Page 67 of Lucky in Love
“Not if we don’t fall in love.”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Good point. And since there’s no chance of that…”
He did a mini double-take but didn’t rebut it. And why would he? She was not the type of woman someone like him could ever fall in love with. He would wise up to her imperfections soon enough. Until then, she could handle hanging out with a hot world traveler.
And just to keep herself safe, she’d call into action the barrier around her heart. The one she’d fortified over the years. Once the drawbridge was up, nothing got in. None of those pesky emotional inconveniences. Certainly not anything close to love.
“So, I’ll pick you up for dinner later?” he asked.
Dang, she’d wanted a night off from him to talk to her friends about this latest development, but what could she say other than, “Sure.”
“See ya around, Gray.” His kiss goodbye had her mentally tightening the hinges on the drawbridge.
After she cleaned up Daisy’s mess, ran the dishwasher, and swept the entryway, she jumped in the shower.
Normally, she didn’t wear much makeup—some mascara and lip gloss every now and then—but if she and Brody were going to actually date, she had to at least try to live up to his standards. Plain Jane from Nowhereville would have to step up her game.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
When Brody returned to his cabin, he cranked up the heat and took a long, hot shower. After a few days with someone around all the time, it seemed quiet. And lonely.
Brody wouldn’t lie. When Alex had mentioned ever so casually that they would never fall in love, his heart had taken shrapnel. Maybe he didn’t know what love was—entirely possible. Or perhaps he fell in love frivolously—also conceivable. But after only a couple intense days with Alex, he would swear he’d taken the tumble.
However, was it just another bout of “vacation love?” The kind you fell into at the point in a relationship when everything was perfect—the honeymoon phase. Brody had never really gotten past that.
Even with Chloe, because of his frequent trips, they hadn’t progressed to the spending-every-day-together part of love. The making meals, paying bills, doing chores, and arguing over what to watch on TV part.
What if it was the mundane day-to-day stuff that killed relationships? He didn’t know! But he wanted to find out.
He’d been as surprised as Alex at his startling admission that he wanted a family. And while it might have been an off-the-cuff answer, deep down, he knew it was true.
He was thirty-five and not getting any younger. If that made him old, well, fine. Hedidlike watching birdsandThe Weather Channel. So, maybe the desire to be a husband and a dad was right on schedule.
In all his travels, he’d met a lot of women, but none like Alex. Beautiful, smart, funny, and thoughtful was a rare combo. He especially liked her dry humor. But from what she’d said, it sounded like he’d better temper any delusions of happily ever after.
Brody had to think this through though. He may be in love with her, but what could he offer her? She wasn’t leaving Green Valley Falls. If they were to have any chance at being together, he would have to move here. And with his whole life up in the air, could he make that commitment?
It would be unfair to Alex to declare any feelings until he knew for sure. He put it on his list of things to work out. Right after figuring out a new source of income.
Clean and warm and with a few hours to kill before dinner, he sat down with his laptop and dove into “work.” Which, right now, was still just doing research on vlogging and how to monetize internet videos. He studied merchant services, e-commerce software, and apps that might suit his purposes. Along the way, he jotted down possible advertisers and marketing agencies.
When he took a break to check his email, he noticed two from Chloe. Thinking there might be a problem with his last article, he clicked into the first one.
Saw there was a huge storm up there. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Call me. Love, C.
“Love?” Brody said out loud. “I think knocking boots with my boss set that ship to sail.”
If the first message surprised him, the second one made his mouth fall open in pure shock.
I made a mistake. Nathaniel and I broke up. I want to get back together. Please call, C.
The nerve of this one! Did she really think an electronic apology would fix what she’d done? Wait a second. He went back and reread it. Sure enough, she hadn’t even technically apologized.
He felt nothing. Well, aside from the tiniest mix of vindication and smug satisfaction. But other than that, her message had no effect on his heart. There wasn’t the slightest temptation to consider her request, much less actually take her back. Heck, he didn’t even want to respond to her.
It was weird to think that only four weeks had passed since his trip to New York. Thirty days since he’d been on the precipice of proposing. In that time, his feelings for Chloe had gone from hurt to anger to indifference. He hadn’t realized emotions could be so fickle, but supposed being betrayed gave them leeway to do what they wanted.
He didn’t answer her and instead called his mom to check in.
