Page 17 of Tempt

“That’s steep,” Mike says over my shoulder. “I thought you had a budget?”

“It's expandable,” maybe I hadn’t expected to expand it by ten grand, but it isn’t like I couldn’t handle it.

“Thought you were saving up for a house?”

“I am,” I say with a nod. “But I can make this work.” My insurance settlement will cover at least eighty percent of the cost, the rest I can finance and pay off in half the loan time. “This is my truck,” I say with complete confidence. “Let’s go,” I say walking toward the front entrance of the dealership, just as a salesman steps out.

“Do you see anything you like?”

“That depends on the deal you offer,” I wasn’t gonna lead the man to believe that the truck is already mine. Even another fifteen hundred to two grand off the asking price is better than nothing.

“Then let’s step inside and see what we can do.”

* * *

I climb out of my truck and start up the drive to Kyra’s house. Before I reach the front porch the door comes open and she steps out. “New truck?”

“She’ll never be my lady, but she’s a close second.”

“Your lady?” Kyra says with a laugh.

“Yeah,” I beam, “Lady was my first truck and I bought her with hard earned money from summers of sweating my ass off. She was good to me, until some prick burned her up.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kyra says with a frown.

“What are you sorry for? Did you light the match?”

“No but if I hadn’t gone to the lake that night none of this would have happened.”

“Maybe not this, but something worse could have.” Kyra leans over onto the railing surrounding her deck.

“Phil took that opportunity to approach you but what if it wasn’t then. What if instead he chose a night when you were on your own?” Her gaze meets mine. “That guy is a creep Kyra, and I’m glad he chose to approach you at the lake. I don’t regret going after him and if I had it to do all over again the only thing I’d change, is the fact that I stopped.”

“You got arrested Garrett, and he lit your truck on fire. How is any of that okay?”

“I got a new truck,” I say with a shrug as I point to my new ride. “It has ass warmers, so that’s a plus. And Bluetooth radio.” I nod my head, “I can talk to it, and it listens. Some futuristic shit right there.”

She laughs and that is my goal.

I don’t want Kyra blaming herself for anything that’s happened. Even if Phil hadn’t been pushing at her that night I still most likely would have gotten a hold of him at some point. It was only a matter of time because in my mind he had something I wanted.

“Well, I guess that is a bonus,” offering me a smile as she stands tall and takes a step back. “I was watching a movie,” fidgeting with her hands twisting in front of her I can tell she is nervous. “It’s probably not one you’d like, but,” she points over her shoulder. “If you’re not doing anything and you wanna join me, you can?”

“Will there be popcorn?” I try not to seem too eager.

“Who watches a movie without popcorn?” Wrinkling her nose in the cutest of ways she throws her hands out at her sides. “But if you tell me you don’t like it smothered in butter then I’m taking back my invite.”

“There is no other way to eat popcorn.”

Kyra’s smile widens and she takes another step backwards toward the door. “Now Gran is asleep, but I can’t promise she won’t be up and joining us at some point.”

“Your Gran is good people.” Though I’ll admit I’d rather have a little alone time with Kyra. It seems something is always in our way and at this rate I’d never get to make a move.

Stepping inside I glance around and instantly feel at home. The lingering aroma of something baked hangs in the air. The couch overtakes the entire living space, with so many big fluffy pillows it looks like you’d sink in if you took a seat.

“The couch is a little big, but there were only two recliners when I moved in. It took years to convince Gran to get something new and when I did, she let me pick it out.” Kyra smiles wide, “I swear the couch is more comfortable than my bed.”

And now she has me wondering about her bed.

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