Page 12 of Wishes and Research

Yes.

That was it.

Polite.

The town was weird, so it required a lot of manners.

Fraser made a pleased sound that did stupid things to me, so I did my best to ignore my reaction and his happiness as he reached for the door. “Let’s get you settled.”

That was…

Did dates say that?

Work colleagues didn’t but I hadn’t dated in a while. It was obvious that my skills in that department were rusty, but I wasn’t sure where things crossed from a me problem to a the town is weird issue.

It was entirely possible that we’d already blown past that point because he kept his hand in place as I climbed in and then he buckled my seat belt.

No, this wasn’t a me thing.

I wasn’t even sure it was a town thing.

My brain said it was a weird as fuck thing—and it didn’t usually curse—but lower areas were disagreeing with it and I was back to not knowing what to do. Even realizing how careful he’d been with his hands didn’t help me figure out anything.

“I’m not sure what’s going on.”

Shoot.

I hadn’t intended to say that, but he was so close and my brain was focused on too many other things to keep track of what shouldn’t escape. Apologizing was the first step to fixing the problem, whatever that was, but Fraser smiled.

Sweetly.

Understandingly.

“Did it make you good nervous or bad nervous that I helped you in?” The question wasn’t reasonable at all, but he said it so calmly, I forgot it was ridiculous.

“Um, I don’t think I know the difference, but you didn’t do anything wrong.” Technically. Logically. “It was just…”

Unexpected.

Weird.

Kind of sexy?

No, I wasn’t going to say any of that, so I did the smart thing and pressed my lips together. I expected laughter from Fraser or at least a smirk, but he kept his sweet smile in place. “Thank you for letting me know that I didn’t do anything wrong. That’s enough of a response and I’m proud of you.”

That should not feel as nice to hear as it did.

I didn’t know him well enough to have any reaction to his words.

He was a stranger who’d just been watching me eat breakfast and he’d be leading me in the woods.

Ugh, I sounded like some weird version of Hansel and Gretel.

“I’m not going to ask what you’re thinking, but I am going to let you know that I’m going to keep doing what comes naturally to me. All you have to do is to let me know if we’re still at the not doing anything wrong level.” Fraser paused and waited.

He was going to be a pain in the butt.

“I can agree with that plan.” And I was going to hope we didn’t move past that not doing anything wrong level of weird. “Also, thank you for not asking about my thoughts.”

---