her behavior. It made her sound like a dog. As soon as I had that thought I heard my sister saying that it would fit her because she was a bitch. It was not a good day when my sister’s voice was in my head.
Mrs. Nelson pointed at my chest. “That girl was never good enough for you. You’re a good boy and you deserve better than someone that only ever thinks of themselves. Every time I’ve ever heard that girl open her mouth it’s always me, me, me. You dodged a bullet there, ya hear me?”
In Wishing Well everyone knew everything about everyone’s lives. So it didn’t surprise me that Mrs. Nelson knew about my past with Rachel. What did surprise me was that she had such a strong opinion about it.
I’d never thought about Rachel as a selfish person, but now that she mentioned it, I started searching my memory bank to think of a time that she hadn’t made everything about herself. I was still trying to come up with one when the door opened and Sasha walked out.
As soon as I laid eyes on her all memories of Rachel, my past, and anything other than her disappeared. She was wearing cutoff jean shorts, a sweatshirt, and white Air Force 1s. Her hair was split in the middle with two braids running along the sides of her head. Her skin was bright and dewy, and her lips shimmered with gloss. It was like a beacon calling to me, teasing me with what she might taste like.
Her eyes bounced between me and her grandma before she asked, “Everything okay?”
“Yep. I was just telling Beau that he needed to behave himself.” Mrs. Nelson patted me on the chest before shuffling back inside and shutting the door as she shouted. “You kids be good.”
Sasha grinned. “That’s the second time someone told us that.”
Her smile was growing wider when her eyes lifted and met mine. The moment they did I had to stop myself from leaning down to kiss her glossy lips.
“You look…nice.” I wanted to slap myself for such a lame greeting. I lost all of my mojo when I was around Sasha. Something about her deactivated any sort of game I had.
Her eyes scanned down my body and tingles trailed everywhere she looked. “So do you.”
I wasn’t sure if she meant it to come out sounding so breathless, or if she might just be as affected as I was.
“Ready?” I held out my arm.
Her fingers wrapped around my bicep and I resisted the urge to flex. I wasn’t that guy, but around Sasha I wanted to be. She brought out a side of me that I’d never felt before. One that wanted to impress her.
When we got to the truck, I opened the door and she dropped her hand from my arm. My skin still tingled from where she’d just touched it. I helped her in and shut the door and as I walked around to the driver’s side, I saw her close her eyes and take a deep breath like she was trying to calm down or center herself.
Maybe she was feeling a little bit of what I was. Or she was just a really good actress. I had to keep reminding myself of that.
When I climbed into the cab she picked up the crown that Lilah had insisted I wear at the party yesterday. It was sitting on my console. “Your niece is adorable.”
“She is, and she knows it.”
“You’re really great with her.”
“I have to be. I have a lot of competition for the title of her favorite uncle.”
She smiled and my heart swelled in my chest. I wanted to keep putting that grin on her face.
“Do you want kids?” I asked when she set the crown back down.
Her eyes widened as if she was surprised I’d asked her that. She wasn’t the only one. I’d never asked any woman that. Rachel and I had talked about having kids, but that was when we were teenagers. As an adult man, that was a loaded question that I avoided like the plague from women I casually dated and from my own family.
She was quiet as we drove, and I wondered if I’d crossed a line. I was trying to think of what to say to lighten the mood and change the subject when she answered.
“If it was up to me, then yes, I would like to have kids.”
Out of all the responses she could have given me, that