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Chapter 7
Troy climbed the front porch steps to Alison’s door, feeling stiffly formal in the suit that he hadn’t worn in years. He’d gone back and forth about whether or not he should get all dressed up for the date. He didn’t want to look like he was trying too hard…he also didn’t want to look like he wasn’t trying at all.
In the end, he’d concluded that if you were given as rare and precious an opportunity as going out with someone as gorgeous as Alison, you erred on the side of trying too hard when it was between that and looking like a slacker.
In his old life, going the extra mile was a philosophy that had never let him down. He mentally referred to that old life as “LBW.” Sort of an inside joke to himself. It stood for the pro baseball team he used to play for, the Long Beach Waves. But, to him, it stood for so much more. Life Before Worry. Life Before the Weight of the World. But also Life Before Wonder, and Life Before Wisdom.
When his parents had died unexpectedly in a car accident five years before, and it was clear he’d have to be the one to take care of Mila, he’d thought about bringing her to live with him in Southern California so he could continue his career as a pro ball player, but he’d known that wouldn’t be fair to her. She was only eight years old, had just lost her parents, and was suddenly finding herself in the care of a brother who’d moved out of the house to go to college not long after she was born. Try as he might to justify it, in his heart, he knew he could never tear her away from all of her friends and every person who’d ever known and cared about her.
So he’d given it all up. The rock star, sports god lifestyle—all gone. He’d negotiated his way out of his contract and moved up to Valentine Bay, where his sister had roots. Hell, it was where his roots were implanted in the soil, as well. His ancestors had founded Valentine Bay, and his family had lived there ever since. He and his brothers had been the first to break away, and the town had pulled them back in, sure enough.
Since he’d been back, he’d thought of nothing but Mila, making sure she was safe and happy and well-adjusted, making sure he was providing the kind of future for her that his parents would’ve. He hadn’t had time for thoughts of himself. He hadn’t had the mental or emotional room to want anything of his own, even relationships. Hell, especially relationships.
But he’d taken one look at Alison, heard her singing in that sultry and sweet voice, and his heart and brain had moved everything else aside and made the space. Suddenly, there was room for a relationship, and he didn’t know how it had happened. Only that it had.
He took a deep breath and knocked. Damn, he felt like a teenager again, waiting for his prom date’s father to answer the door. In reality, it had been almost that long since he’d been on a first date. While this wasn’t exactly breaking new ground, it was definitely retreading old ground that had lain dormant so long that the soil was hard-packed and stiff. Not easy, but oh so worth it.
The door opened and his heart sped up before he even saw her. When she did step forward into the porch light, it shone down on her like a halo, and that was an apt description. She looked like an angel to him. Her creamy skin and flowing dark hair glinted in the soft yellow light that spilled around her. The dress she wore looked like it had been made specifically for her. It highlighted every curve and dip in her beautiful body, while somehow still leaving plenty to the imagination.
He was speechless. He couldn’t even draw a breath, let alone form a word.
She blushed and smoothed down her hair and dress. “Do I have broccoli in my teeth or something?” she giggled.
“Oh God, no! Sorry. I just…you look…perfect,” he finished lamely.
She put a hand on his arm. “Way to make a girl self-conscious,” she teased.
He shook his head. “If you’ve ever felt that way in your entire life, then the world is upside down. Self-conscious is what everyone else should feel when you’re around.”
Her eyes widened at his words. “Wow. Thank you.”
“I’m only telling the truth.”
She smiled. “Well, I like the way you tell it.”
“Shall we go?” He extended his arm to her.
She closed and locked the door, then slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow. “Absolutely. I’m starving.”
“I hope you like seafood.” Damn, he’d tossed the comment off as an aside, but it hadn’t even occurred to him to wonder if she did or not.
“Delicious! Let’s go.”
Thank God.
Walking down the path to his truck, Troy felt invincible– ten feet tall, with the strength of a thousand. Having Alison on his arm made him feel more than mortal in every important way, and he could see himself getting addicted to the feeling. God. If he could feel like this all the time? If the way he felt with Alison became his new normal because she was by his side so often?
Well, hell. That would be too good to be true.
When they reached his truck, he opened the door for her. She stood still and raised her eyebrows as she tilted her head back to look up into the cab. He chuckled. “Here, let me help you with that.”
“I think you’re gonna have to. Perils of being short.”
He slipped his arm around her waist to support her as she hoisted herself up the few feet that the cab was elevated, and he felt it. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he definitely felt it.
The feeling that he was in the right place, with the right woman, doing the right thing, and going the right direction.
The feeling like things were going his way and everything was coming together just the way it should.
Kismet.
Yeah. That was it. Destiny. Fate. It was all right there.
