Page 22 of Other Side Of Never
He barked out a laugh.“Are you having your own conversation in there?”
Pulled out of my own head, I blinked up at him and flushed.“Kind of?”I squeaked.
He grinned.“It’s okay.You’re probably a better conversationalist than I am anyway.”
“You did okay yesterday,” I teased.
“Speaking of yesterday,” he winced, “I forgot to pay the bill.”
I waved him away.“I got you.”
He shook his head.“No.Absolutely, not.I’ll go in later and settle it up with Susie.”
“That will be difficult seeing as there is no record of you being there and your dinner was not on the menu.”
“Then let me reimburse you,” he insisted, his voice dropping.
“You can owe me,” I countered, then flushed further.
Pushing myself on him again?Really?
He shook his head but smiled.“I’ll make it up to you.”He looked away, his eyes on Isaiah who bounded up and down the shoreline, stopping here and there when something shiny arrested his attention.“Thank you for everything you did yesterday.Seeing Aaron so upset rattled me.”
“He’s not being fair,” I murmured.
Kian’s gaze swung back to me.“After everything he’s been through, he doesn’t have to be.”
“Is he always like that with you?”
He huffed out a harsh breath.“Not at first but it’s getting worse and worse.I understand.There’s a lot to process, and with me moving to town, I haven’t really given him the space to do that.”
“If you gave him more space, he might blame you for that as well,” I murmured.
He tilted his head back and looked at me appraisingly.“Don’t judge him too harshly.He’s just a kid and wasn’t prepared for all of this.”
“So were you.”
His face closed.
I could press my point, but then this gentle man would pull away and have no one to talk to.Instead, I pressed my lips together and nodded.“I don’t judge him other than to say he’s a good kid.A good man, I suppose.”Plopping back down on my blanket, I offered, “Leave your stuff here and take the human hurricane for a swim.”
He reached back to grip the neckline of his t-shirt, and my eyes dropped to the thin strip of skin revealed along the top of his shorts.
He stopped to confirm, “You sure?”
I swallowed and jerked my gaze away before I drooled.Forcing myself to casually look away before meeting his eyes, I assured him, “Believe me, it’s no hardship to sit here.”
He grinned and yanked his shirt over his head.
I allowed myself one millisecond to take in the wide chest, tight abs, and the narrow line of hair centered between the V at his hips, the tempting arrow pointing to the Promised Land, before busying myself sorting their pile of belongings on the blanket.
Their whoops of laughter told me it was safe to look up and look I did.
Acres of smooth, honey-toned, sun kissed skin fairly begged me to steal a taste.
I needed to get this little crush under control.Falling for Kian, a man who had made it clear in more ways than one he wasn’t looking for a relationship with me, would complicate an already tenuous situation.
In Sage Ridge circles were tight.If we got together only to fall apart, it would add so much more drama to his life.He needed my circle, especially Wren and Max, to accept him so Aaron might give him a chance.
