Page 60 of Slow Burn

“Gross,” Georgia whispered, turning away from her brother and some woman kissing.

Nash pulled away from her and looked at Elijah. “Do me a favor and give George a ride home.”

“Just like you’re giving me?” The blonde wagged her eyebrows.

“Never.” Nash was quick to refute Elijah ever touching Georgia. “He’s my best friend, and she’s my little sister.”

Fuck if that wasn’t like a bucket of cold water being dumped on him.

“I’M GRATEFUL I’M not my brother’s doctor.” Georgia cringed as she spoke to Elijah when her brother and the blonde left. “I’d hate to have the safe sex talk with him.”

This made Elijah laugh. God, how she loved his laugh. “Your brother does not want to have kids, so I am sure he wraps it.”

“Thanks for the visual,” she deadpanned, grabbing the last beer from the bucket on their table. “Do you want to have kids?”

Her question immediately stopped Elijah’s laughter. “I don’t want to get married, so having children is off the table.”

“Plenty of people have kids without being married.” She countered, wanting a real answer from him.

Elijah finished his drink, and she knew his rule: he limited himself to only one since he was driving. “And I’m glad that works for some people, but that’s not how I would want to do it.”

“Is this because of what happened with your mentor?” Georgia’s voice softly asked, never forgetting what he revealed to her a month ago.

“His name was Miles Blackwood,” he shared, and she wished they weren’t at the bar for this conversation. “He was fifty years old when he died in a fire, leaving his wife and son behind. It was chaos, on them obviously, but also the whole community.”

Georgia reached out to him and slid her hand in his, noting how he was leaving out how it affected him.

“Our whole station went to therapy, and we did what was required of us, but I couldn’t be in Maine anymore. I moved here a couple of years later.”

“You know it’s not your fault, right?”

He nodded, but she wasn’t sure if he believed it. “Regardless, I don’t want to put myself in a situation where my career could have that effect on someone else.”

“Just to be clear, we all put ourselves in danger every day. Elijah, you shouldn’t sell your life short because of one incident.”

The man she craved turned away from her, scanning the bar before glancing back at her. “Understood.”

They needed to get out of the bar. Her eyes darted to the money on the table and then back to him. “How about you take me home? My idiot brother left double the cost for the beer, so our tab is paid. Is that okay?”

“Yeah.” He stood. Once she hopped out of her seat, he placed his hand on her lower back, guiding her out of the bar.

They didn’t talk much as she got into his car and buckled in. As soon as he was in and had fastened his seat belt, he drove to her apartment complex, the sounds of Coldplay playing low from the speakers.

She loved the song “Clocks,” and she began singing along. Her singing talent was not going to get her on American Idol, but she didn’t care. Music was meant to be felt, so she sang her little heart out.

He pulled into a parking spot, and he turned the car off.

“I hate to tell you,” Elijah said, leaning toward her over the center console and cupping her cheek. “But no way in hell are you replacing Chris Martin in Coldplay.”

The sparks from him touching her were ignored as she laughed her butt off at his commentary. One of the things she adored about him was that he always told the truth.

“And to think I was going to tempt you into sleeping with me again,” she sassed him as she got out of the car.

Even though she didn’t invite him up, he scrambled out of the car. He quickly caught up with her before she got inside the building. With his arm wrapped around her waist, he said, “You just need to breathe, and I’m tempted, Peach. But I’m trying to behave myself.”

Hmm, Georgia wasn’t too sure how she felt about Elijah and him behaving himself.

“You can test your resiliency.” She wiggled out of his grasp. “And come up to my place if you want.”