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Brock

“You’re attracted to her,” Nate told me as we sat outside on my patio later that evening after dinner. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to keep her here longer?”

Everyone else was inside.

Sara and Jenna were having a glass of wine and comparing recipes at the table.

Gage and Seth were streaming a popular show on TV that they both followed.

Nate and I had taken the opportunity to grab a beer and sit outside since the weather was still warm.

We’d snagged the two lounge chairs after I’d hit the lights to illuminate the patio.

I sent him an irritated look. “What in the hell does that mean?”

I wasn’t surprised that Nate knew that I was attracted Jenna.

I probably looked at her like I was a starving man and she was a large gourmet meal.

That was how I felt all the damn time.

I wanted her in a way that couldn’t possibly be normal or sane, but I’d probably lost my sanity from the moment we’d met.

Nate let out a long breath. “I like her, Brock. Hell, I admire all the things she’s done. She’s sweet, but she’s vulnerable right now. Jenna isn’t the kind of woman that you have a fling with. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not sure the two of you are going to manage just being friends. Hell, she’s attracted to you, too.”

I knew that.

It hadn’t taken me long to realize that Jenna and I had an explosive chemistry between the two of us.

“I don’t plan on having a goddamn fling with her,” I growled.

“Then what are you doing?” Nate asked.

Fuck! I honestly had no idea what I was doing. My behavior was unprecedented.

I’d never felt this way about a woman before, and the obsession I had for Jenna was highly uncomfortable for me.

But there was no damn way I could just walk away from her, because my emotions were almost out of control.

“I want to spend time with her,” I admitted. “The attraction isn’t just physical for me. For the first time in a long time, I actually just want to be with a woman because it makes me happy.”

Nate sent me a questioning look. “Are you saying that this could turn into a relationship of some kind? That’s definitely not like you.”

“Fuck! I don’t know,” I said, frustrated. “I like her. I want to get to know her better. I want to get closer to her. Is that so damn hard to understand?”

“Not really,” Nate contemplated. “I’m just saying that none of us have been interested in that for a long time.”

“That’s a huge crock of shit,” I said to Nate as I crossed my arms over my chest. “You could easily be interested in a relationship if you had the right incentive from a particular female.”

My buddy had been crazy about Sara for a long time.

Unfortunately, she’d refused to get involved in anything more than a friendship with Nate.

I had no idea why, because it was obvious that she wanted more.

“That’s never going to happen,” Nate said unhappily. “Therefore, I could give a shit less about a committed relationship. I thought you felt the same way.”

“I did,” I groused as I ran a hand through my hair. “I didn’t want to feel like this. Even if I wanted a relationship with Jenna, her life is in Los Angeles and mine is here. I just want to spend some time with her, and life is too short not to do it. I’ve never felt this damn drawn to a woman before. I have no idea what will happen in the future with her, but I’m definitely not looking for a fling or a one-night stand of some kind. I’m getting too damn old for that shit. Hell, I’m probably too old for her. But I made myself her advisor, and she hasn’t really talked about what happened in Mexico. She’s not over it, Nate. I think she’s burying that whole experience, and that’s definitely not healthy for her. She needs to stick around and deal with it. Who in the hell is she going to talk to in Los Angeles?”