Page 15 of Shelter from the Storm

Right now, though.

In this moment.

It was as Levi had said.

Love at first touch.

Well…

This was inconvenient.

Chapter Four

Gretchen stared into Theo’s coffee-brown eyes, trying to repress a shiver. And not one of fear, which had been her standard form of trembling lately.

Nope. This shiver was based on…

Shit.

Attraction.

She hastily pulled her hand from his, aware she’d let that handshake linger longer than was normal. She also broke eye contact, glancing anywhere except his handsome face. She feigned interest in his office, wondering how she could save this first impression. There was no way Theo wasn’t regretting his decision to hire her, because could she be any more socially awkward?

Pull it together, Gretchen.

Taking a long, quiet breath, she slowly turned to face him again. It had been too long since she’d met new people, Briggs keeping her social circle very small and contained to people who were his friends, not hers.

At one point, she’d thought she had a girlfriend, Destiny, whose boyfriend, Darryl, was Briggs’s partner. The four of them did a lot of couple things, and while she and Destiny never spoke away from the men, she’d enjoyed her company, delighted to have a real friend.

Unfortunately, she’d found out the hard way that Destiny wasn’t as good a friend as she’d believed.

For the past few years, Gretchen had been relegated to the corners of rooms, watching others interact rather than seeking to join in. When out in public, she’d learned the best way to keep from angering Briggs was to simply look down and never establish eye contact.

She’d earned too many beatings from a jealous Briggs whenever he thought she was paying attention to another man. He also didn’t like it when she laughed at someone else’s jokes or paid someone a compliment. Fear of setting him off was why she’d waited in longer lines at stores, just to get a female clerk, and why she let him do all the talking whenever she found herself drawn into a conversation with his fellow cops and friends.

Briggs explained away her silence as if she was a weirdo, claiming she was socially awkward—the description his way of humiliating her in front of his friends. The truth was, when she was younger, she’d been quite the chatterbox, always getting in trouble at school for talking too much.

But the days of appeasing Briggs were over, so she needed to learn how to interact with people—well, mainly men—again. She hadn’t struggled as much with Manny, because five minutes in his presence and she’d known he was as harmless as a puppy. A big, goofy puppy. And it was virtually impossible to be uneasy around Edith, since the elderly woman did all the work, carrying the conversation.

As a single, attractive man, Theo was her first true test—and she was blowing it.

Lifting her eyes to his face, she sucked in another breath. She’d seen Theo during her interview, of course, but she hadn’t really looked at him, too nervous to speak to a man, thanks to Briggs. So instead, she’d spent most of the video chat looking at the square that contained Nora Storm’s face. It was easier to talk to Nora because she was a woman and seemed closer to Gretchen’s age.

As such, she’d avoided looking at Theo the entire time. Something she could see now was a mistake, because she was wholly unprepared for how attractive he was.

He was exactly the kind of man she’d learned to give a wide berth while with Briggs.

Now, however, she not only could look, she should look. Establishing eye contact was the polite thing to do when in normal social situations.

Her heart started to race when she realized how tall Theo was. She’d been a tiny bit taller than Briggs, so she had taken to living in flats and slouching whenever they were standing next to each other. Even now, she resisted the urge to do the same, though Theo had at least four inches on her.

He wore his light brown hair longer, combing it back off his forehead, and while it was fairly straight, it curled slightly at the ends. He also sported a well-trimmed beard that framed his strong jawline perfectly.

However, it wasn’t even his handsome appearance that she found most attractive. It was the crinkled laugh lines by his eyes and the smile that hadn’t faltered once since she’d introduced herself.

Gretchen distrusted her instincts when it came to people because too many had let her down in the past. But when she looked at Theo, she saw a friendly, happy guy, and despite that little voice in the back of her head warning her to be careful, she couldn’t help being drawn to him. She’d been painfully low on happiness in her life, and she was desperate to experience it.

Even if it was vicariously through Theo Storm and Edith Millholland.

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