Page 34 of Small Town Firsts
His eyebrow hiked. “Matilda?”
I shrugged. “I named her after my grandmother who gave me the car.”
The only person who had helped me…after.The least I could do was name the car after her when she left it to me in her will.
His thumb drifted over my cheek as his long fingers tunneled into my hair to get the last of the debris free. When a lemon rolled down my breast to plop onto my lap, I was horrified at the quick prick of tears.
I must be frightening to look at.
The Mason Jar was the one place where I was generally pulled together. The one place who only ever saw the confident and self-assured Kira.
And now I was—this.
I flicked the lemon wedge away, watching it bounce along the dusty gravel.
“Hey.” He tried to tip my chin up.
I sniffled and then punched him in the gut. Anger was easier than tears. Because not only had that idiot drunk guy caused chaos, this outrageous Viking of a man had created more.
Making a spectacle of me again.
He barely grunted.
I tried to push him back. “Let me down.”
He simply settled his big hands at my waist and let me push and struggle—all the while, he remained a granite wall in front of me.
I growled and sniffled and dashed at my eyes as angry tears burned down my face. I hated to cry more than anything inthis world. It didn’t accomplish a damn thing except give me a headache and a red nose. Not to mention the snot.
I was not a pretty crier.
Generally tears made most men head for the hills, but somehow not this one.
“I have two sisters. I can wait an hour if I need to.”
I sniffled again. “What are their names?”
He sighed. “Not exactly on topic, Sunshine.”
“I do not look or act like sunshine!”
He laughed.
“Do not laugh at me, dammit.” Which of course made a giggle bubble up in my chest. “It’s not funny.”
He picked out another bit of garnish from my hair and tossed it over his shoulder. “It’s a little funny.” He tugged on my hair until I tipped my head back to meet his gaze. The fact that the tiny lick of pain hit something low inside of me was to be ignored at this particular juncture in time.
Finally, I stared at him. The sun was setting behind him which tossed most of him into shadow with the halo of firelight on his wild curls. “Even on the shittiest days, the sun is always there. And that’s what I’m used to when I’m around you. You are always moving forward, making things better. Maybe a little bossy.” His eyebrow rose sharply. “But you’re a force. And that’s why you’re sunshine to me. That and when I’m around you, I want to take my clothes off for some reason.”
I didn’t want to smile up at him, but I couldn’t stop my lips from bending upward. I even put my hand up to cover my mouth and he pulled it away.
“Now tell me why there’s tears. Or if you don’t want to tell me why, tell me how to fix it.”
“I’m just embarrassed.”
He frowned. “Why would you be embarrassed? You kicked his ass and were the ultimate badass.”
“You manhandled me out of that place. We were a spectacle!”
