Page 52 of Keep My Heart
‘Nick!’ I cry out, grabbing hold of his shirt as the most glorious feeling pulses through me. He rests his forehead against mine and slowly removes his hand from between my legs. I take a moment to catch my breath and feel Nick pulling away.
I open my eyes and see him looking at me. He almost looks regretful, like he shouldn’t have done it. But I wanted him to. What he just did was incredible.
‘We should go,’ he says, heading to the door.
I put the straps of my dress back in place, then jump off the counter and race to catch up with him. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing. We just need to get going. Your mom will be back soon.’
‘Don’t you want to talk about this?’
He stops and turns to me. ‘I shouldn’t have done it. I took it too far.’
‘It wasn’t too far. Why would you say that?’
‘I don’t want you thinking I’m only helping you out to .?.?.’ He glances away. ‘Be with you that way.’
‘I don’t.’ I grip his arm. ‘Nick, look at me.’ I wait until he does. ‘You’re a great guy, and I know you’d never use me like that. What happened just now is what I wanted, and I think you might’ve wanted it too.’
He blows out a breath. ‘I did, but that’s the problem. We almost—’ He shakes his head.
‘Nick, we’re both adults. We didn’t do anything wrong. And doing more wouldn’t be wrong either. I mean, if we both wanted that.’
His phone dings. ‘That’s probably Sawyer. We should get over there.’
He doesn’t want to talk about it. Nick and I have always been able to talk about most anything, but maybe that’s not true anymore. Or maybe he needs time to process this and accept that it’s not wrong. I need to do that too. There’s a part of me that still feels a loyalty to Chris, but I shouldn’t. He’s not my husband anymore. Even when he was, we hadn’t been intimate for over a year. We didn’t even live together for most of the last six months. So why would I feel even an ounce of guilt about being with Nick? I can be with whoever I want. It’s not wrong.
‘I don’t regret it,’ I say. ‘Do you?’
‘No.’ He leans down and kisses me, a quick friend-like kiss,nothing like the hot passionate kiss he gave me just moments ago. I hope that doesn’t mean he’s changed his mind about the fake-dating thing. I want to keep seeing him before he has to leave.
He takes my hand and we go out to the driveway. Holding my hand is a good sign, so maybe the fake dating thing will keep going. Nick isn’t someone who goes back on his word. If he commits to something, he follows through.
When we get to the brewery, I see a sign outside saying it’s closed today. Sawyer mentioned last night that he’d be closing the place so he could go to his mom’s party. He doesn’t have enough staff yet to keep it open. Right now, it’s just him and the bartender he hired. I’m impressed he’s doing this. Opening a business is a lot of work, and keeping it open in a small town like this could be a challenge. Hopefully, the town’s loyalty to the Kanfield name will be enough to draw in a crowd every night.
‘About time you got here,’ Brody says as Nick and I walk in. Brody looks completely different than when I saw him last. He was only 11 then, which means he’s around 26 now. He shot up in height and filled out with muscle, and his brown hair is darker than I remember.
‘What are you drinking?’ Sawyer asks from the bar.
‘I’ll take the lager,’ Nick yells back.
‘I was asking Lyndsay. Ladies first. Where’s your manners?’ Sawyer smiles at me. ‘What can I get you?’
‘I’ll do the pale ale.’
‘Good choice,’ he says, going to fill the glass.
‘Lyndsay?’ Brody says, eyeing me. ‘You’re not the Lyndsay who—’
‘The one I used to tutor,’ Nick says, interrupting him.
‘No shit?’ Jason walks up to us. ‘I thought you moved to California.’
‘I did, but I’m back visiting my mom.’
Jason’s as tall as Nick with thick dark hair and the start of a beard. Looking at Nick, Brody, and Jason standing next to each other, I can’t believe how good they look. They’re all really hot, although Nick’s the hottest, at least to me. I’m still burning up from what he did to me. How in the world is he still single? How are any of these guys single? Girls would be crazy not to date them, or maybe they do, but the guys just don’t want to commit.
Jason looks between Nick and me. ‘How did this happen? How’d you two connect?’
