“Uh… yeah,” he confirmed.
She nodded, the movement jerky, taking his hands with it. “Right. I can see that.”
He felt his mouth twitch.
“Lexie –”
“We’re not all like that, Ty.”
He pressed the pads of his fingers into her scalp and murmured, “All right, babe, now –”
“And I’m going to prove it to you and I’m going to prove it to you by not going. You need someone to take your back during this business, that’s me. I’m not going. I’m staying right here and giving you what you need.”
He felt his gut clench at the same time that thing pierced through the left side of his chest.
“All right,” he whispered through a pain that was exquisite.
She stared into his eyes and kept her hands on her hips. He stared into hers and watched the wet start to form.
And there it was again, she was giving him more because that wet was for him. And it was then he knew how she felt the day they arrived in Carnal, overwhelmed by something unexpected, something good, something she never thought she’d have. He knew how she felt because he felt it, right then, looking into her eyes, her giving him that, something good, something, after that mud was flung at him and it stuck, he never thought he’d get a shot at. And there she was, his hands in her soft, thick hair, her eyes growing wet, giving it to him.
She fought it and beat it back and she did this by continuing to throw sass.
“Now, are you gonna go with me to buy flowers for the deck or what?”
He bent his neck and dropped his forehead to hers.
Then, his eyes holding hers, he muttered, “Yeah.”
“I’ll warn you, I’ve never done any gardening. They’ll all probably die.”
“Whatever,” he replied, fighting a grin.
She looked into his eyes for awhile.
Then she told him. “You need to shower. Do you need coffee? One of your powder thingies?”
Powder thingies.
Total goof.
“Coffee.”
She nodded her head, again moving his hands.
“I’ll fix it while you shower. Travel mug.”
He closed his eyes and pulled in breath. Then he moved the lower half of his face and touched his lips to hers.
Then he let her go and walked to the stairs.
He was one step up when she called his name. He looked through the open slats and saw her at the coffeemaker, her body turned to the side counter, her neck twisted, her eyes on him.
Then she dropped the bomb.
“FYI, there’s been no one since Ronnie. No one. For four years. You’ve got a year on me but, I figure, mostly we’re in the same boat.”
He fought the urge to move to her and drag her up the stairs to his bed.