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My mind raced a million miles a second trying to come up with the right words. This whole thing got messy. And I was to blame.
After she’d returned to the room that first morning, looking for a change of clothes, I’d choked down the words that were lodged in my throat. I’d made it clear I didn’t want a woman wanting more from me.
Yet when it came to Sunny, I wanted her to need everything from me.
I should have asked her to return to bed and get back into my arms so I could ask her for a chance. We were going to get married, but I no longer wanted it for the same reasons.
But I was a stubborn idiot and swallowed the words like an idiot and sat up in bed. I’d quietly worked around her to get ready for my day, hurrying out with mumbled words about being needed at a project.
“How was work?” Sunny asked softly, snapping me out of my head. Small talk. She was tossing me an olive branch I didn’t deserve.
“It was fine.” I winced at my clipped words.
“You’re working on your cousin’s place?”
“Clay,” I added, and she nodded. Her back was still facing me as she mixed things, and I noticed she had three pans going. Whatever she was making smelled incredible.
“The foundation was going to be poured?” She turned, and I nodded, handing her the bowls.
“Yeah,” I muttered. I’d shared that after returning home that first night. Clay wanted his place done and built so he could move his future wife in and start his life.
After eating the pizza I’d brought us, Sunny had insisted on sleeping on the couch, saying she didn’t want to crowd me. I’d led her to the bedroom, and I mumbled I’d take the couch. My eyes bounced to the sectional I had once loved. It was not as comfortable as I’d once thought it was. Not after sleeping on it the last three nights. Yet, I hadn’t ordered a bed for the guest room, and I had a feeling my stubborn ass wasn’t going to. I had a feeling no matter where I slept now, I’d sleep like shit. Especially after knowing what she felt like in my arms.
“Here you go.” She handed me a bowl, and my eyes dropped to it.
“What’s this?”
“A burrito bowl.” She held hers and walked to the kitchen table. I watched her get settled, and for some reason, my feet felt nailed to the ground. “I went into town and explored,” she shared then kept telling me about her day.
About how pretty she found Main Street.
How she could really get herself into trouble at one of the newer shops, one I’d never been into, that sold stones and crystals and self-care products. Self-care products? Clueless about what the hell that was, I was going to need to Google tonight. Then she went on about how she stopped at Brewed Grounds, our local coffee shop, and hit it off with the owner. Maggie had told her she was looking for a barista, and Sunny had applied right then and there. She was hoping to get a call back in a day or two.
“You really wanna work?” I frowned, still standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding the bowl in my hands.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Her fork was mid-way to her mouth but stopped, and her deep gaze bore right through me.
“I mean… I don’t know.” I was stuck. I knew what I sounded like, and that wasn’t me. But there was something about Sunny that made me trip over myself. “I just figured you’d want to be here.” I winced at how lame it sounded in my own ears.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “March, can you please sit?” she gently requested, pointing at the chair across the table from her. I found myself doing exactly what she’d asked. I pulled out the chair and plopped down, setting the bowl down in front of me. “I think it’s time we talk a little more about who we are, what we want out of this… situation.”
“Situation?” I repeated. “It’s going to be a marriage.” One you’re planning on imploding in less than forty days, the little voice in my head needlessly reminded me.
“Exactly. A marriage. Now… look, I’m not under any… well, any false impressions that this”—her finger waved back and forth between us—“that, well, this is a romantic… involvement.” It wasn’t? Lead settled in my gut. “I don’t know about you, but… Look, March, I know you need this for your business, but I want to really give this a shot. I like it here.” Her words processed slowly in my mind.
“I mean I like it in Odyssey. Not that I don’t like it here, here with you. I mean I do, but—” She kept rambling, and all I could think about was how freaking adorable Sunny was.
Adorable and sexy.
The woman was the perfect combination of sugar and spice.
“And to do that, honestly, I want to be a part of the community. I’m not, nor have I ever been, interested in being some kind of… trophy wife?—"
“I didn’t mean to make it sound like that,” I interrupted, needing her to know I wasn’t some chauvinistic pig.
“I know,” she whispered. “I just… I took you up on a real offer. But…” The word lingered between us, and I didn’t like it.
I didn’t like there being a but between us.
