“Speaking of which,” I said, “I got you something.” After reaching for his hand, I led him back across the street to the truck. He went around to climb in on the passenger side, and I handed him the bag. “I don’t want you to be upset. I just saw yours was ripped, and… well, you’re going to need it.”
Alex’s eyes went wide as he pulled the jacket and accessories out of the bag. “You bought me a coat?”
“And a hat and gloves. Good leather ones, since you’re working outside. But before you say anything, they didn’t cost a fortune, I promise, so you don’t need to feel like you owe me, okay?”
To my relief, Alex was thrilled, quickly removing his bulky sweatshirt so he could try it on. “Wow, this is really nice, Vaughn.”
“It fits okay?”
“Yeah, it’s perfect.” He slipped the gloves on, closing his hands into fists to test the size. “I could’ve used these an hour ago,” he said with a laugh. When he turned to me, the sincerity in his eyes overwhelmed me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He reached for my hand. “Can I make you dinner for it at least?”
I laughed. “You kidding? You can make me dinner whenever you want. I hate cooking.”
“I noticed,” he said with a laugh.
“Hey! I’m notthatbad.”
His silence wasn’t reassuring.
“Seriously, you can cook whenever you want. I’ve told you you’re welcome in the house anytime you want, even without me there. So help yourself.”
10
When I came out of the living room the following morning to find Roxy sitting on the dog bed with Noel, I quickly looked around for Alex, but he was nowhere to be seen. The coffee pot was already on, and my favorite mug sat beside it. The same one I had to handwash every morning because it couldn’t go in the dishwasher. But Alex had made sure it was ready for me.
The schedule for the morning was quiet at the clinic, so I’d told Alex, Melanie, and James to come in a couple of hours late. I wanted to use that time to call my mom and catch up with her after her trip to Portland. It had been a few weeks since I’d last talked to her, and although we weren’t as close as we used to be, I still liked to know how she was doing. She’d answered right away and sounded happy as usual, despite the colder than usual temperatures that had been hitting the Oregon coast. She’d mentioned going to a painting class with a friend later in the day, and it made me smile.
“Paint something for me,” I encouraged. “My house needs some color.”
She laughed. “I will. Anything specific?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Something blue,” I said without thinking.Like Alex’s eyes…
After ending my call, I texted Bri to confirm if we were still on for dinner this weekend. As much as I missed my sister, there was a part of me that dreaded seeing her too. Bri and I were simply too close for me to try to hide my growing feelings for Alex. Within minutes of getting together, she’d figure out how I felt about him. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to know, but I knew how she’d react once she heard that I had a homeless guy living in my loft whom I couldn’t stop daydreaming about. Especially considering how protective she could be of me and that she was still trying to set me up with her friend, Trinity. Once she’d made up her mind, it was nearly impossible to change it.
Speaking of her friend, I had to roll my eyes when my sister texted back.That depends… have you called Trinity yet?
No.I paused before hitting send. Maybe introducing her to Alex wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Maybe if she got to know Alex like I had, she’d see what I did and start to care for him too. I wanted Alex to have more people in his life he could reach out to if needed. The poor guy had no one, and even though he seemed to be getting along with Melanie and the rest of the staff, I wanted him to know there were people outside of our little work arrangement that he could turn to. Even if it took some coaxing for Brianna to warm up to him, I knew she’d come around and be someone Alex could trust.
With that thought in mind, I texted her back.How about I bring someone else instead?
After I got dressed, I headed across the lawn to get the clinic ready for the day. I still had an hour before anyone else would show up, but I wanted to take advantage of the quiet to get a few extra things ready for the week ahead. Out of habit, I glanced at the window above the clinic as I approached, wondering if Alex was up there or if he’d gone for another long walk as he liked to do when he had the time.
When I opened the side door of the building, I immediately noticed the light above the stairs was on, which seemed odd, considering I usually locked the door separating the clinic from the loft, but I didn’t worry too much. I trusted Alex enough now that I wasn’t concerned about him taking anything, but I still didn’t want to make a habit of leaving things undone.
I started to head toward the kennels to check on my overnight patients, when I heard a familiar, high-pitched noise coming from upstairs. I knew what it was, since a harmonica had a distinct sound no other instrument could mimic, but I had a hard time picturing Alex playing one. A guitar maybe or even a saxophone during his quieter bluesy moments, but aharmonica?Who in the hell played a harmonica?
Apparently, the sexy blue-eyed man who’d finally kissed me last night did. Just another piece to the mysterious puzzle.
I went to the stairs, then paused on the bottom step when I heard the slow, sorrowful cadence. There was simply too much emotion within those notes for Alex to have wanted someone else to hear, and it made me painfully aware I was about to intrude on a private moment. Unable to walk away, though, I tightened my hold on the handrail and just listened to the broken pieces of his heart projecting themselves in song, wondering what on earth he’d been through to cause that devastating melody.
I had tried so hard to be patient, to give Alex the time he needed to tell me about his past, but it was becoming more and more difficult the closer we became. And that damn kiss had me all kinds of twisted up now.Fuck!Was itme?Was I the reason he was so sad now? He’d seemed happy last night and even pulled me in to cuddle on the couch after we ate dinner, so what changed? It had always been a little hard to read Alex’s moods or know what he was feeling, so for all I knew, maybe he’d woken up and regretted the whole thing.
Spying the small whiteboard at the bottom of the stairs, I wrote a brief message for Alex, making the words big enough that he wouldn’t miss it when he came down.
