“Is he nice?” Her question catches me off guard, but my answer comes easy. Nicholas is the type of man who makes the rest of us look bad. He’s too trusting for his own good.
“You’ll never meet a better man,” I tell her.
Her relief is palpable and my curiosity is piqued but I’d rather not waste this precious time asking questions about her friends back home. I want to know her. Find out what makes her tick. What kind of man she’s looking for.
“I don’t know…” she trails off, her eyes burning a path of awareness down my body. “You seem like the kind of man, a woman can depend on.”
My cock is harder than brick and focusing on the road just got infinitely more difficult. I’m lucky it’s a straight shot to town or I’d worry about making a wrong turn.
“Are you blushing?” she teases.
A denial is on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t want to play coy with Jodi. I want no games between us. This attraction we share isn’t meant for a shallow tryst. It’s deeper than that.
“I can fix your car,” I tell her instead. It gives me a reason to see her again, and more time to talk to her.
“You don’t have to—”
“I want to,” I interject. As the warm glow of Hope Peak comes into view, I realize I’m running out of time. “Let me take care of you.”
No sooner are the words out of my mouth than I realize how intense I sound. I’ve skipped thirty reasonable steps between meeting this woman and falling in love with her. Maybe more.
I’ve never been the man to sit back and watch life pass me by. When I decide I want something, I reach for it.
Jodi Sizemore is no different.
I want her to be mine more than I’ve ever wanted anything else.
The guys back home in Chicago would laugh their asses off if they could see the way she has me hooked. I’m ready for her to laugh it off and downplay my words. But she doesn’t.
“Buy me a latte.”
Jodi
Reid drops my car off at theLast Hope Innbefore he drives Amber home. It’s where he’s staying while he waits out the holidays before moving on to the next place. I check in to my own room before he takes us over to Amber’s. I could stay atThe Snowcap Inninstead, but I’d rather stay close.
He insists that he can do the work himself when she tries to argue that he should take it to the local mechanic. I swear every word out of her mouth only insults him more. The truck is filled with tense silence as we drive from the inn to Amber’s home.
She doesn’t bother to thank the man who saved us from walking to town, But I do. He didn’t have to stop for us. I can feel her eyes rolling as I make plans to meet him for our date. I’d rather go with him, but I haven’t seen Amber’s mom in almost a year. If I skip out without visiting, I’ll never hear the end of it. Reid goes on toPerfect Brews, while I help Amber carry her bags inside. It's a short walk from the bungalow to the coffee shop, and I won’t be outside long enough to become cold. Not even in this sweater.
I can hardly believe I was so bold.
Buy me a latte.My cheeks burn from the memory. I’ve never asked a man out on a date.
He didn’t seem to mind though. His dark eyes lit up, and the beginning of a smile was teasing the corners of his lips. He looked happy until Amber joined us in the truck. His smile melted as soon as she started to argue with him.
“My dad trusts August,” Amber tells me once we’re out of earshot of the truck. Reid waits until we’re inside before he drives away. “We don’t know that man. He might not even be a certified mechanic.”
“He’s a good man, Amber.”
“You don’t know that!” she hisses.
The urge to argue burns bright in the back of my throat as I stare her down. I know he’s a good man. I feel it in my bones. But I can’t tell her that. She’ll think I’m insane.
Maybe I am. Trusting a man I just met? Definitely insane.
“Let’s give him one day,” I offer in compromise. “One day to fix my car.”
“Ugh,” she groans.
