Page 86 of The Love Shack

All that warm excitement faded from her expression, and a mask of polite interest fell into place. “Okay.”

The last thing he wanted to do was overwhelm her, but it wouldn’t be fair to her to start something she might not want. So, he settled more comfortably against the tree, stared out at the yard and said, “I’m not into casual sex.” For her, though, he might make an exception—if it was the only way he could have her.

“Me, either. Go on.”

The ready agreement was promising. “I always wanted a dog.”

He sensed more than saw her confusion. “Pets are awesome.”

“I wanted a family, too. You’re right that I’m a serious-minded person, always have been. Even in college, I had an end goal in mind. Good job, house, wife, kids, all in that order.”

Behind Handsome, she settled against the tree, her shoulder touching his, her attention rapt in a way he hadn’t expected. “You want kids?”

He couldn’t tell if she was appalled or intrigued.

“Eventually.”

“So not now?”

“Pretty sure I can’t just snap my fingers and produce a baby.” By the expression on her face, his joke fell flat. “I’m thirty-four.” Couldn’t help the way his gaze dipped over her, seeing all the signs of her youth. “Ten years older than you.”

“Practically ancient,” she quipped. “Go on.”

Smart-ass. He fought a smile, because this was serious and yet, she’d just made it clear the ten-year difference didn’t factor in for her. “I thought I’d be married long before now. My brother and I grew up in this nice, upper-middle-class home. Two professional parents with important jobs, but they always made time for us. My mom was a school superintendent, my dad a lawyer. They were strict, but I think also fair.” When Handsome turned to his side and dozed off, Oliver continued to lightly stroke him. The dog responded to him, to his touch.

He wanted Lark to do the same, but in a very different way.

He definitely didn’t want her dozing off.

“Everything was going according to plan. I was a physical therapist with a six-figure income at a well-respected practice, working with college athletes and some professional players. Dating a woman in the same practice. Then my dad died.” They’d been close, and he missed his father still. “He was playing golf when a massive heart attack took him.”

“That had to have been an awful shock.”

“He was gone before the ambulance arrived. It’s been a little more than a year now. My mom was lost. They’d been a team for so long that she couldn’t seem to get her footing back. She retired from her position, and I think it gave her too much time to focus on her loss.” He huffed a quiet laugh. “That sounds heartless, doesn’t it? I don’t mean it that way. She’d always been a doer, but after losing Dad...” His mother became a sedentary stranger, almost a recluse. “She ignored invitations from her friends, and when I visited her, she barely seemed to know I was there.”

Resting her hand on his arm, Lark sympathized. “Almost like you lost both parents.”

That was how it had felt. “My brother’s been hurt more by it. He’s a few years younger than me. Always the baby, you know?” Imagining how Gordon would react to being called the baby, he half smiled. “Not that he wasn’t a great guy. He just relied on Mom more. Losing Dad was hard enough on him, but Mom withdrawing like that... I’m not blaming her. Please don’t think that.”

She waved that off. Interested and concerned, she leaned closer. “You said your brotherwasa great guy?”

So she hadn’t missed that emphasis? He hated thinking about it. That was a problem, too. He’d shut them all out, all their struggles, so he could focus on his own life and moving forward, sticking to his plan. He’d own up to it now, because he was done turning away from problems, especially his own.

“Gordon is married, has a sweet baby girl, everything to live for...but he started self-medicating.” What a shitty way to describe drug addiction. “That’s what my mother called it at first. She thought it’d be a simple problem to fix and she wanted me to do something. So did my sister-in-law. Gordon spiraled out of control so fast that it took us all by surprise. I talked to him so many times, trying to get him to see a specialist. Nothing I said mattered, but then, I was a physical therapist, not a professional who deals with emotions.”

“You do pretty well with emotions, too,” Lark said, nodding at Handsome.

“Animals are easier than people.” No one expected them to understand. But a grown man? Yes, he’d had expectations for his brother. “Instead of seeking help, Gordon turned into a hothead, blowing up on everyone.”

“Including you?”

“Me, his wife, our mother.” Frustration gathered, making his temples pound. “He got fired, started mixing drugs and alcohol. The last time my sister-in-law called me, I didn’t want to go.”

“But you did anyway.”

It had felt pointless. And in the end, things would have been better if he hadn’t. “Gordon was out of control. He had the car keys, planning to go out. When I tried to stop him, he took a swing at me, and I...” He tightened his jaw.

Lark filled in for him. “You swung back? So? Was he a little guy?”

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