Page 46 of Shelter from the Storm

Boss. Job.

She repeated those reasons again, wishing Theo wasn’t so hot. And nice. And such a good dancer.

“What about you? Any hot-and-heavy relationships in your past?”

It felt as if Theo had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. She’d surprised herself following the Fall Harvest Festival fair by opening up to Theo about her dysfunctional family. And while she hadn’t shared all of it, she’d certainly given him a pretty good peek at her upbringing.

However, that was as much as she was comfortable talking about. The idea of speaking Briggs’s name aloud to Theo made her stomach hurt. He was a part of her past she wasn’t proud of, that she was truly ashamed of, actually. And while she was trying to reframe those emotions, she hadn’t succeeded yet.

She liked the way Theo looked at her. He didn’t see a weak, spineless victim. Instead, he saw a strong, confident woman.

She preferred that. Needed it.

Because she found herself becoming the woman he saw.

She couldn’t lose that.

Not yet.

She shook her head, aware she’d let too much silence follow his question. “I haven’t dated much.”

It wasn’t a lie. With the exception of Briggs, she hadn’t dated at all.

“Well,” she said, turning away from him. “I guess everything is in good shape here. I should head back to the office. I have a few emails I need to respond to, and Everett wants to show me some graphics he’s been working on for the event barn.”

She heard Theo’s soft sigh, and she felt the slightest twinge of guilt for shutting down their conversation.

Gretchen paused when he placed his hand on her shoulder, glancing back at him.

“Maybe one day you’ll feel comfortable enough to tell me all your secrets.”

“Some secrets are best left unspoken.”

She shouldn’t have said that—because it was clear from his expression it only sparked his curiosity. His brows furrowed, but before he could reply, a loud crash of thunder pierced the quiet.

“Shit!” Gretchen jerked in surprise, even though she knew the weather forecast had been calling for afternoon thunderstorms.

She shivered, her heart suddenly racing. So when Theo opened his arms wide, Gretchen moved toward him before she could think better of her actions.

The thunder had sounded too much like the slamming of her front door in Harrisburg, which was always a precursor to pain.

Gretchen looped her arms around his back, resting her cheek on his chest. Hugs hadn’t been a common occurrence in her life, so it was impossible to resist whenever Theo offered one. Apparently he—and his family—were big huggers, because she couldn’t recall a day in the past few weeks where she hadn’t gotten at least a couple.

Theo wrapped his arms around her, tucking her close. “Hey. It’s okay. Just a little storm.”

She tried to pull herself together, but then there was a bright flash of lightning and another boom of thunder.

She closed her eyes, hating that she was letting the storm trigger her.

Theo ran his hands up and down her back, murmuring comforting words.

“I don’t like storms.”

Theo tightened his hold, letting her remain there, safe in his arms for a full ten minutes.

When her racing heart finally slowed, she lifted her head from his chest.

At the same moment, Theo looked down at her, their faces only an inch or so apart.

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