I don’t understand why he’s so angry. Sure, Holly wasn’t part of the plan when we moved out here, but I’m not going to pass this by just because Elliot has his knickers in a twist, as though I couldn’t possibly run a businessandbe in a relationship at the same time.
He’s speaking directly to me here, silently accusing me putting Holly before them. He’s referencing what happened in the city and how it almost tore us apart. That won’t happen again, and honestly I’m pretty pissed that he thinks I would allow that to happen.
“Holly is special. She is so much more than one woman.” Clay jumps into the argument, his upper lip pulled back in a snarl as he defends Holly.
He’s right: Holly is special. I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind. Clay is clearly in deep, and if I was a better man, I would step back. I am not a better man. This is about to get out of hand and I need to calm everything down before I leave. It’s not Clay that I’m worried about, but our other brother. However, what I don’t understand is why Elliot is so wound up about us both pursuing her.
“Why are you so upset about this?” I ask him directly, keeping all accusation from my voice. We need a straight answer and not a comment made out of anger.
Huffing out a sigh, he runs his hands through his hair as he tries to calm down. “This is supposed to be for us,” he starts, voice even despite the fact his body is practically vibrating with frustration. “She’s coming between us already.”
I don’t buy it. He’s the one that’s causing this problem, no,creatinga problem where there wasn’t one. This is between me and Clay, and has nothing to do with Elliot. He’s acting like a jealous boyfriend!
Wait. Is that what this is all about? “You’re jealous.”
He snorts and shakes his head. “Holly is all yours, I don’t want to be involved. This isn’t like with Rosalie; that was one occasion.” He cuts himself off and raises his hands in a stop motion. “I am just asking you both to be careful. I have given up a lot to start this business with you here.”
Elliot spins on his heel and stalks back to his room, the door closing firmly behind him. I stare at the place he was standing, and slowly glance over at Clay.
“The man doth protest too much, methinks,” Clay finally mutters, and I silently agree with him. Elliot’s reaction seems pretty extreme.
“Anyway.” Clay gives me a tight smile and shrugs his shoulders. “I would wish you luck, but, you know.”
“I get it. I’ll see you later.” Chuckling, I leave the apartment and make the short walk over to Holly’s.
I knock on her door, bang on the dot of seven. Am I nervous? There is a buzz of nervous energy running through me, but really I’m more excited to spend time with her.Calm down, Bear, don’t jump ahead.I still don’t know if she wants tonight to be a date or just a meeting over dinner.
Her door swings open and my smile instantly widens as I take in her gorgeous form-fitting red dress. It hugs her curves so tightly that I find myself jealous of the fabric. To be wrapped around her body like that… Her golden curls are pulled up into a bun, exposing her long, pale neck. I am starting to regret inviting her out for dinner, I happily would’ve eaten here, and it wouldn’t be Italian food on the menu… She would be my sustenance for the evening.
Stop.I need to get these thoughts out of my head before I get hard. Turning up to a first date with a boner is not a great start in trying to get her to choose me. I’m trying to show her that I can be a gentleman and treat her right. Alternatively, if she doesn’t want this to be a date, while I would be severely disappointed, I can show her that we are nice neighbours and not going to destroy her business.
However, the dress she is wearing isnota casual-dinner-with-a-neighbour type of dress. Hope rises inside me at the possibility of what this could mean. Clearing my throat after being momentarily stunned, I take a deep breath, to greet her, or give her the tulips, but she smiles and beats me to it.
“Shall we get this date started?”
SIXTEEN
HOLLY
‘Shall we get this date started?’What is wrong with me?No ‘hello, how are you’? I had to jump straight in with that. He must think that I’m an overeager moron. I had wanted to give him an answer straight away so there were no awkward moments, without having to acknowledge the question hanging over us. In my head, the idea had been perfect. However, that all fell apart when I saw him standing there in his white shirt looking like he just stepped out of a magazine.
Chuckling awkwardly, I reach up and rub the back of my neck. I need to say something to break the atmosphere. “Sorry, that sounded keen.”
His smile widens and I stop beating myself up at the pure pleasure that’s beaming back at me. “Keen is good. You look beautiful.”
I use the opportunity to quickly ogle him and take in the little flash of muscled chest I can see where the top button of his shirt is undone. He’s not wearing his cap, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him without itc. Most of his hair is cut short apart from a little bit at the front which has been brushed back. It suits him.
He’s such a big guy, but there is no part of him that intimidates me. It’s probably because goodness shines out of him. I don’t know how else to explain it other than that he wears his soul on his sleeve.
“So do you,” I murmur back automatically.Wait, shit, what did I just say?“I mean–” Choking with embarrassment, I shake my head and try again. “Handsome, you look handsome.”
For soufflé’s sake, I’ve turned into a moron.
“Thank you,” he chuckles, taking the compliment easily and not bothered by my foot-in-mouth moment. It’s strange, but somehow, I am instantly soothed. Hearing him laugh lights up a part of me that has been dark since Jake left.
The happy feeling disappears as quickly as it arrived thanks to memories of Jake. The familiar ache in my chest chases it away and I can feel myself pulling away. I don’t want this, I don’t want to feel this way anymore – and Bear and Clay make me forget about the pain. This is my first date since Jake left and I don’t want to think about him tonight. Part of me feels guilty that I’m even thinking of other guys, let alone going on dates, but the louder part of me knows that I need to do this for myself. Jake is gone and he’s not coming back.
“These are for you.” Bear hands me a bouquet of tulips, the blooms a gorgeous deep purple. Gasping with pleasure, I smile at him widely, shoving all thoughts of exes to the back of my mind.
