Page 90 of Traces Of You
“I kept it simple. I’m not big on decor.”
They moved into his family room. His walls were bare, but there were some family photos on the fireplace mantel.
“I’ve never had a home of my own to decorate. I wouldn’t know the first place to even start.”
He’d forgotten she’d never lived alone or had a place of her own.
“It’s not me,” he said. “My mother is always on my case to make the house more lived in, but I don’t need that.”
“If you’re comfortable, that is all that matters.”
They walked to the staircase in the front of the house, then up to the second level. “There are three bedrooms and two full baths up here.”
“Lots of space for one person.”
He’d never thought it’d just be him in the house, but he wouldn’t say that to her.
His past was just that. In the past.
His future was standing next to him. They just had to get there.
“Hopefully it won’t always be only me.”
“That’s funny considering what I heard tonight.”
His steps faltered and he spun. “What did you hear?”
“That the Ridgeway boys don’t settle down. And many have tried to get them to.”
What the fuck kind of statement was that supposed to be?
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“What isn’t?” she asked. “That many have tried or that you don’t settle down? You’re all single.”
His shoulders relaxed. He hadn’t realized he’d tensed with worry that she’d believe negativity stated about him that could hinder their progress.
“We are. I can’t speak for my brothers. I can guess. Clay has been in the service, then focused on the business and my father’s recovery. Blaze was in school and now his career. Ash is having too much fun being single. I don’t talk to Gale much about it.”
“I don’t care about them,” she said. “What about you? Have you had any serious relationships?”
“A few,” he said. “I’m not sure how serious I would consider them. Maybe I’ve been searching for something I didn’t know until you entered my life again.”
“What?” He hadn’t expected her eyes to be so wide, or her jaw to lower enough for birds to fly in.
“Reenie, I’ve tried, I’ve been in relationships, but one thing or another ends it. My job normally, but most times I’m just not feeling for them what they might for me. I don’t want to lead someone on.”
Carey was the closest he’d gotten to feeling something towards love, but she’d called it quits.
The fact he wasn’t too upset over it said she wasn’t the one.
“You’ll let me know if it’s not what you want, right?”
His knuckles trailed down the side of her cheek. “I will, but I can tell you right now, you’re what I want.”
“You say that now, but it’s the newness. I’ve been there before.”
He didn’t want to be compared to the assholes of her past.
