The Summer Deal (Wildstone #5)(47)

She looked down at herself. She was wearing men’s plaid knit boxers and a faded old tee. Very schlubby. Very not sexy.

“It actually isn’t the pj’s,” he said. “It’s you.”

She had no idea what to say to that. He had a way of warming her up from the inside out.

“I also like your sundresses,” he said. “And that pair of jeans you’ve got with the hole in the right thigh. Oh, and those army-green cargo capris with all the pockets, the ones you wear with your soft white T-shirt.”

He’d just described all of her clothing, but she went still, because she knew where this was going.

“I’m just wondering if you’re still leery of moving more stuff in, and how I can help you get . . . un-leery.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Or . . . you don’t want to talk about it.”

“Or that.” She looked away from those all-seeing eyes of his, the ones that made her talk too much. “The thing is, I didn’t leave Ashton. He left me. And since he turned out to be a bad guy, that’s embarrassing. I was stupid.”

“No, that’s not how it works. You’re not to blame for what he did. And I’d really like to know what that was.”

“He stole stuff from me.” She closed her eyes. “I mean, if this had happened to someone I know, I’d wonder how they missed the signs.” She grimaced and shook her head. “I was weak. Dumb. I practically asked for it.”

“No one asks for that. What happened wasn’t your fault. Will you look at me?”

“No. Because if you’ve got any pity in your eyes, I’m going to want to scream.”

“I’m feeling a lot of things, but pity isn’t one of them.”

She opened her eyes a teeny little bit and pushed her glasses farther up her nose to see better. He was still just standing there in his jeans, looking his usual calm. But there was a tightness in his mouth and in the faint lines around his eyes that gave him away. He was angry, but not at her.

“Did you get the police involved?” he asked.

“I did. I wasn’t the first, and until he’s caught, I won’t be the last. And I do have a few boxes of things.”

“In your trunk,” he said.

She nearly told him the whole truth, but didn’t. Couldn’t. “Look, I’ve not been good at navigating the path of my life. There’s been some detours, some really bad decisions. I tend to disappoint the people I care about. I rush in too fast.”

“And now you’re taking your time. I get that.”

“Because you’ve been through a rough time too.”

He looked at her for a long moment and nodded. “Yeah. And I’m not convinced anyone’s great at navigating life. Making wrong turns, taking detours, figuring it all out by trial and error . . . that’s kind of the whole point.”

“Maybe, but I’ve trusted when I shouldn’t.”

“So now you’re going to trust no one?”

“Something like that,” she said as lightly as she could.

His eyes remained serious. He didn’t want her to joke this away. “I’ve been there, Brynn. I was with someone I thought was all the way in, but as it turned out, she was only in until something better came along. And when that was a job on the East Coast, she was gone in a blink.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a pit stop.”

“I’m not sure I’m as brave as you about putting myself back out there,” she admitted.

“I’m not. Or at least I wasn’t.”

She stared up at him as his meaning sank in. Until her. He wasn’t putting himself out there . . . until she’d come along.

“Maybe you just need someone to watch your back,” he said quietly.

“I’m watching my own back now.”

He shrugged. “Never hurts to have backup.”

Was he offering? And why did the thought of that reach deep down and stir up all the good feels? It’d been a long time since she’d had someone at her back. Someone willing to protect her and keep her safe. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She had her moms, and she loved them with all her heart. But she’d been really good at hiding when she’d needed help.

And she suspected Eli was cut from the same cloth. “You’ve got a lot on your plate,” she said. “People you take care of.”

“Those people might argue that they don’t need any such thing.”

“I agree. You’re really good at being sneaky about it.”

He smiled. “You think so?”

“I know so. You trying to add me to your plate, Eli?”

He stepped closer, gently pushing her up against the wall, tilting her face up to his. “Do I want to add you to my life? Yes. But I’m not feeling altruistic about you, Brynn. I’m not feeling the need to take care of you either. You’re doing a damn good job of that on your own. Do you want to guess what I am feeling?”

He was hard against her, so it didn’t take a genius. Her hands went to his chest and headed north—even if they wanted to go south—and wound their way into his hair. “Are we going to sleep together?” she whispered.

He lowered his head and kissed her. Lightly at first, a query almost, which she answered with her tongue, making him groan as he wrapped his arms around her and took the kiss to a very serious place, putting her in an equally very serious state.