Summer's End (Wildflowers #5) - Jill Sanders Page 0,29

watched him. “I’m not afraid, you know.”

“Oh?” he asked, rubbing his hands over his face. “Drink?” He moved into the kitchen and grabbed a beer.

“Sure, I’ll have one of those.” She motioned to him and sat on his new sofa. He handed her the beer and sat beside her to take a sip of his own.

“You aren’t?” he asked her, picking up the conversation. It was something they did, something he’d missed about her being around all the time.

“No.” She sighed after taking a sip of the beer. “It’s not fear that keeps me backing away.”

“If it’s not fear…” He left the question hang in the air.

“I’m not afraid. I’m avoiding it on purpose,” she admitted.

“Okay. Because of your past?” he asked. “Your father?”

“Yes, it’s not for me.” She leaned back.

“What isn’t?”

She glanced sideways at him. “Love.”

He surprised her by laughing.

Chapter 9

She felt her frustration levels spike hearing his laughter.

“What?” she asked, but he was still laughing at her. Setting down the beer, she crossed her arms over her chest and frowned and waited for his laughter to die down.

“That has to be the funniest thing you’ve ever said to me.” He smiled over at her.

“You think it’s funny?”

“Yes,” he answered with a grin. “Love is for everyone.”

He’d started using the word in almost every sentence, which of course was annoying the hell out of her even further.

“No, it isn’t,” she said between gritted teeth.

“Yes.” He reached up and touched her arm softly. “It is. There isn’t a magical pattern to stop a person from obtaining it. You love your friends, right?”

“Of course,” she almost gasped.

“Then, love is for you.” He motioned with his beer before taking another sip.

“That’s different.” She stood up and started walking around his small living space. She’d been in the two-bedroom trailer in the past three years almost as much as she’d been in her own room in the apartment. “Friendship is not romantic.”

“So, it is actually romance that you’re afraid of then?” His eyes narrowed slightly.

“No. Yes.” She threw her hands up. “The forever-after kind of stuff is not for me.” She waved towards him. “I’ve never wanted it. I’ve never searched for it. I don’t deserve it.”

He frowned and set his beer bottle down slowly before standing up and walking over to take her shoulders in his hands. “What makes you say that?”

“It can only bring problems.” She kept her eyes focused on the middle of his chest. Just being this close to him did things to her. Still. Even after being with him for the past three years, he still had the ability to turn her knees to jelly. One more reason for her to push him away.

She couldn’t chance letting any man have that much control over her.

“Because you fear your father?” he asked softly.

Closing her eyes, she nodded. He lifted her chin up until she opened her eyes and met his. They were filled with worry and kindness. In all of her years, she had never met another man like

Aiden. He’d given her everything she’d wanted and had met each of her demands, both physical and emotional. But then he’d started pushing her further, needing something she knew that she wouldn’t give him. Couldn’t give him.

“I told you, I’m not afraid of him.” He smiled down at her.

“You should be,” she said with a sigh. “I’d better…” She glanced towards the door. “I have an early morning class.”

He dropped his hands, and she missed his touch instantly. God, she was a fool.

“I’ll drive you back. It’s still raining,” he said quickly when she opened her mouth to argue with him.

“Fine,” she said after thinking about walking back to the main building in the rain and the darkness.

She rode in his truck in silence, watching the rain hit the windshield.

“When are your next days off?” he asked her as he turned into the main parking lot.

She thought about it. “We’re all working double until Zoey and Dylan come back. Normally I’d have tomorrow off, but now…”

“Are you working dinners?”

“Yes, until Thursday night. I have that one off.”

“Dinner then?” he asked her as he put the truck into park. “As in a date,” he clarified.

“No—”

He stopped her by putting his hand on her arm again. “You wanted to know what was next. For me, it’s going out on a real date with you. I think I’m owed it,” he said softly.

She sighed and tried to find any excuse, any reason to deny him. Then it hit her. In the three years they’d