Page 65 of Driven Daddy

“Isn’t it though? You told me what you think about my writing, and my fans. All I needed to know.” I laid my hand on top of Bruce’s head as he leaned harder on me at the anger in our voices. “But we have to work together for the workshop. You make your curriculum, and I’ll make mine, hopefully somewhere we’ll meet in the middle.”

“Curriculum? It’s an impromptu workshop.”

“What? You’re just going to stand up there and talk at them? Good luck there.” I turned to go back to my house. The wind was picking up off the water and my arms were covered in chill bumps. And I didn’t even want to think about my traitorous nipples.

It was just a heightened response, that was all.

“Wait.” He hustled after me. I heard the snap of fabric then he settled his flannel over my shoulders. The instant bonfire scent of him wrapped around me which didn’t help my current situation. “Let’s talk about it since I’m here. Unless you have to be somewhere.” He walked next to me, keeping pace.

Bruce trotted along after us, happy we were finished fighting.

“Fine.” I sighed. It was probably better to talk this out than to go in there blind in a little more than a month.

I glanced back at the flowers strewn across the path. It wasn’t worth trying to salvage them. They’d already been so fragile.

He frowned at them. “Yours?”

“Doesn’t matter. I dropped them chasing after Bruce.” And being distracted by Penn. Increasing my pace, I shuffled my way down the incline of the lane back to the cottage.

There was no conversation between us and the tension increased. Why did I get my back up so fast with him? Was it just because I wasn’t used to being around people?

No.

No, that wasn’t it. I was just fine shopping and chatting my way through Main Street almost every day. The shops were so individualized in Crescent Cove that I couldn’t resist the browse. Which was weird, because I was generally an online shopper, but I found myself walking a whole lot since I’d gotten to this town.

I opened the sliding door, leaving him and Bruce to follow me inside. “Want some coffee?”

“I wouldn’t say no. As long as it’s not laced with arsenic.”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Fresh out. I’ll put it on my shopping list, though.”

He laughed. “So, yoga?”

I slipped off his flannel and hung it on the back of the kitchen chair. I needed to reset again. Having him around me, both his warmth and his scent threw me off. “You’re very astute.”

He tucked his sunglasses into his collar, then he rolled his eyes and dropped onto the couch across from my mat. “I’m trying to have a normal conversation here.”

“And yet, you’re supposedly an author in some regard, I’ve heard. Can’t get more original?”

He rested his head on the back cushion and stared at the ceiling. “I’ll just shut up. You can tell me about your ideas, and then I’ll leave.”

I sighed as I set my kettle to boil. “No. You’re right. I apologize.”

He lifted his head. “What was that?”

I pulled out my beans to grind. “Watch it or I won’t share the glory that is Brewed Awakening’s beans.”

“Oh, you’ve been assimilated, huh?” He stood and crossed to the kitchen. It was a galley style with cabinets against the one wall, along with a fridge. A small island sat in the middle of the space where I’d set up my pour over unit I’d purchased from Ladybug Treasures. It looked like it belonged in a chemistry set, and I was kinda in love with it.

“Fancy,” he said as he leaned on the opposite side of the island. “I personally love to tell Macy I’m going to put her grounds in a K-cup to watch her melt down.”

I snorted. “You do not.”

He propped his head on his hand. “You’re right. I usually ask for an obscene amount of beans before I go back to the city. I just use a drip coffee maker. Have you ever seen that dude on TikTok that drinks right from the carafe with the crazy straw?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“That could be me. Biggest mug you’ve got.”

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