“You okay?” His tone was gentle, like a caress to the back of my neck.
“Fine.”
Our eyes were locked on one another.
Magnetic. Imperative.
I took an involuntary step toward him.
“Knock, knock.” Richard appeared in the doorway, effectively ending the hold Brooks had on me.
Richard smiled in my direction. “I forgot to give you your welcome bag and brought you the number of the area’s only tow company.”
I took the piece of paper with a scribbled number on it. “Thank you.”
He set the welcome bag by the door. Richard looked at Brooks and then at me. “Well, you both have a good night.”
The owner disappeared, but the tension between Brooks and I had been effectively diffused by his arrival. Now I was exhausted and wanted privacy to sort out the strange pull I felt toward the man who’d rescued me.
Brooks cleared his throat. “You good?”
I nodded.
He stalked toward the door and at the last moment he turned to peer at me over his shoulder. “I’m across the hall from you.”
I frowned. “All right.”
“If you need anything, I mean.”
Without waiting for a reply, he left, closing the door with a soft click.
I locked up after him and then went to look out the window. As my finger traipsed down the gold chintz curtain, I peered out, but I couldn’t see much of anything. The hint of mountains, the subtle twinkling of stars in the night sky.
“What are you doing here?” I asked my reflection in the glass pane. “Running away from all your problems, that’s what.”
I glanced at the closed door, as if I could see beyond it into Brooks’ room.
The man was a giant. Terrifyingly huge. And yet, he’d touched me with infinite care when he wiped the airbag powder from my cheek.
It had been unexpected.
Hehad been unexpected.
I wasn’t the kind of girl who got crushes. I didn’t gush over men. I’d dated in the past, but it had never turned into anything serious.
But Brooks . . .
With a sigh, I left the window and picked up my phone off the bed. I unlocked the screen and immediately went to the photo Salem had sent me several days ago that had intrigued me from the moment I saw it.
Brooks and his brother were standing by a fence. With the slash of bright sun and the way his head was angled, Brooks’ face was unrecognizable. He was shielded by the light, giving me only a glimpse of his strong jaw.
He was shirtless, tattoos rippling across his muscular back.
Every time I glanced at his brother, my eyes immediately returned to Brooks.
Now that I had a face to the picture, it made my insides quiver and warm.
I was meek until I got to know someone. But with Brooks, I’d never thought to be diffident. Words just seemed to pour out of me when he was near. And I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
