Page 30 of Once Upon a Beast

Would rather discuss in person. Today is bad, can Tuesday evening work?

Great, now he’d made her madanddisrupted her sleep. He should have known he hadn’t escaped out from under that black cloud that easily. Hoping that kiss hadn’t screwed things up royally between them, he confirmed she was welcome to stop over anytime Tuesday evening. Then he set his phone down once more and proceeded to stare at the ceiling and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

No response. Either she’d fallen back to sleep or was too upset to text. Guilt rattled him as he lay in bed, now wide awake, staring at the ceiling. If the kiss had upset her, then he needed to do something more than apologize to keep her from backing out on their arrangement. Because if she did that, he’d be back to solitary confinement again. He shuddered. If the past week had taught him anything, it was that he needed human interaction, and not just via web conferences or phone calls. But what could he do to win back her friendship?

Maybe, what I do best.Research.

And he had two days to do it. That was more than enough time for him to put together a proposed web design and strategy to help Del raise the money she needed to repair the roof on her family’s bookstore. Surely, that would go a long way toward salvaging what he could of their new friendship. The thought allowed his overactive brain to quiet, and he finally fell back to sleep.

*

Headed your way.

Her much-awaited text arrived at eight o’clock Tuesday evening. This time, Isaac was prepared. Wasting no time, he took a two-minute shower and changed into clean clothes, not wanting to look or smell like he’d sat in front of his computer all day. Which, of course, is exactly what he’d done; between work and research, he’d logged many, many hours there this week. Hopefully, it’d be enough.

But just in case, he added an extra splash of cologne for good luck.

When the doorbell rang, he grabbed his laptop and slipped out the front door, trying not to wake a napping Louie. Del stood a few feet back from the door, looking beautiful as ever in a flowery top and jean shorts. Pink painted toenails peeked out from beneath her sandal straps. But the smile she wore didn’t quite meet her eyes.

Yep, he’d caused some friction between them with that kiss. But he could make it right,wouldmake it right. Whether or not they ever kissed again, the last thing he wanted was to ruin the one friendship he had in town. And they shouldn’t be kissing, he knew, but damn, he’d be a liar if he didn’t admit he sure wanted to.

“Thanks for stopping by.” He motioned to the chairs on his porch, allowing her some space. “Please, have a seat. But before you share what you want to talk about, I have something I need to say.”

“Ooookay.” She perched on the edge of one seat.

He eased into his seat, angling more in her direction. “I was wrong.”

Confusion clouded her features, those mesmerizing blue eyes locked with his. “Come again?”

“To kiss you. I just…between the emotion of having Louie run off and me worrying and worrying and then you and Brooklyn showing up and—” He shook his head. “It was wrong to cross that line with you, and I promise not to let it happen again.”Unless you want it to, which I hope someday you do.

Her brows rose. “Oh. Well, that’s very noble of you, but that wasn’t why I said we needed to talk.”

Isaac felt both sucker-punched and hopeful all in the same moment. “It’s not?”

“No. But you’re right, we probably shouldn’t be kissing, because we have bigger things to worry about.”

Oh, no, what had happened? An old boyfriend returned to town? She was moving? She—

“The talent show? It’s going to be in six weeks.” At his blank look, she leaned closer. “Six weeks, Isaac! How the heck are we going to pull together something this huge in just six weeks?”

“Wait—that’s what your text was about?”

“Yes! While I was over here hunting for Louie, the powers that be went and decided October first sounded like a marvelous day to hold our fundraiser. I wasn’t there to tell them they’re completely bonkers.”

He hadn’t blown it with her, and maybe kissing wasn’t off the table—even though he knew deep down it should be. Isaac was able to take his first full breath in days. He put on his imaginary consulting hat and offered her an encouraging smile.

“Actually, I think six weeks is completely doable. If you help me with the web design, of course. I can’t create the perfect one without your input.” Del leaned away. Why was she grimacing? “You look like you’re asking me to help you remove a splinter.”

“That’s because for me, when it comes to technology, a splinter would be less painful.”

“Did something happen with computers that scarred you somehow in the past? Like a screen toppled over on you at school?”

His attempt at inserting some levity into the moment worked. Del shook her head and chuckled, the tension in her shoulders visibly lessening. “No, no, nothing like that. I just have no patience for downloading drivers and making passwords and forgetting passwords and having to make more passwords and then losing those, too.”

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