I wouldn’t saylove.Not anymore.“There are a lot of good aspects, but as a foreman you have to deal with a lot of shit.The hours are insane, the projects always have problems, the clients are rarely happy, the boss is always trying to cut corners, and…” I clear my throat.“Sometimes shit goes wrong.”
Chloe pauses.“Like what?”
My gaze slides to hers, and the sudden urge to tell her about Leo presses against my throat.I don’t want to dampen the mood, though, so I end up saying, “It’s just a dangerous industry with a lot of risks.”
She smears the tiniest bit of spicy dip over a corn chip.“So, you took a few weeks off construction work to come here and do more construction work?”
She has me there.“That wasn’t the plan, but my parents bought this place without doing enough due diligence, and it needed a ton of work.”Better I do it than some jackass with a drinking problem.
A sudden, shrill ring makes us both flinch.
“Is that your alarm?”Chloe asks as I lean sideways to reach for my phone.
“Yeah.It’s just a reminder about some orders I need to go through.”
She gives me a funny look.“You know, there’s such a thing as being tooorganized.”
I set my phone down.“How so?”
Licking her lips, she reaches for another corn chip.“If you’re too structured and ordered, you get so focused on what youshouldbe doing that you stop living in the moment and end up stuck in the future.Or the past.”
I fall silent, grappling with how much sense that actually makes.
Chloe dusts crumbs off her lap and crosses her arms tightly against her chest.She looks so delicate and small in my clothes.
The protectiveness I usually reserve for those closest to me rears up like a tidal wave.
“You scared the hell out of me today,” I confess.
Her gaze darts back to me, her brow furrowing.“I did?”
I nod.It feels good to admit it out loud, to let some of this constant worry in my chest seep out.“When you didn’t come home till late.You told me you’d never leave your house alone in a storm.So when you didn’t show up for hours, I pictured you stranded somewhere.”
A little line appears between her brows.“I’ve lived on this island my whole life; I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.You didn’t need to worry.I was just out trying to find my dad.”
She tells me about what happened, leaving a blade of irritation jammed in my ribs.That fucking asshole.
To think he pissed off his own daughter so much that she was hiding out in her car in weather like this.And now he’s sitting on his ass inside her house, probably working his way through her booze.I hope the house collapses into a pile of mud and debris all around him.
Bit harsh?Yeah, not for me.
Chloe presses a hand to her mouth, trying to hide her yawn.
Looks like the night is coming to an end.
Having her here has really made this whole storm scenario feel a lot more bearable.
Hell, I think I even enjoyed myself.
I climb back up to my feet.“Come on.I’ll walk you home.All ten steps.”
She doesn’t budge.Simply looks up at me from the floor, all flushed cheeks and wide blue eyes.“So here’s an idea,” she says.“What if I… didn’t go home tonight?”
I freeze, a nervous fizz starting in my stomach.Is she serious?“You don’t want to check on your dad?”
She slides her phone out of her pocket, frowning down at the screen.“He hasn’t checked on me once, so why would I want to check on him?And you said it yourself: he’s a grown man.It’s not my job to look after him.Right?”
I run my fingers through my hair, my slick palms catching on the strands.
