Drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, I twisted my lips in thought.“This does put us in a pickle, doesn’t it?”
“I mean … eventually, I would like us to get to a more physical relationship.But I am happy to take it slow … we’re both noobs at this dating thing.However, even just finding somewhere to relax and be alone without throwing our …” I lifted my hands into the air and shrugged.“Whatever this is … in the kids’ faces would be nice.Where can we go?”She tapped her chin.“I might need to buy a boat.”
“Hang on.You said that the house on the property you guys just got was going to stay.Is it somewhere we could maybe use as our own little getaway?”
I could see the cogs spinning in her head.“Maybe.I know it was in a state of disrepair.But wedidplan on fixing it up so it could be useable.I could maybe turn that into a new project and expedite the fixing so we could use it.”
“Is that something you have to run past the rest of your business partners?”
“Yes.But they’re all discreet.”
I reached across the seats and took her hand.“We’ll figure it out.”
“Where is Mabel right now?Home?”
“No.Actually, Danica messaged her this morning and invited her over to Tom’s farm.I dropped her off on my way to see you.She wanted to check on the osprey—which she named Oakley, because it’s gender neutral—as well as see the other animals.”
“So … your house is empty right now?”
I smirked just as we approached a four-way stop.If I went straight, that would take us to the vineyard; if I went left, we would get to my house.“My house is empty right now.”
“I … I would like to see where you guys live.”
“Yeah?”
Her nod was subtle, but her eyes glittered with mischief.
“Okay.”
I took a left, and we drove the rest of the way home in silence, though something promising and definitely exciting hummed between us.
“Are you going to want to duck down when we pass Rolph’s house?”I asked her when I turned a corner and the two mailboxes at the top of my driveway came into view.
“Maz and his wife aren’t the gossipy types,” she said, staying put.“I’ll take my chances.”
To her luck, neither Maz nor his wife was outside.We drove past their house without any issue, and I parked my truck in the driveway.
“This place is so private and cute,” she said, unbuckling her belt.“I had no idea there was even a house back here.”
Birds chirped in the towering trees behind the house, and if you really focused, you could hear the waves crashing down on the beach.It was a small trek down a trail, but the fact that we literally had the beach in our backyard was something both Mabel and I found magical about the property.
“It’s a small house.Only two bedrooms, but it’s perfect for just two people.”I unlocked the front door with the code and let her enter first.“We don’t need anything big.”
“That’s how I feel.The cottage isn’t spacious.I live in the loft, so I have to awkwardly get dressed on my back because I can’t even stand up or even kneel fully, but I don’t care.I love it all the same.”
“Something to drink?”
“Just water.”
I poured us each a glass and brought it over to her where she stood in front of the big picture window that looked out into the sloping backyard and dense forest.“I’m sure Mabel must spend a lot of time outside watching all the birds.I heard them all when we got here.”
“It’s the kid’s paradise, really.She spends hours in the yard observing and sketching the birds.”
Even though we’d just been sucking face in the cab of my truck not twenty minutes ago, for whatever reason, things between us grew awkward as we stood in front of my living room window staring out at the trees and afternoon sun dappling through the canopy.A tremendously large part of me just wanted to grab her and walk her backward to my bed, but I said I wanted to go slow.
More than that, Ineededto go slow.
I didn’t want to scare her away with my overzealous feelings, or get spooked myself.We’d also just shared some really heavy stuff with each other.
