Page 62 of The Only Time

“I don’t know. Eric has been different. He smiled like ten times at dinner last night,” Layla says.

“And he is awfully protective of you. Installing all of those security cameras and motion detectors,” Stella adds before taking a sip of her champagne.

I can feel my cheeks heat at their words. I touch my face, wondering how obvious it is.

Stella smiles. “You don’t need to be embarrassed, honey. We think it’s great.”

“I don’t,” I start but get cut off.

“Okay. Here we go,” Madelyn says as she walks in holding up several dresses. “I’m going to hang these right here on this rack. You tell me which one you want to start with.”

Layla puts down her drink and nearly leaps off of her seat.

The rest of the afternoon we spend sipping on champagne while oohing and ahhing over how beautiful Layla looks in each dress. Being the decisive business owner that she is, she was able to nail it down and pick her favorite one with ease.

It was one of those moments when they dim the lights and add accessories like a veil and heels. All of a sudden, it’s real and emotions bubble up.

It was beautiful to watch Stella and Layla cry over the perfect dress. I feel honored to have been part of the moment.

But I can’t stop thinking about what they said to me earlier. How Eric seems happier and protective of me. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t noticed it myself, but it’s dangerous to live in those thoughts for too long. It will only lead to my heart being broken, which I’m pretty sure is something that is inevitable at this point.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Eric

Mia has been with me for five weeks now. Can someone change your life in five weeks? I feel different from the man I was when she first got here.

It’s harder to get through a workday now. Everything here feels mundane and monotonous. I keep picturing the swing I’m building for her. It’s almost done and I’m itching to get into my barn and finish it.

I didn’t even want to go to work today. Mia got a call from her brother last week. Her neighbor said she saw that ex-boyfriend of hers snooping around her house the other night.

I fucking hate this guy. What does he want with her? I don’t even like to ask myself that question because I’m terrified of the answer.

At this rate, I don’t see how I could ever feel good about her going back home. Not just for her safety, but I’d be a fool not toadmit that I feel something for her. Every night on my way home from work, I tell myself to keep a wall around my heart. Yet the second I walk in the house and see her face, I feel like another piece of that wall falls.

But I still love what I do, right? I mean I’ve worked my entire life to get to this point. Who throws that all away? Not me.

Yet when it hits five o’clock, I close down my computer and head out to my car. I’ve left at this time all week, with the promise to myself that I will eat dinner and get back to work in my office for the rest of the night.

Only I don’t. Instead, I go to my barn where Mia comes out with some wine and talks to me while I work. We laugh and joke around. I even fucked her up against the wall which was one of the hottest moments of my life.

As soon as I open the door and see her face, there it is. That feeling in my chest that feels tight while the rest of the muscles in my body seem to relax.

I lean down and kiss her lips.

“How was work?” she asks with her perfect smile.

I groan. “It was fine.”

She laughs. “You’ve groaned and said it was fine every night this week.”

“What did you do today?” I ask, wanting to steer the conversation away from my work. It makes me tense enough while I’m there.

“I worked on some new marketing ideas,” she says, reluctant to make eye contact with me.

I’m not sure what that’s about but I shrug it off.

Then we spend the night watching some ridiculous show that I claim to hate but find myself sucked into the drama. Another night that I never thought I would enjoy if you described it to me a year ago, hell even a month ago, but now it feels right.

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