“You sure I didn’t just brainwash you with my dick?” he asked.
I put the fork down and raised an eyebrow at him. “Seriously?”
He shrugged. “Thought it was funny.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Okay…so maybe Ididn’tbrainwash you with my dick. Noted.”
He nodded to himself as if he was really taking notes, then shoveled another bite of mac and cheese into his mouth. I watched him, leaning against the counter, just…observing.
God help me—I liked him.
I let my eyes roam over him, took in the curve of his shoulder, the set of his jaw, the quiet contentment in the way he ate like this was the best part of his week. I’d stumbled into his town without any warning, a complete and utter disaster, but somehow…somehow, he looked like he’d been waiting for it.
Waiting forme.
No one had ever looked at me like he did. Treated me like he did.
I needed to get the fuck out of this town.
“You really don’t just…do this?” I asked, blurting out the question without thinking. “Like—you don’t just pick up strangers who need help, fuck them, and send them on their way?”
Beau snorted. “You ain’t a stranger, Noelle…you’re just strange.”
I shoved his shoulder, laughing. “Fuck off.”
He caught my wrist before I could fully pull back, fingers curling around it gently—his touch firm but warm, thumb brushing once across my pulse.
“I mean it,” he said, all teasing gone. “I don’t do this.”
Something in my chest pulled tight.
“I’m not sayin’ I’m some monk or that I’ve never had a one-night stand,” he went on. “But I don’t bring women into my house. Don’t cook for ’em. Don’t…” He glanced down at where our knees touched. “Don’t just let myself want someone like this.”
I swallowed. “You know I’m not sticking around, right?”
“I know,” he said, then reached up to drag his thumbacross my lower lip. “I ain’t thinkin’ that far in advance. Just enjoyin’ what we’re doin’ here tonight.”
My breath caught, but I nodded. Because that was the only way I knew how to survive things like this—things that felt like maybe, in another world, they could’ve been more.
“Okay,” I said softly.
Beau let my wrist go and reached for the pan again, scooping up another bite of pasta and holding it out toward my mouth. I rolled my eyes but leaned in, letting him feed me.
“Still hot,” I murmured around the bite.
“Still good?”
“Unfairly so.”
He grinned. “I still think that’s just the sex talkin’, but I’ll take it.”
I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of the flannel, then folded my arms on the counter and looked at him. “So what’s the deal with you, anyway?”
His brows lifted. “What do you mean?”
“You’re, like…weirdly nice. Ridiculously hot. You listen to Dolly Parton and make perfect mac and cheese. And what…you’re single? Either you’re a government experiment or you’ve got bodies in the crawlspace.”
