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“Thank you,” I hear him breathe. “You’re the best. Swear to God.”
“Calm down, there.”
When I turn around and take the water to him, I see he’s watching me with still-wide eyes. “I’m serious.”
“You’re dazed,” I correct him.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I have brain damage.” He takes the glass from me and sips at the cold water. With a sigh, he slumps back in the chair. “I thought I was about to die. I legitimately thought I was about to die. But you didn’t let that happen, which makes you some kind of fucking angel.”
My insides twist up, and not from that last part.
I don’t know anything about this guy, so I can’t guess at his fears or say how dramatic or emotional he usually is, but here’s one thing I do know: he really was afraid out in the hall. I could tell through the peephole, and I could tell after I helped him, and I can still tell now.
He’s right. It isn’t unreasonable for him to be thinking highly of me right now.
I lean my hip against the edge of the table and cross my arms. He spends a couple minutes sipping the water, and I just look at him. I can appreciate the view—his tall form is relaxed in my chair like he belongs in it, somewhere between lean and strong—but mostly, I’m standing in awe of the fact that I really did save his life. And not in the way I’ve saved Rae’s. I’ve kept her out of harm’s way by keeping her with me, meeting her needs, loving her the way a mother figure should. With this guy, I actually jumped into a crisis situation and got him out of it.
During this stretch of silence and calming down, he looks at me, too.
Eventually, he says, “Listen, I’m—I’m sorry I kissed you. I hope I didn’t cross a line. I kind of lost it there for a second. Was just so happy to be alive, you know? I wanted to do something significant to celebrate.” He gives me an earnest look. “Have you ever felt like that before?”
I recall the kiss and experience it all over again. I wonder what he thought was significant about it. I mean, it felt nice (my lips are still tingling, if I’m being honest), but it was a weird way to repay me for my help. If he truly felt blessed to be alive, it seems like he’d have found new ambition to travel or follow his dreams or make amends to someone from his past. Not kissme.
But whatever, I guess. I’m not going to ask about it.
I shake my head. “No, I’ve never felt that way before.” Well, I realize now that Super Fun Saturdays are in that celebratory vein, but I brush it off. “You didn’t cross a line, though. Don’t be worried about it.”
He checks, “You sure? You didn’t feel violated, right?”
I could laugh. My days of feeling violated and not fighting back arewayover. “If I thought you were the slightest danger to me, you wouldn’t be sitting in my kitchen.”
He gives a quick nod. “Oh, yeah, true. Of course. Well, have I wronged a boyfriend or fiancé or husband?”
“No.”
After a second, he adds, “A girlfriend?” He looks like he’s trying to cover all the bases, not make a joke.
“No. I don’t date.”
He looks perplexed, but he nods again, and relief is soon touching his features. “Okay, well…good. None of that stuff occurred to me until after I’d already kissed you. Just thought I should be prepared to apologize some more.”
“Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”
He hesitates, then rubs a hand over one of his inked arms. A frown comes onto his face, and he stammers, “I—Idohave a girlfriend.”
My eyebrows go up.
“Truth be told, I’m not happy with her. Haven’t been for a long time. She actually cheated on me a few weeks ago, I found out—like,for realcheated. And that’s not an excuse for what I did in the hall, I know, but it’s—I mean, choking kind of slapped me in the face. Like, God hit me right in the forehead and said,‘Hey, life is short, so don’t waste it.’So that’s why I kissed you, you know? Because I’ve always—you’re really—it’s—whew, I’m babbling. I’m so sorry.” His expression turns sheepish.
I just shrug.
It’s not a reaction he expected. Looking unsure of what to say next, he goes back to sipping his water.
I don’t know what to say either. The shock of his kiss is doubled now that I know he’s in a relationship, but he seems to feel bad about it, so that’s healthy. Nothing like that is going to happen again anyway—at least, not with me. He’s always seemed pleasant and, since he’s so good-looking and I’m a human woman, I can’t help being flattered that he’s attracted to me enough to kiss me…but he’s not for me. He wouldn’t be even if he were single.
No oneis for me.
There’s a reason I haven’t bothered with dating in recent years (aside from agreeing to go out with Wyatt for the car thing), and that reason is Rae. She is my first priority and has been since I got her. Well, actually, she was at the top of the list from the day she was born, since Kelle has always had problems with addiction and bad choices. I’ve been looking out for the kid for forever, whether it was official or not.
