The Remake (Second Chance Flower Shop #4) - Noelle Adams Page 0,39
paused for a minute. “You won’t even tell me.”
There wasn’t any obvious reproach in her tone, but Fitz understood it for what it was. It was her way of letting him know she was thinking about it, wondering about it, concerned that she knew so little.
And who wouldn’t be? They were supposed to be trying out a relationship here, and he’d told her almost nothing.
He felt guilty about it. And scared that his reluctance would destroy the best thing that had ever happened to him. He almost blurted everything out—because keeping her happy was so important to him.
But he’d shaped his entire life for the past seven years around never being the person he used to be, and telling Belinda now would turn him back into that person. The tidal wave would come crashing down at last.
Even when he opened his mouth to speak, no words came out. He simply couldn’t get past the block.
She let out a soft sigh and stirred her pasta with her fork. “I don’t even know what Fitz stands for. Madeline is hoping it’s Fitzwilliam. Like Mr. Darcy.”
He chuckled, relieved she’d broken the tension for them. “It’s not. It’s Fitzgerald. An old family name I got saddled with.”
She looked back up with him, her dark eyes amused and also a little bit poignant. “Your first name is really Fitzgerald?”
“Yes. It really is. I’m sorry I haven’t told you any more about me, sweetheart. I just don’t like to think about the person I used to be. I like who I am now a lot better. And I really like who I am with you.”
She nodded and reached over to stroke his beard. “It’s okay. This is new to both of us. We’re still just trying it out. I’m not asking for anything else from you, Fitz.”
She wasn’t. But she wanted more. He could see it even if she hadn’t admitted it even to herself.
He wished he was someone different—someone better—so he could give everything to her.
Nine
THREE WEEKS LATER, Belinda spit out her toothpaste into the sink of her bathroom just as Fitz was getting out of the shower.
For the first couple of weeks they’d been spending nights together, he’d left her house at four or five in the morning, before any of her neighbors would be up. But slowly he’d started staying later into the morning—getting up when she did so they could have breakfast together. He was still able to slip out unnoticed, and it felt less like a dirty secret.
She liked it. Starting the day with him. Just as much as she liked going to sleep with him every night.
She gave him a half-hearted leer in the mirror as he dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist. After so many years of seeing him in worn, baggy clothes, it was strange to know how tight and fit his body was. Long limbs. Smoothly defined muscles. A lean strength she really liked.
“I’m sure Kelly is doing a fine job,” Fitz said as he gave his hair and beard a vigorous rub with a towel. He was continuing the conversation they’d been in the middle of, unaware that she’d gotten distracted by his naked body. “It’s just a rummage sale. It doesn’t have to be run like a well-oiled machine.”
Belinda turned her head to sneer at his wry tone. “I’m just saying it’s kind of annoying that it’s so disorganized.”
His blue eyes glinted with familiar amusement. “You’re just mad because they didn’t put you in charge of it.”
“Well, why didn’t they? I’d be really good at it!”
“Of course you’d be good at it. But you’re in charge of almost everything. You’ve got to give other people a turn every now and then.” He gave her ponytail a teasing yank before he strolled into the bedroom, wearing only a towel.
She followed him—not just to finish the conversation but because she needed to get dressed. It was after seven now, and she was still only wearing her bathrobe. “Other people have plenty of opportunities. I do a lot with church, but I don’t get to do half the stuff I’d like to do for the town—mostly because Mayor Bob hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you.” Fitz had sat down on the foot of the bed, evidently too involved in the conversation to start putting his clothes on.
“Yes, he does. He thinks I’m pushy and opinionated and don’t know my place.” She scowled as she thought about the man who’d been Azalea’s mayor for over a decade.