“Agreed. He still seems interested, even after he backed off that one time.” Em gave me a good, hard look. “Tell me again, why did he back off? Were y’all too drunk?”
I shook my head. “I mean, that may have had something to do with it, but mostly I think it’s because I went in strong.”
Em looked as confused as I’d been feeling for weeks now. “Which I would’ve assumed he’d have liked.”
“Exactly, but it was the opposite.” I stared at my friend for a second. “There’s something about him that seems a little...softer…than I originally thought? So maybe...”
“Maybe what?”
“Maybe I should woo him?”
Emery gaped at me.
“Oh, shut up with that face, Em.”
“Sorry, but did you saywoohim?”
“Call me crazy, but there’s something about him that feels vulnerable.”
“Oh.” Em scratched his head.
“What do you mean,oh?”
“It’s like you said. I wonder if I know Rowdy at all.”
“Welcome to the club.”
15
ROWDY
I was drinkingcoffee on the front porch when I noticed Kess walking over to his garage. He hit the key fob for the door to his workshop, something he had done for a couple of days in a row now. Only now he kept the door open and walked out with a massive rectangle covered in a blanket of some kind.
This thing was big and obviously heavy, but he didn’t struggle with it at all. I furrowed my brows when I realized he was aiming for the walkway that ran between our two houses.
“Mind getting the gate?” he called out as he neared.
I set my coffee down, hopped up, and jogged over to him. One of the Dalls tried to follow me, but I hip-checked it out of the way and opened the gate just as Kess reached it.
“What is that?” I asked as he passed me, smelling like wood, amber, and man.
“A surprise,” he replied.
“For me?” I asked, no idea what this was about.
“Yes, for you,” he said with a cheesy grin. “Now go grab the door.”
I jogged back to the house, making my way past the plantings and vegetation, shooing a blackbuck away from my flowers. Kesswas making good time, so I barely got the door open when he hit the steps.
“What is this thing?” I asked as he wedged it and himself into my small cabin.
“Don’t worry, I approved it with your interior designer.”
He removed the blanket and I opened my mouth, not sure what to make of it.
“It’s your new headboard,” he said, pointing to the blank space above the bed.
Jesus. It was only the most stunning piece of furniture I’d ever seen. A burled wood grain with a finished edge that followed the flow of the wood, sanded to a satin finish.
