What world was he living in? Gavin was apologizing and not taking it back, Rachel was standing up to Mom, there were puppies… Nothing was as it should be.
Chapter Six
“Just choose joy sometimes.”— BrenéBrown
Rachel
Negotiations were most certainly not Rachel’s strong suit. She held her own when it came to the boys, but Evelyn had her number.
To be honest, Rachel wasn’t sure who had won this round. It seemed to be a draw. Which probably meant that Evelyn won, because Evelyn always won.
Now everyone had left, and it wasn’t even eight, and Rachel was ready to collapse on the sofa and watch something mindless. Clicking on HGTV, she did just that. Her eyelids started to drift closed as Joanna Gaines helped remodel an already lovely home in Waco. Then the doorbell rang.
Because of course it did.
The only thing that had Rachel rising to see who it might be was the hope that it could be a tag team of Girl Scouts with cookies ready for purchase.
She pulled back the curtain. Travis stood there, a glow of porch light illuminating his broad back,since he had turned toward the street. She frowned. What on earth was he doing here?
Unlocking the door, she tugged it open.
“Travis?” she asked.
Well, wasn’t this just unexpected? Also, not entirely desired. Sofa, television, then maybe a Matthew McConaughey flick to get her in the mood for a little special alone time. The kind that involved her imagination and her hand.
“Hey.” Travis turned back to her, bashful, which wasn’t the usual for him. He held out a paper bag. “I thought you might appreciate some refreshments after the party.”
She opened the bag, looked in, and then glanced back up at him. He’d brought her tequila, limes, Grand Marnier, simple syrup, and the cute salt that came in a special plastic container with the sombrero lid.
Her heart squeezed, in the good way.
Gavin was right, she liked surprises—when they weren’t of the alive variety.
“You read my sign?” she asked.
He grinned, the bashful gone and his persistent charm taking its place. “I did. And I also figured you deserved a little present for standing up to my mom the way you did. She’s not used to that. It’s good for her.”
She liked the bashful better. The bashful was vulnerable,and Travis didn’t generally do vulnerable. To be totally honest, the charisma put her on edge and made her wary of his intentions. Most women probably fell all over themselves when he turned on that dark magic of his, but Rachel wasn’t most women. That part of him was so polished, so determined…it wasn’t authentic.
The conversation stalled when Rachel didn’t say anything further. The vulnerability seeped back into his expression as they stood there together at her door—her inside with all the fixings for margaritas, him outside…alone.
“Come in,” she said immediately, like an idiot who became incompetent around a guy who sounded like a young Matthew McConaughey and had around the same build—the athletic kind that she admired.
Travis, however, didn’t move.
She’d invited him in, and he hadn’t moved.
Crap.
The seventh-grade awkwardness had nothing on the way she felt right then.
She gestured into the house. Internally she warred with herself for overextending the invite. On the one hand, he’d brought her the makings of drinks. On the other, he was Travis.
“I mean…” The decision became easy because…tequila. “You’re welcome to come in, if you’d like.”
He stared at her for a moment,then a wry grin spread across his mouth.
Oh dear. That was nice.
