His face had to be the color of a tomato by how hot his cheeks were. “Actually, yes.” That was, in fact, the problem. That was exactly what he would’ve said to Tyler. “I’m sorry. I’m not used to being around pretty—” He caught himself again. Maybe not the only problem. He needed to reign in his tongue, which was turning out to be impossible around this girl. And now he was thinking about his tongue . . . What the hellwashis problem?!
Penny’s cheeks turned pink. “I don’t know, Tyler’s one of the prettiest boys I’ve seen in a long time.”
Brett snorted and used his crutch to navigate the stairs, then followed Penny to her car. He owed her one for that save.Nothing stiff. No tongues.He worked to envision pictures from his surgery. Hairy men. Phil Kessel’s face. Anything to get his blood to drop back from Formula 1.
So she knew he thought she was pretty.At least that was the word that came out of his mouth. Gorgeous was more like it. She had to already be aware. A woman didn’t get to her mid-thirties without understanding a basic fact like that. And hey, at least she wasn’t rage slamming fridges and cupboards anymore.
Brett slid into the passenger seat but kept his right leg dangling on the curb as he tried to figure out how to bring it in without forcing his knee to bend in ways it wasn't ready to.
“That seat should push back a ways.” Penny motioned to the side.
Brett felt along the edge of the seat until he found the handle then pushed his seat back as far as it would go. It allowed him to make enough space to slide his leg in with only minimal discomfort. Was it bad that his first thought was that Penny couldn’t be dating anyone since no guy would have sat here with the seat pushed so far forward?
He mentally berated himself. He didnotneed to be having thoughts like that right now, though he shouldn't have been surprised by any of this. It wasn't that a relationship was the worst idea for him at the moment, it was just . . . that it was a really effing bad idea.
He wanted to believe that at some point he would be in a better place—ready to date again—but he'd been telling himself that for the past two-plus years and hadn’t gotten there yet. Tony kept telling him he was going to have to jump in at some point, but Brett still didn't trust it. There was always something that cropped up in his life that made him feel off-kilter. Didn't he need to be more stable before he could make a commitment to someone else?
He'd messed up with enough people in his life, and he didn't want to add more to the list. He and Cameron were barely repairing all the damage he’d done. His parents were veritable saints and had stuck with him through it all, but he had plenty to make up on that front, too.
He needed to be someone others could rely on, and right now he couldn’t even make it up or down the front steps. Hell, he couldn't even put on his own shoes.
“Why did you decide to stay in Calgary?” Brett asked as they drove.
“Wow, okay, we're just getting right into it then.”
Brett frowned. “How is that getting into it? Seems like a benign question.”
Penny tightened her grip on the wheel. “Yeah, well, maybe for some people.”
“You don't have to answer it, I was just trying to make conversation.”
Penny sighed and ran her hands through her hair at the stoplight. It hung in loose waves over her shoulders. She pulled it together and twirled it before letting it fall down her back. Brett forced his eyes back out the windshield and focused on the license plate in front of them, then bit the inside of his cheek. HOT-869.Thank you, Calgary.
“I stayed because my parents didn't want me to move here in the first place, and I didn't want to admit that they were right. Is that a good enough answer?”
Definitely a strained relationship then. “Why didn't they want you to move here?”
“Because they didn't like the guy that I was with.”
Brett’s jaw tensed. “Did you like the guy you were with?”
“Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have followed him here.”
Brett shifted in his seat, trying to give his right leg a diagonal line under the glove compartment. “So you followed a guy here, it didn't work out, and now you're embarrassed to go back.”
“That pretty much hits the nail on the head.”
“Nice contractor metaphor.”
Penny laughed. “I like to customize my speech to the interests of the people I'm spending time with.”
“It's a very marketable skill.”
She glanced over. “Is it making you feel more comfortable?”
Not in the least.Her snarky retorts were jacking his heart rate, not settling it. He loved that she told him the truth, which should have put him at ease, but it was difficult to relax when he could still see that soft color on her nails in his peripheral vision. “Yup.”
Penny exhaled. “Is your work going well? Considering you have to be at home?” She turned onto Country Hills Boulevard.
