“Right. Of course,” I whisper, all the courage I built up to talk to him, to tell him how I feel is gone just like that, in the blink of an eye.
“Mouse,” he calls.
I open my eyes. “Yeah?” I don’t even bother looking at him as I watch building after building pass by out the window.
“If you open that door even a little, baby, I’m not backing off again. I’m shoving that shit wide open.”
I turn my head his way, as he slows to a stop at a red light, and my heart starts to pound against my ribcage.
“You gotta be sure you’re ready for that though.”
He turns his head my way and the moment our eyes lock, that weight on my chest eases just a bit. “You scare me.”
“I know I do.” He reaches over, grabbing my hand, holding it between us. “Now tell me—do you want me to take you home or do you want to come home with me?”
As I stare into his eyes, I know there is no turning back if I agree to go home with him. And as scared as I am to let him in, and to see what happens, I know that I would despise myself for not taking the risk.
“I want to go home with you,” I say quietly.
He brings my hand to his mouth and brushes his lips across my knuckles, then places my hand on his thigh. After he flips on his blinker and turns in the direction of his place, he covers my hand with his and keeps it trapped there the entire drive.
It doesn’t take long to get to his building, and, after he parks out front, he gets out then walks around to my door, meeting me there as I slide out of my seat.
“Have you eaten dinner?” he asks, taking my hand in his as we walk down the sidewalk.
“No, I went right to Carly’s when I got off work.”
“I’ll order us something when we get upstairs.” He places a hard hat on my head after we step inside, and I almost tell him that he should be wearing one too, but keep my mouth shut and let him lead the way across the expansive space of the first floor that now has more than a few wooden-framed walls up.
“Where’s Winter?” I ask when I see a small pink scooter leaning inside the elevator when it opens up.
“Her mom is in town, so she’s with her.” He looks down at me then lifts the hard hat off my head after we step onto the elevator, and he presses the button for his floor. “She told me that the three of us have an ice cream date.”
“I ran into her and Miles at the store on Friday when I got off work.”
“I heard. I also heard from Miles that she tried to convince him to ask you out because you don’t have a boyfriend.”
“She’s sweet.”
“She is, but that’s never happening,” he grumbles.
I fight back a smile.
When the doors open, we step off and go through it, and as soon as he lets us in, Skye greets us with a happy dance around our feet. Dropping my bag and my coat to the ground, I squat down to give her some love, and she presses her nose into my neck and chuffs in happiness as I rub my fingers through her thick fur.
“I missed you, too.” I give her neck one last hug then stand and kick off my heels near the door as she follows her dad into the kitchen area.
“What are you in the mood to eat?” he asks, pulling out a stack of menus from one of the drawers.
I walk over to meet him at the counter. “I’m good with whatever you want.”
“Pizza would probably be the quickest.”
“Sure, but can we get buffalo wings too?”
“We can.” He reaches for his cell phone on the counter. “What do you want on the pizza?”
“Everything.” I say, then ask, “Do you mind if I use the restroom?”
“You don’t need to ask. You know where it is.”
With a nod, I head into his bedroom as I hear him call in the order for our pizza, and by the time I come back out, he’s off the phone and has a beer in his hand and pink-looking wine in a glass on the counter waiting for me.
“Thank you.” I pick up the glass and take a sip.
“I know you filled in Miles and Tucker about what went down there for tonight, and I got your story from them, but I’d like to hear it from you.”
I place my glass on the counter, then tell him about Carly saying that she was going out of town after her father’s death, her message to me, calling her and texting her over and over, then finding out this evening that she had resigned from her position at the bank. As I talk, he listens with his face blank, but I can tell that he’s taking every single word in and mentally taking notes.