Page 24 of One Unexpected Gift

The way she berated him one would think he cheated on her. In Trish’s mind, he had, only not with another woman but with his time. It was true, Nick had preferred to go with his buddies to the races, travel with the guys to ski Aspen, and hang out with his crew rather than spend time with Trish. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, it was just that he didn’t like her... enough.

Or at least, that’s how she put it.

“You’d rather ride your dirt bike, ski the slopes, or go deep sea fishing than make love to your wife.”

It was sort of true. Sex with Trish was good, but he could do it whenever he wanted, and it was always the same. Predictable in a nice way. He wasn’t into kinky fetishes; he didn’t need toys or porn to spice things up in the bedroom. Sex was sex. But the adrenaline he got from dropping four thousand feet of alpine with the danger of a possible avalanche at his back? Yeah. Epic. There was no repeating that.

Their divorce had been mostly amicable. He would have been fine staying married to Trish, going home to her after one of his trips. But she grew tired of waiting for him. He didn’t blame her for finding comfort in Kirk.

Kirk was around. Kirk was stable. Kirk showed up in her bed night after night while Nick was away.

Marriage had been a learning experience for him. He’d learned he wasn’t good at it, and that he was one hundred percent okay with not being good at it. Instead of taking it on like the next challenge to overcome, it was the first time in his life he gave up.

Nick wasn’t sure what it said about his character, but it wasn’t something he wanted to evaluate. The irony that his injury happened around the time Trish started calling him again, complaining about Kirk and begging for Nick to take her back wasn’t lost on him.

He never told Trish about it. Maybe it was because he was afraid she’d try to work things out between them. She’d hinted that she’d let Kirk go if Nick promised to change. Promise, he did not. Instead he focused on his new challenge. His injury.

Escaping to Maine permanently where he didn’t have to face his fears, his buddies, his reality, was the logical answer.

Nick picked up the bottle of laundry detergent and dumped some in the washer. Meant to be wasn’t a thing. The here and the now was. Hopefully Skylar was okay with that as well. He’d need to be upfront with her, especially if he wanted to take advantage of her time in Maine.

The rest of the morning passed with him doing chores around the house, mostly to keep his mind occupied and to pass the time. At twenty of, he brushed his teeth, shoved his wallet in the back pocket of his jeans, and headed out to The Zone.

The lot was mostly empty, which he expected this early on a Monday. He backed his truck in a space away from the building. As soon as he shut off the engine, Skylar pulled in. He flashed his lights and she parked next to him.

Nick hopped out of the truck and greeted her at her car.

“I’m glad you texted me last night.”

She licked her lips and closed her car door behind her. “I mean, a girl needs to eat.”

“I’m shallow enough not to be offended that you’re using me for a good meal.” He opened the passenger side door for her. “And my body.”

She chuckled as she climbed in the cab of his truck.

Joking about sex was easy with her, but he meant pretty much everything he teased her about.

When he was situated behind the wheel again, he buckled up and started the engine. “Do you have any preferences? Any type of food you don’t like?”

“I’m easy to please.”

Did she mean that as a double entendre or had his mind automatically turned everything she said into a euphemism? Pocketing his retort, he turned left onto the main road. “Our options are limited in Angel Springs. We could head to Kingfield or Farmington. Preference there?”

Skylar rubbed her hands up and down her jean-clad thighs. Thighs he couldn’t help but remember were strong and solid when they’d been locked around his hips, hugging him as close as humanly possible to her core.

“How about Duke’s?” She named a local joint that was known more for its fresh fish than its ambiance.

“If that’s what you want.” Next time he’d treat her to dinner. A long, leisurely dinner that ended with dessert. At his place.

Nick gripped the steering wheel tight. His place? He wasn’t one to fantasize about bringing a woman home. Visiting her place for a few hours, sure. Not that he hadn’t brought a woman or two back to his house, but that was only because Valerie Tinkerton had two roommates and no privacy in her apartment, and Julianna Frank still lived at home.

They were nice women he dated a few times and then grew bored with. It wasn’t their fault. The it’s not you, it’s me line was actually true, not that he’d used it with them.

He turned down a back road, known mostly to locals, that led to the hole-in-the wall restaurant down by the water. It was on the other side of the pond from Camp Illumination and wouldn’t be open for long once the days grew shorter and the cold temperatures stuck around.

There was only one other car in the dirt parking lot, not that he was worried too much about having to wait long for a table. Although, he wouldn’t mind waiting, prolonging his informal date with Skylar.

She got out of the truck before he could get to her side to help her out. Nick placed a hand on her lower back and guided her inside. Duke’s hadn’t seen a renovation since it opened in the sixties. It was part of the flair. It was an order at the counter and seat yourself kind of establishment which was fine with Nick.

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