Page 50 of No Going Back
The microwave beeped again, dragging his focus back to the task at hand. He couldn’t cook, this morning proved that. Even if he had the means, he didn’t have the skill set, but he could make shit work. It was one of the few skills he possessed, so he decided to put it to good use today.
He opened the appliance and checked on its contents, testing to make sure everything was heated through before rotating in the second dish. While it was cooking he raced back through the house, cutting through the dining room on his way to the front windows. He cupped his hands against the glass, peering out into the dusky evening, looking for any hint of headlights. When he didn’t find any, he turned and rushed back, repeating the process two more times before finally finishing his task.
Once everything was hot, he set both plates on the makeshift table he’d cobbled together from a pair of sawhorses and a spare piece of wood, using a stick lighter to light the candle he picked up while he was out running errands. Once everything was situated, he hurried back to the front of the house, pulling the door open and stepping onto the porch.
Dianna said she would be home around eight, and it was nearly a quarter after, so hopefully her estimate wasn’t far off.
Barely two minutes later a set of headlights cut down the unlined street, easing closer as he strained to make out the vehicle they belonged to. He stood on his darkened porch, waiting as they came closer. He had one foot on the top step when he realized it wasn’t Dianna’s car, but a police cruiser slowly creeping down the road.
“Fucking Cooper.” Griffin leaned against the thick pole bracketing the steps leading from his porch and crossed his arms. Cooper looked straight at him, holding his gaze as he coasted past.
No doubt the younger man was hoping to catch Dianna. Do his best to convince her to give him a shot.
Well he was too fucking late. Someone else already beat him to it. Someone else who was about to do something he’d never done before just for her.
He was about to initiate a conversation—one Dianna would hopefully enjoy, and he would suffer through—over Mae Pace’s reheated meatloaf and mashed potato dinner.
Less than a minute after Cooper’s car disappeared, another set of headlights streaked through the darkness. This time the car was moving a little faster. Almost like the driver was in a hurry.
And this time when Griffin’s foot hit the top step, he didn’t slow down. Not until he reached Dianna’s open garage door.
She climbed out of her car, lips twisting into a little smile that made it seem like she was happy to see him. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“You haven’t seen fancy yet.” He tipped his head toward his house. “Come on. I’ve got dinner for us.”
Dianna’s chin tucked as she tipped her head to one side. “Are you sure? I don’t hear any smoke alarms going off.”
Her jab caught him by complete surprise, and he couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that sprang free.
He was starting to realize that Dianna’s sweet, soft ways weren’t the full extent of who she really was. There was so much more to her than what she showed the world. It made it hard to regret what happened last night. Hard to convince himself he was doing the wrong thing by making room for her in his life.
“I’m technically not responsible for the bulk of the preparation.” He stepped closer, itchy to get his hands on her after being away from her the whole day. “All I did was reheat Mae’s cooking.”
Dianna’s eyes widened as she shimmied along the side of her car and squeezed out the tiny gap between the bumper and the frame of the door. “You got us food from The Wooden Spoon?”
“Well I wasn’t going to try to cook unsupervised.” He snagged her as soon as she cleared the door, pulling her close and brushing his lips across hers. “I’m trying to learn from my mistakes.”
Dianna smiled against his mouth. “That makes two of us.”
This was the perfect moment to ask about her mistakes. Share some of his own. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Especially when the alternative was nipping at her lower lip and slicking his tongue against hers. She tasted just as sweet as she smelled, as if the sugar she worked in every day had become part of her. Plus, he was hoping Officer Cooper might decide to make another pass and get an eyeful of Dianna’s body pressed against his.
But as much as he wanted the younger, better-looking man to know he’d missed his chance, he’d been in Moss Creek long enough to know gossip spread around town like wildfire, and the last thing he wanted was for Troy to catch wind that he’d been attempting to devour Dianna in her front yard.
Griffin leaned back, gently sucking Dianna’s bottom lip between his teeth as he pulled away. “Come on. Let’s go have dinner.”
Dianna seemed a little surprised that he was hitting the brakes on their physical interaction, and honestly so was he. It wasn’t like him at all. Physical connection was so much easier to manage than the rest of the parts that went into a relationship. That’s why he relied on it so heavily, hoping to make up for all the ways he lacked when it came to everything else. But the thought of Dianna looking at him the way so many women had before made him feel sick. He didn’t want to disappoint her. He didn’t want her to see how incapable he really was.
It left him walking a very fine line, one that put him in danger of exposing all his faults.
“What are we having for dinner?” Dianna’s hand was soft in his as he led her across their front lawns and up the steps to his house.
“Tonight we are having a delectable ground sirloin slice, along with a root vegetable mash, topped with a savory beef reduction.”
Dianna grinned. “Meatloaf and mashed potatoes with gravy?”
“It sounds like you already knew what the daily special was.” He opened the screen door Dianna had admired, pulling her into the front room and toward the dining room, which he was using for its intended purpose for the first time.
