If this man didn’t completely piss me off by the time we made it back to my place tonight, I planned to ride him like a bull. But the way things were headed, I was fixin’ to hand Jasper his keys on purpose as payback for all this torture he seemed to be enjoying.
“What are you thinking about over there, gorgeous?” he asked me, and I knew he was trying to get another rise out of me.
I took a deep breath, channeled all my Army training, and changed the topic to something else entirely, like a professional would handle this situation.
“When are you plannin’ to head back to Texas?” I asked, hoping it sounded casual.
I wanted to know his answer, so I went for it, but I also didn’t want to sound too clingy.
“Not sure, actually,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. “Funny thing is, I’ve met someone. She’s a great woman. We’ve had a lot of great breakfast dates the last few weeks, and I’ve enjoyed them a lot.”
To say there were butterflies in my stomach was the understatement of the century. The excitement of his statement and what it meant had my insides doing cartwheels.
“She’s got an attitude the size of Texas, but for some crazy reason, I can’t get enough of it,” he said with a slow curl of his lips.
I snorted. “People say that, but if there’s too much of it, they start to feel differently.”
“Maybe, but I’m not most people,” he countered. “I find that I not only like it, but it turns me on.”
“Ahh, so this sassy woman rocks your world, does she?” I joked, and he chuckled.
“Oh yeah. She definitely does.” His answer was in his deep, growly voice, and his gaze was directly on me.
The weight of that stare gave me shivers in the best way possible.
“I guess if you leave, it would be kind of hard for her to rock your world.”
He paused and then nodded slowly. I knew he wanted to say something, but he took his time as though he was measuring his words. “Which is why I’ve decided to move here.”
I felt my jaw drop before I thought better of it and popped it closed just as quickly. I immediately turned my head to look forward instead of into his eyes.
He’d made his decision?
Oh wow.
I kept my gaze forward as four thousand questions rolled through my brain.
What did I say to that?
I needed to say something so he didn’t think I was being rude…but what?
“You decided to take Susan up on her offer to be your real estate agent, then,” I said. That seemed like safe territory.
“That’s definitely a perk, but it wouldn’t be why I’d move,” he replied.
This time I moved my gaze back to his. I needed to see his face. Needed to see what his eyes were saying without words.
There was nothing but honesty and a mellow attitude.
“You seem awfully calm for such a big decision,” I noted, because I would not be nearly as calm about a big move like that.
“No reason to worry myself over it,” he said, again in a very composed, easygoing manner. “I’ve lived five decades, Tammy. I’m at that point in my life where I don’t want to waste time thinking about decisions too much. I’ve lived in Texas long enough, and I don’t regret that part of my life. But now I’m ready for another chapter, and my gut is telling me that chapter needs to be here in Georgia with a beautiful woman I met and see where it goes with her. She checks all my boxes and even added a few I didn’t know I wanted. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t at least give it a try.”
God, that was more meaningful to me than he likely realized, and my heart pinched a little.
“You definitely don’t want to be an idiot, then. Besides, this woman sounds smart, so she’d probably never let you live it down.”
He gave a little laugh. “No, I have a feeling you wouldn’t.”
