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“Do not take this on.” Granger steps closer, his voice a gravelly rumble of determination that shudders through me. “This is not your fault.”
“Isn’t it? I’m the one who broke up with him. What if I’d let him do the breaking up?”
“Would he have?” He studies me a moment. “You said yourself, the two of you didn’t do much together and you argued about what you did do. And yet he stuck around.”
“Why? It makes no sense.”
“Which is why I asked Felix to look into him. If this isn’t his usual MO, something has to have triggered his behavior.”
What he’s saying makes sense, but I keep coming back to why. It wasn’t like my ex was getting anything other than arguments from me. We went out only a handful of times. Never had sex. What possesses a man to stick with a woman who won’t sleep with him?
“I didn’t sleep with him.” The words are out. Blurted in a way that sounds defensive.
“What?” Granger’s forehead wrinkles with confusion and I don’t blame him.
“I didn’t have sex with him. Which is why this is so much more baffling.”
Granger shakes his head. “You two never…?”
“No. We barely kissed.”
“But you dated for…wait, I don’t even know how long you were together.”
“I’m not sure if we even were together. We went out a total of five times over six months. Never made it past a goodnight kiss.”
He scratches his jaw. “There’s definitely something we’re missing. Felix will find it.”
“Thank you for asking him to look into my ex even though I think you shouldn’t have.” I force a smile. “Now, to the other thing. I can’t move in with you.”
“Of course you can. For a couple of reasons. The main one being it will send a clear message to your prick of an ex. One, you’ve moved on and, two, you aren’t alone any more.”
“Yes, but it also sends a message to everyone in Winter Lake. There’s no way the gossips are going to miss it.”
“True.” He grins. “The yarn crew will have plenty to say about it.”
“Oh god.” I want to cover my face with my hands. “Gran already has us getting married.”
The choking sound that leaves Granger has me laughing even though there isn’t anything vaguely funny about my situation.
“I know. Crazy right?”
“I, ah, wouldn’t go that far.”
“You don’t think the two of us getting married is crazy?” He can’t be serious. He’s over a decade older than me. What could he possibly see in a woman like me?
“No.”
I don’t know what to say. The first time Gran mentioned it, I spat out my tea. The second time I rolled my eyes and called her ridiculous. The third time, well, that was when I threw the word crazy around. But now. Looking at Granger. With his taut jaw hidden beneath a layer of scruff, the heat simmering in his gaze…
Is he attracted to me?
Me? The woman who doesn’t have her life together and a stalker ex?
“Granger?”
“We need to pack your things.” He spins on his heel and heads toward the Lodge leaving me slack-jawed.
“Wait.” I hurry after him. “Don’t you have to take my car somewhere?”
