Page 22 of Crash with Me
“If that’s what you say, I’ll choose to believe you.” I hold up my hands in concession. “Then what’s really going on here?”
His shoulders slump and he drops to the bed. “I don’t know if I should be doing this?”
“Sitting in my room or… getting married?”
“The wedding. Marriage.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I didn’t mean to hurt Seth when Kelly and I got together. I swear. But when we met, I felt something inside of me. A spark of joy I haven’t felt since… well. It’s a feeling I’ve been chasing since the kids’ mom died.”
My heart aches. Despite what he’s done to Seth, despite the fact that he was seemingly coming on to me a few minutes ago, I feel sorry for the guy.
If what I’ve heard is even half true, the man was crazy in love with his first wife. And when she died, she took a big piece of his heart with her.
I don’t blame him for trying to chase that same high. I do blame him for seeking it out in his son’s girlfriend.
“So what changed?” I ask him.
“I just… I see the way Seth looks at you. I see the way you look at him.” He shakes his head. “It’s not like that with Kelly.”
“Oh, Walter.”
“And then the game.” He scratches the back of his head and drops his hand to the side. The same way his son does when he’s working something out. “The only reason we made it to the final round is because Kelly wrote the damn questions and gave me the answers.”
“That doesn’t mean?—”
“What if this is a bad idea?” he asks. “What if I sacrificed the relationship I had with my son to be with a woman who will only leave me like the others? Because I don’t have enough to give her.”
God. This poor guy is killing me. There are times being a bartender feels like being a therapist. But I’m not equipped for this.
“I don’t have a crystal ball,” I say, swallowing hard. “I can’t tell you what the future holds. Only you can decide what is and isn’t right.”
“Do you think I’ve ruined things with Seth forever?”
“I can’t answer that either.” I give him a sympathetic look. “But your son is a good man. He isn’t vindictive. He has a big heart. If you give it time, and you give it your all, I think you might be able to build a new relationship.”
“I’d really like that.” He sighs again and stands. “Thanks for listening to me.”
“I hope it helped.”
“It did, and?—”
The door swings open. A wild-eyed Seth stands on the other side. His chest is rising up and down, as if he just ran across the hotel. His hands are balled into fists at his side.
His dark gaze darts between his father and me. “Is everything okay here?”
“Yeah,” Walter says. “It is.” He starts out the door but pauses at the threshold. He cuffs Seth’s shoulder. “You have a damn fine woman here.”
Seth blinks in surprise, but turns back to me. His eyes are full of warmth and something else. Something captivating and breathtaking. “I know.”
“Don’t let her get away.”
“I won’t.” He closes the door behind his dad and turns to me. “Seriously, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. He only made a little pass at me?—”
“That son-of-a?—”
“But his heart wasn’t in it.” I raise my hand to cup his cheek. “He’s a groom with cold feet. A man having second thoughts.” I stroke his light beard. “He’s a father who regrets his relationship with his son.”
“You must have had some conversation.”
