Page 23 of Love Me Again

Maybe.

Her truck was parked in the mostly cleared driveway in front of a detached garage a little way off from the main house. Josie stopped the UTV, swung off, then just…stared.

She fingered the keys in her pocket, debating which one was more insane. Staying put or leaving.

“Going somewhere?”

Josie jumped. She whirled to face Boone, heart pumping erratically. “None of your business,” she told him loftily.

But his expression was faintly amused and no doubt he wasn’t buying it.

“Why don’t you come into dinner?” he said, gesturing to the main house next to the garage.

“Because I don’t want to see you, Boone. I thought you weren’t going to bother me.”

“I’m not. I’m trying to convince you to eat a decent meal. You’re too skinny.”

“I did not ask for your commentary on my body.”

The mention of her body was a strangely wrong quagmire to step into. Because his eyes took a lazy tour of said body, and even wrapped up in winter outerwear, she could feel that gaze like a slow lick of heat.

And she could imagine, all too clearly, the way his hands used to follow that gaze, stoke that heat. Turn it into a blazing, hot, sweaty…

Stop that thinking right now. She looked away from him, even though her cheeks were heated and no doubt bright red belying what she’d been thinking about.

It was oddly reminiscent of when he’d first started flirting with her. She’d been a shy, sheltered virgin and she hadn’t known what to do with a man showing any interest in her. Especially someone as handsome and charming and reckless as Boone Tyler.

Now, she knew what to do about it. Or at least, she had experience with his particular brand of charm. Unfortunately, she also knew intimately just what it felt like when he applied it.

She’d really thought hating him would change that. She’d thought the emotional damage he’d caused would completely erase any and all physical attraction.

She was discovering in real time that was very much not the case, and she very much needed to get herself together.

“I talked to my lawyer today,” he said eventually, after the moment had stretched out and her cheeks had turned to flame. “If you come in and eat, I’ll tell you what the next steps are.”

“And if I don’t?”

“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see what happens, then.” He grinned at her. That old, charming, magical grin that used to make her feel like she’d won some kind of prize.

But she wasn’t that girl anymore. She could wait. She wasn’t falling for his stupid ploy to get her to eat more because she was too skinny. Whatever his real motivations were, she didn’t care.

But he stepped forward, walking toward the house. She frowned after him, the uneven gait, the clear way he couldn’t walk right. She thought of how easy it had been to launch herself at him and land a few punches. How she’d actually hurt him.

It had been almost two years since that bull had trampled him and her life to hell and back. He should be walking better. He should be recovered.

“Why are you still limping?”

Boone shouldn’t be surprised by the question. Maybe he’d thought she wouldn’t ask because she hadn’t yet, but of course they hadn’t really spent any time together for her to fully observe what he was dealing with.

He wanted to brush it off or ignore the question. It was kneejerk to do both. But she wasn’t going to follow him inside if he did that, he didn’t think. He needed to use it like a trail of breadcrumbs to lure her inside.

Mom had suggested quite a few not-totally-honest ways to get Josie to spend some time with him—like getting her to come to the house for dinner. And stop her from trying to escape in her death trap of a truck.

Mom had also told him not to lie to her about anything important if he really wanted to have a second chance.

Do you really want that second chance?

He thought of the way she’d blushed, because it brought back all the memories of when things had been good and he’d known how to make her happy and he’d felt… Like someone else. Like someone worth working toward.