Before I could argue with him, he ran onto the field.
They executed a few more plays. Asher looked good out there. The team hadn’t been the same without him when he’d been in prison—which had been such bullshit anyway. Of course, nothing had been the same without him. It was good to have him home.
I hung out on the bench and gazed at the wet ground. My mind wandered to pretty brown eyes. The feel of her fingers gently sliding through my hair.
The football flew past my face, almost hitting me in the head.
“Watch out, Gav!”
Shit.
I really needed to stop doing that. As much as I didn’t want to admit when my brother was right, he had a point about Skylar.
So why did I keep thinking about her?
This wasn’t normal for me. Sure, I liked women. A lot. And if a girl caught my eye, I didn’t hesitate to go after her. But I’d never been this preoccupied with a girl before.
Especially a girl I’d already decided I wasn’t going to chase.
I wasn’t an idiot. Serious relationships weren’t my thing. Going after Skylar, tempting as it was, would be a huge mistake. Because what would happen when it ended? Chief would be pissed at me. Worse, he’d be disappointed in me. Even if she was the one to end it, he was her dad. He’d be on her side. I’d take the blame.
That was a mess I didn’t want to clean up. No matter how tempting she was.
A few fat drops fell from the sky and I decided that was my cue to leave. I squelched through the wet grass to my truck. Luckily I’d broken my left leg, and my truck was an automatic, so I could still drive.
I didn’t feel like going home, so I headed into town and parked outside Grace’s coffee shop, the Steaming Mug.
Crutch, step, crutch, step, I made my way to the door. Now I had to open it. Damn it, everything was hard with a broken leg.
I looked through the glass to see if someone could open it for me, and my eyes landed on a girl at a table.
Oh shit. It was her. Skylar Stanley. My boss’s daughter.
My boss’s hot daughter.
Her hotness hadn’t been a pain-induced hallucination. She was every bit as gorgeous as I remembered.
But it wasn’t just the way she looked that had me captivated. There was something about her. About the way she stared off into the distance, her eyes unfocused. It made me want to know what was going on in that head of hers.
What are you thinking about, Sky?
This was a bad idea. She had all the makings of a Gavin lure. And I couldn’t take the bait.
But before I could go anywhere, she caught sight of me. She flew out of her seat so fast, she almost knocked over her chair, and rushed to open the door.
6
Skylar
Try a change of scenery, I’d thought. The coffee shop downtown looked cute. Maybe it would help and I could get some work done.
This wasn’t helping. It was so much worse.
I stared at the man on crutches, standing just outside the door. It was him. Right here, practically in the same room with me. Gavin Bailey.
I didn’t know if I was ready for this encounter.
Except, oh my god, he couldn’t open the door.
That was totally my fault, so I jumped out of my chair and darted to open it for him.
“Thanks.” He moved past me to come inside, then he stopped and his eyes met mine.
Uh-oh.
Never in my life had an uh-oh been so fraught with meaning.
Uh-oh because he was looking at me and I was looking at him. It felt like a zap of electricity arced between us—a flash of energy reaching from deep in my chest, right into his.
And uh-oh because his mouth curled into a subtle smile, puckering his dimples. It made me want step closer and run my fingers through his hair again.
What was even happening?
My tongue felt thick and awkward. A half-formed, inarticulate jumble of words swirled through my head and the soft music in the background suddenly rang too loud in my ears. It was like I could hear each individual string of the acoustic guitar thwacking against the wood.
Still, I somehow managed to form a coherent sentence. “Do you want to sit down?”
He gazed at me like I’d just said something incredibly interesting and blinked a few times before answering. “Yeah, I’d love to.”
I pulled out a chair for him and realized too late that it was at my table, and I didn’t know if he wanted to sit with me, or just sit down. But he lowered himself into the chair and leaned his crutches against the table.
“I guess we didn’t actually meet the other day,” he said as I took my seat. “I’m Gavin.”
Name. Don’t tell him he’s hot. Just tell him your name. “I’m Skylar. Um, Skylar Stanley.”
My voice was so little and timid. I hated sounding like that, but the obvious shyness in my tone only made my instinct to hide stronger.
“Nice to officially meet you.” He flashed a smile, the full force of those dimples and white teeth shining directly on me. It was like looking at the sun.
God, he was gorgeous.
“I’m so sorry about hitting you. I can’t believe I broke your leg. Does it hurt a lot?”
“No, it’s not bad.”
“I swear, I looked. I wasn’t texting or anything. I looked and turned the corner and then bam, there you were.”
He reached over and laid his hand on top of mine. The sudden contact felt like another bolt of electricity. A blush hit my cheeks and the warmth of his skin on mine was somehow soothing and arousing at the same time.
His eyes flicked from my face, down to our hands, then back again. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but closed it again and quickly took his hand away.
“I’m really fine,” he said, and I saw him flex his hand under the table. “I’m the dumbass who walked into the road.”
“I guess that’s why adults teach kids to look both ways before crossing the street.” I pinched my lips closed. I’d meant that as a joke, but maybe it had just sounded rude. “Sorry, sometimes I’m bad at verbal conversations.”
Especially when I’m struck stupid by a hot firefighter.
Which had literally never happened to me before.
“Well, at least you’re a good driver.” He winked, the corners of his lips lifting.
I laughed, feeling a little of my anxiety dissipate.
“So…” He rubbed his hands up and down his thighs. “Aside from running into clueless pedestrians, what are you doing back in Tilikum?”
He had no idea what a loaded question that was. But I wasn’t about to give my life story to someone I’d just met. “I just needed a change of scenery.”
“Good choice. We have great scenery.”
The way he stared directly at me when he said that, I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be flirtatious—like I was great scenery—or if he was talking about the objectively beautiful scenery outside.
I tucked my hair behind my ear, trying not to let my brain get too sidetracked. “Yeah, it’s really beautiful here.”
“You’re a writer or something like that, right?”
“I am. How’d you know?”
“Your dad is my boss, and he talks about you. What kind of stuff do you write?”