He tilted his head and caught my eyes. “What could it hurt?”
I wrapped my arms around myself and answered before thinking. “It could hurt a lot, actually.”
Every ounce of his teasing look disappeared. “I’d never hurt you, Willow. And that’s a fact you can take all the way to the bank.”
I shut my eyes and shook my head. I couldn’t look at him and chance falling under his spell. He might have believed what he was saying, but he was wrong. I’d given up on romance for good reason. It might have been a lonely life, but at least it gave me great material for my music.
“Cash, I can’t.” I shook my head. “I always pick the wrong guy.”
“Well, it’s a good thing for you that I’m doing the picking this time.”
I looked up and saw his kind smile shining down on me. Warmth erupted in my chest, and I had to confess that I didn’t do all that much to chase it away.
“Believe me,” he said, “I know what it’s like to have your heart broken into a million pieces and ground so deep into the dirt you wonder if you’ll ever be able to put it back together again.” He looked away, the muscles in his jaw flexing before fixing his eyes back on me. “I’d never do that to you.”
The sadness I saw in his eyes tempted me to reach out and try to chase it away with a gentle touch, but I didn’t dare. “I believe you,” I whispered. “But I don’t know if I can change gears that fast. This whole setup was supposed to be a quick Band-Aid solution. Nothing more. To think about finding myself in the middle of a real relationship all of a sudden…”
“Then don’t think about it. Just go out with me.”
“It’s that simple, is it?”
“It’sthatsimple.”
My phone rang and I’d never been more thankful for the chance to excuse myself from a conversation. I looked at the screen. It was Grandmother. “It’s her.”
“The ball’s in your court.”
I took a deep breath. “Grandmother, hello.” It was difficult to focus on what she was saying with Cash’s gaze blazing trails of fire across my skin. But I did catch on to the basic gist of her reason for calling.
I covered the mic on the phone and looked at Cash. “She wants us to come look at a few buildings with her next Saturday. She says she’s found some great deals.” I stuck my tongue out and crossed my eyes to show just how excited I was about the prospect of that outing.
“Tell her I can’t come. I’ll be volunteering all day.” I was about to go back to my call when he laid a single hot hand on my arm. “My girlfriend is welcome to come along.”
He winked and grinned at me. Apparently, I was a bigger fan of charity work than I realized because my stomach turned a flip.
I looked up into his eyes, mine blinking way too fast as I sized up the situation. I could go real estate shopping with Grandmother as a single woman, or I could volunteer with my…
Gulp.
With my boyfriend. Cash was right. The ballwasin my court.
CHAPTERTWELVE
My palms were sweating like a Pentecostal preacher in August as I clutched my phone. Grandmother was on the other end of the line, and she wouldn’t wait forever for my answer. I’d never been at a more frightening crossroads in my life, and that included the night my mom tried to convince me to go to a Barry Manilow concert with her.
For the record, I didn’t go.
“Willow? Are you still there?” I swallowed hard at the sound of Grandmother’s voice while Cash just stood there grinning.
Could I do it? Could I just snap my fingers and decide to date him? I hadn’t had any trouble in the past with dating guys at the drop of a hat, but there was something different about Cash. For all his obnoxious flirting, I didn’t want to risk things changing between us. Maybe I didn’t really hate his flirting as much as I’d always told myself I did.
What would it be like after we broke up? Because itwouldhappen—it always did. Would he pretend not to see me in the parking lot, or would he glare? Would he look miserable, or would he go out of his way to show me just how happy he was to be rid of me?
Gaaah!
I was so far gone, imagining the worst possible scenarios for the future that I’d completely lost sight of the present. But Grandmother’s melodically challenged voice crackled through my speaker and brought me back. “Willow?”
I put the phone back up to my ear. “I’m sorry, Grandmother. I was just talking with Cash for a moment.”
