He reaches out, and his hand is moving toward my head. “I think you’ve got something crawling…”
And that’s it. That’s all it takes. That one word is enough to make my heart jump in my chest and beat hard enough to feel it in my throat. “What?” I swipe at my hair. “Is it a bug?” Please do not tell me it’s a spider. I move around the counter to get closer to him. When I’m right in front of him, I beg, “Get it. Get it.” Oh, fluck, I hate spiders. “Get it. Please?” I feel tears start to well up.
“Hold still.” He places a hand on my shoulder. He’s tall enough to see the top of my head easily. His fingers flick through my hair a couple of times. I’ve got my eyes squeezed shut tightly because I don’t want to see the creepy-crawly. When he stomps his foot and says “Got it,” I look up at him.
“You did?”
“Yep.”
I release the air that I’d been holding from the fear. My shoulders sag in relief too. “Thank you.”
“Welcome.” His chuckle is a low rumble. “I take it you don’t like bugs.”
He’s still got his hand on my shoulder. I don’t mind it. Ordinarily I’d shrug a man’s hand off my body, but his palm is warm and his touch gives me a little tingle. Weird.
He gives it a little squeeze. A reassuring squeeze. “No. I can safely say that I do not like bugs, spiders, specifically.” Maybe even more than my ex-husband.
“If you ever need anyone to kill one for ya, or any other critter, you let me know.”
I look up to see a small smile on his face. His light brown eyes are twinkling.
I snort. “You’re going to be my hero? You plan to save this damsel in distress whenever I need you?”
“You’re no damsel. I suspect you’re more of a hero than I am.”
“That may be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” I smile and push my shoulders back just a tad. He’s got a good point. Since leaving Travis and moving here, I feel a part of the old Prudence creeping back. That version of me had hidden strength. What is it they call it? Chutzpah? I had that. “You’re a rather puzzling man, Nate.”
“Puzzling? What do you mean?”
“One minute you’re spouting I’d be a terrible mother, and the next, you’re telling me the opposite, in a sense.”
“Forget I said that about the mom thing. Those kids are out of control.”
“You think?” I turn and step away from him, from his scent and the warm hand on my shoulder. “They need a come-to-Jesus talk.”
“Been done. Doesn’t matter. Until Dave, their father, gets home, it’s gonna keep gettin’ worse.”
“Where is their dad? Prison?”
Nate makes choking sound. “Prison? Jesus. No. He’s in the army.”
“Oh… Well, I feel sorry for them. It can’t be easy. For her, either.”
He scoffs. “She’s never…” he shakes his head. “Never mind.”
“Okay.” I’m back in my spot behind the counter. In my literal comfort zone. “Whatdoyou want to talk about.”
“You...” He looks at me intently. “…having supper with me. I’ll cook.”
I don’t know why I do it, but I nod. I agree to dinner with this man. “Only because you slayed an insect for me.”
He smiles and it looks genuine. “I’ll take it.” He pulls his phone out of his back pocket. “Give me your number. I’ll text you my address.”
I shouldn’t. I can jot down his address with a pen. “When do you want to do this?”
“Tonight.” He’s holding his phone at the ready. “Give me your number, sweetheart.”
Oh, hells bells. I do it. Against my better judgement, I do it. My phone chimes.
