Page 46 of A Little Bit Uncertain

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AUDRA

Of course, Donovan showed up in my time of need. Again. I can’t imagine why this guy wanted anything to do with me when it felt like one disaster after the next. Probably for the best, because he melted my panties whenever he was around. I was glad that there was no awkwardness between us that night on the way home, given how psycho I acted after that kiss. We just fell back into it, and I told him about how Cora was in the apartment, and how we were stocking the store tomorrow. He told me about how he spent the afternoon with the guys at the bar until they left for Maverick’s, and he gave me details about how horrible the store reveal went.

He pulled up in front of my house, but I was looking at him. “Thank you again, Donovan. I promise I’ll make this up to you.” He smirked and shook his head, but then his face turned into an angry stare as he looked past me. “What the fuck?”

Spinning my head, I saw what he was looking at. On my front porch swing sat Theo. He was completely engrossed in his phone and didn’t even look up at us. He probably didn’t realize it was Donovan’s car, even though I’m sure he watched me get in it the other night. It almost looked like he was sleeping with his phone in his hand. My stomach dropped out from under me. This was not ok for him to just be sitting here.

“I … I don’t know what he’s doing here.”

“What the fuck is up with this guy? What do you want me to do? Should we call the cops? Do you want to confront him? What do you think?”

He was tossing out these questions at me, but I was shutting down. All I could do was look at Donovan without an answer. I was tired, my car was broken, it was a crazy day on the heels of a shit week, I was wrecked for Cora, and then to find Theo on my porch was too much. He took charge in the way I needed him to, without me having to ask. “Hey, let’s take a breath,” he patted my thigh. “We’re not going to stop here, though. We’ll head to my place. You can think on this, okay?.”

I just nodded my head. “Ok. I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. I’m glad you didn’t take an Uber home and find him here.”

We had a mostly silent ride home, which was great because I was lost in my thoughts. He was right, I would have called an Uber and ended up here with him waiting for me. I’m sure Donovan could see me shaken up. I tried to rationalize with myself that there had to be a reason for it. Theo was just an ex, and he was never bad to me when we were together. I knew him well. No flags or anything. I mean, we were a great couple. He was good to me, and that’s why it was so hard for me to let go. And even when we had broken up, and he was an asshole, he was never a creep like this.

We were at Donovan’s within ten minutes, and my goodness, what a house. It wasn’t gigantic like some of the McMansions on the street, but it was breathtaking. It was a Tudor-style house that looked like it belonged in the English countryside. With a million windows and a turret, it looked magical.

“You live here?” I stuttered out.

“Nope, just breaking into this place.” He said with such conviction that if it wasn’t such an insane question, I may have believed him.

“But you live here by yourself?”

“Yep, I do. Just me,” he affirmed as he slowed his car at the top of the driveway. I noticed four garage doors. Did he have four cars?

“But what do you do with all this space? How big is it?” I blurted out. Something had to be missing here. Did he have big, lavish parties that no one in Savanah Springs had heard about? It seemed like most people didn’t know much about Donovan Wright at all. Normally, in smallish towns, gossip spreads like wildfire, and whether or not it’s true, someone always has something to say about someone. “Do you get lost in here?” There was no putting a lid on me right now, apparently.

“It’s not that big. I mean, are you asking about the square footage of my house, Audra?” He side-eyed me.

My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “I need something else to talk about besides the shit show that was waiting on my porch tonight.” It sounded like a good enough save.

“How about this? Let’s park, and I can even play real estate agent and give you a tour? So, you don’t, you know, get lost in there or anything.” He gave me a shit-eating grin as he pulled into the garage. There was only one other small, zippy looking car.

“It’s just … this house is stunning, Donovan. It’s not what I expected. I apologize for being rude.”

“No more apologizing tonight. I know it doesn’t exactly fit my situation.” He tapped his steering wheel and took out the key. “Let’s go.” And with that, he hopped out. I was floored. Wait, what was his situation? What single guy needed all these bedrooms? Did he have a family that would come to visit? Of course, he had a family somewhere, idiot. He opened my car door right before I convinced myself he fathered triplets as a teenager, and that’s why he needed the space. “Are you coming?” he asked as he opened my door.

He held out his hand to help me down. “So, Miss King, welcome to 1443 Stonemill. As you know from the listing, this house is about 7,500 square feet,” he started. I swatted him in the chest as I laughed.

“Stop, you fool.”

We entered the house in the kitchen, and it was something else. Gorgeous man in his gorgeous kitchen. The cabinets were navy and reminded me of something you’d see in a swanky design magazine, not some small South Carolina town. A huge island sat in the middle, and it looked like there should be a dozen people sitting around it. Even his light fixtures were beautiful.

“Want something to eat or drink?

“Just some water would be great,” I replied.

He pushed the sleeves of his henley up, and I saw the smallest tease of ink on his forearm. My eyes bulged out of my head. Because if I didn’t think he could get hotter, I was wrong. Tattoos were my kryptonite. I wondered what he was hiding under there besides muscles for days.

He handed me my water and then opened up the conversation. “So, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I’m curious who Theo is to you,” he gently asked.

I knew that question was inevitable. “He’s my ex.”