. But this isn’t about trying to catch something shiny and new. She intrigues me. I want to solve all her mysteries. I want to carefully peel back each of her layers until she’s laid bare to me.
I scrape one hand down my face, exhaling hard. That line of thought is unhelpful.
She offered to be a good neighbor, and I’m dreaming up “laid bare” scenarios. I do enjoy a challenge, but in this particular case, pretty sure I’m setting my sights too high.
As I wait to cross Maple Street on my umpteenth circuit of Sunshine’s downtown district, my phone buzzes in my back pocket. I should have silenced it when Pierce started sending me a string of links to articles on how to flirt. “Become the Player, Win at the Game” isn’t something I ever want to read, but the links keep coming.
This particular buzz is a phone call, not a text. I quickly check who it is. Not sure if it’s better or worse that it’s my middle brother, Steven.
“Hello?” If I sound wary, it’s only because I know those two better than anyone should. I’ve got a good idea of what’s coming.
“Pierce says you’ve got an emergency situation out there. Patient assessment says subject doesn’t know how to talk to a woman. Sounds critical.”
I curse under my breath as I cross the street. I should have dumped my phone and got a new number when I moved to Oregon.
“Pierce needs to mind his own business.” Along with everybody else I know.
Except Tess. She can do whatever she likes.
“You’re picking up women in the grocery store now. Have I got that right? Making meaningful eye contact in the frozen food aisle?”
“I’m going to hang up.”
His laughter grates on my last nerve. “How did the second half of that conversation go? You got her number, at least?”
I didn’t. If I wanted to ask her out, I could take ten steps east from my apartment and knock on her door. Which I haven’t and won’t.
“Did you call for anything else?” I take back everything I said about deserving some of the flak I used to give out to my brothers. No way was I ever this bad.
“Come on.” He puts on his peacemaking persona, as if I’m the one causing trouble. “Can’t blame us for being curious. It’s been a while for you.”
“Thanks for the reminder.”
He laughs some more. “You know what I mean.”
