Page 9 of Opposites (Never) Attract
Sunshine was always something else.
The Last Hope K-12 school system never knew what to do with her. They kept skipping her grades ahead, until how special she was became lost in how awkward she was.
Sitting in on all my senior classes when she was only fifteen, she was still smarter than everyone else. So painfully awkward and earnest, she became an easy mark to the assholes who didn’t see she was meant for bigger things.
Sticking up for her was just the right thing to do.
There were times in high school when I could practicallyfeelher eyeballs on me. Figured it was probably just some starry-eyed crush, but I never called her out on it.
Sunshine had no friends that I ever saw her with, because she had no one in her age group who could relate to her. Certainly the boys in school would have nothing to do with her.
From an early age, she’d been saddled with the nickname Smarty Sunshine, and she’d never been able to shake it. Too smart, too awkward, with glasses, braces, bad hair and pimples – the poor kid didn’t stand a chance.
Not like her sisters, who were all red-headed knockouts.
In so many ways, she never fit in anywhere.
Not with school friends. Not with the town. Not even with her family.
Which, now that I knew the truth…made sense.
She fit in here, though. She looked expensive and sleek with that sharp haircut and those killer red lips. That suit that probably cost more than my truck, that hugged all the curves she didn’t have when she was fifteen. Everyone in that office watched her like she was the fucking boss.
Alone in this hotel room, I could allow myself to think it. To say it.
“Hot.” I breathed. Sunshine Calloway had grown up, from an awkward kid, to a beautiful woman, who, by the looks of it, was really, really good at making money.
Something the McGraws were counting on.
Pullingopen the door of the fancy steak house, I stepped inside and let the door close behind me. Immediately, the noise from outside was gone. The sea of people shoutinginto their phones. The non-stop honking of horns. Trucks rattling through the streets. But once the door of the restaurant shut behind me, all of that was suddenly muffled, leaving just the quiet hush of a fancy restaurant that smelled like money.
Call me crazy, but I wanted my steak houses to smell like meat and fire, but I wasn’t going to complain.
If it got me ten minutes alone with Sunshine, I’d take it.
She was waiting at the end of the long mahogany bar, speaking to a man who was hanging on every word she said. For a second, I watched the exchange, fascinated by her in her element, the same way I’d been fascinated by her in that conference room. She commanded attention here. Demanded it.
The guy wasn’t putting any moves on her, but he said something that made her laugh and tip her head back. Her blond hair caught the light from the chandeliers overhead and turned all that warm blond hair to gold and bronze.
I realized, watching her, I’d never heard her laugh. She had a good laugh. Throaty and rich, nothing faked. It was a sound that hit me in the gut and made me want more.
She’d changed out of her killer suit into wide-legged pants and a yellow plaid jacket that screamed fashion, without much common sense. It was raining outside and that jacket wouldn’t protect her against the elements even a little.
Still, in that color, she lit up the whole damn room.
I’d never seen her so…I couldn’t think of the word I was reaching for.
Hot, sure. That was easy. Everyone looking at her could see she was drop-dead gorgeous.
Happy.
That was it. I’d never seen her happy. Never with herguard down. Never not braced for judgement or hurtful nicknames.
She never stood with her chin raised and her shoulders straight, head tipped back in laughter. That realization sucked. She had to leave home to be happy.
I felt this irrational and overwhelming bomb of anger. Pissed at myself, her family, and the entire population of the Gulch, really.
A lot of people had treated her like shit.
