Certainly not today.
Reagan
I wasn’t sure I'd ever seen Lynx like this.The pained expression was hard to miss, but I had no clue what to say to erase it.The man … he threatened my heart in ways he would never understand.I'd been in love with him for so long, but I'd convinced myself he was off-limits.For chrissakes, he’d even told me I couldn’t handle what he wanted from me.I knew that to be true.
And it had nothing to do with sex.I'd had more than my fair share of fantasies about the man, plenty of time spent with my vibrator.I could handle that aspect of it easily.Even now, my body was telling me that being with him would be the greatest pleasure I'd ever known.However, my brain and my heart weren’t thinking along those same lines.
No, I was thinking on an emotional level, and the hell Billy had put me through… It was still fresh in my mind.And although I knew Lynx wasn’t Billy, there was still the risk of heartache in a different form.Something far greater than any pain Billy could’ve inflicted.No, I wasn’t interested in having my heart broken again.Letting Billy go was one thing.If I ever got Lynx within my grasp and then had to lethimgo … I wasn’t sure I'd be the same person after that, which was what scared me the most.
Before I could say anything more, the sound of an engine pulling down the drive had us both turning.
Wolfe’s big black Silverado rolled to a stop behind Lynx’s truck.
I released a breath.A sigh of relief, maybe?Or was that disappointment that was slowly filling me up?
“What’re you kids up to?”Wolfe asked when he got out of the truck and walked around to open the passenger-side door.
“Nada,” Lynx offered, his tone far more cheerful than a second ago.
The huge grin on Wolfe’s face said that all was right in his world.
I glanced over at Amy.Her smile was equally big as she held Wolfe’s hand and walked up to the porch.
“We came by to get Amy’s…” Wolfe glanced down at Amy.“You wanna tell ’em?”
Her smile practically engulfed her entire face and her eyes sparkled when she looked up at the man.
Oh, yeah, that girl was in love, no doubt about it.
I didn’t move from where I stood, a few feet behind Lynx.
“Wolfe asked me and Rhys to move in with him,” Amy said, her eyes darting back and forth between Lynx and me.
“Very cool,” Lynx said, but he very well could’ve said, “Whatever,” for as much enthusiasm as he put into it.
“We’re still gonna take it slow,” Amy added, obviously picking up on Lynx’s tension.“I mean?—”
“You don’t have to explain,” I said, plastering a smile on my face.“Like I told you before, as long as the three of you are happy, it doesn’t matter.”
“Right,” Amy noted, once again smiling as she peered up at Wolfe.“I’ll be right back.”
Wolfe swatted her on the butt, making her yelp before she trotted up the steps toward me.The woman’s eyes scanned the two rocking chairs, but she didn’t say anything, for which I was grateful.
Figuring Lynx didn’t have anything else to say, and certainly nothing that could be said in front of his cousin, I followed Amy into the house.
“I … uh… Are you gonna sell the house?”I asked, blurting the words out quickly.Like ripping a Band-Aid off.
“Actually,” Amy said, turning to face me, “I was thinkin’ maybe you could stay here.I really don’t want to sell it, but I don’t want it to sit empty, either.”
I nodded, trying to play it cool, although the relief I felt was fierce.“Of course.”
“If you could cover the utilities, I won’t charge rent if you could … uh … maintain it.”
I smiled.I liked Amy.A lot.I considered her a friend, even if we hadn’t spent a lot of time together.
“Absolutely,” I assured her.“I can even mow the yard.”
“Thank you.”
