AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You were right about the wires.” Paige sounded excited. “It worked, and the car runs… I have to go back to class now, which sucks, but everything’s fixed.”
“That’s awesome. Way to go.”
“Um…” Paige trailed off. “Could you maybe… I’m having a problem I can’t figure out with my bike. Could you come by the house sometime and help?”
That sounded like fun. “I haven’t done any work on motorcycles, but sure. Another set of eyes can’t hurt.”
“Thank you. Bye.” Her smile was audible.
Brooke wrapped up the conversation with Paige, and wrapped up with an easyLove you. It was both disconcerting and comforting to see how close their family was. I was on friendly terms with my brother, but our relationship was in a different universe from what Brooke and her kids had.
The two of us headed into the basement. For the next several hours, most of our conversation was limited to the tasks at hand, and had Brooke and I at opposite ends of the room. Deacon came down a few times, but there was enough business coming in today that he needed to stay upstairs and work with customers.
Watching her do her thing while she was in view was fascinating. There was no hesitation, and her fingers moved with an almost seductive skill and deftness.
As we drifted back together, I found myself watching her as much as working. The way she tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear, even though she wore a ponytail. How she caught her tongue between her teeth when she was focused. And especially the way her tone shifted toward brighter and stronger when she talked about something she was fascinated with—either the wiring or the last TV show she binged.
“You and Deacon…” The start of the question slipped out before I realized what I was about to ask. Not that I had any idea why I needed confirmation. I really should let this drop.
But her curious gaze stalled me. “What about us?”
I didn’t know her nearly well enough to ask her, but here I was regardless. Wanting to know if she saw him as anything besides a fuck buddy. “The agreement the two of you have…”
“We’re friends. That’s all we are.” Her answer came as quickly as his last night. “He’s giving me lessons. Nothing more.”
“Cool. Just curious.” But it was more than that, wasn’t it? What was I doing? Besides letting my mind drift more the longer I watched her. Wondering what it would be like to walk in one of those lessons. What it would be like to either help teach, or get to experience the results.
“Why?” Brooke’s question caught me off guard.
It shouldn’t have. It was a reasonable question. “Just looking out for friends.”
“Okay.” She turned back to her work.
“When did you lose your husband?” What was wrong with me today? There was awkward, and then there was just insensitive. “You’ve really been single the entire time since?” No, really. What was I doing?
The way Brooke was staring at me, I assumed she was thinking the same.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. If I ever ask something inappropriate, just tell me to stop. I’m not made for casual conversation.”
“It’s okay.” Her tone was light. “You surprised me, but I’d rather you said what was on your mind than what you thought I wanted to hear.”
“I’m not very good at that second one. Mostly because I’m so bad at figuring out what people want to hear.” Human beings were odd and confusing creatures.
She pointed to the junction box she was working on. “I need a second set of hands. Can I borrow yours?”
Just tell me where to touch you.I wouldn’t say that, because channeling Deacon wouldn’t help me. “Sure.”
“Hold these here.” She pointed to two wires. “Don’t let the tips touch.”
My snort slipped out.
She raised her brows. “Penis joke?”
“It sounds both dirtier and not when you saypenis jokeinstead ofdick joke.”
Brooke laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She worked to attach the wires I was holding to the entire structure. “It’s been a while. Since I lost my husband, that is. The twins barely remember him, and after he passed away I was focused on raising them.” The catch in her voice was faint, but I recognized it because I sounded the same when my Dad came up.
“I have a hard time believing no one in this town was hitting on you.”
