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“Sounds like your pawpaw made his first friends in the neighborhood.”
“Yes, it does.” Brock stood and moved opposite Erin, pulling his plate across the table. She wished he’d stayed put. He was so much easier to talk to without looking into his eyes. “That makes me happy. I thought maybe I should extend my trip into next week. Pawpaw walks around the house like he’s a guest in his own home. It’s going to take a while for him to settle in and relax.”
“I’d be happy to check on him. Make sure he’s doing okay.”
“That’s nice of you, thanks.” He cleared his throat, seemed a little uncomfortable. “That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it? Helping others in the neighborhood.”
“I guess it kind of is.” Erin heard no judgment in his tone. “I like helping people. For the most part, my neighbors in CCR are really nice. Not everyone has family nearby, so I try to do what I can whenever someone needs a hand.”
Brock nodded and chewed with a contemplative look on his face.
Erin braced for an inquisition.
“I don’t mean to sound nosey,” he said, lowering his voice and leaning onto the table.
Erin’s stomach twisted into knots.
“But how do you strand living here with all these old folks? Don’t you miss being around people your own age?”
Erin heaved a sigh of relief. She’d answered a form of his question many times over the past two years. “It’s a valid question. When Gram broke her ankle and needed help, I was fed up with living in Atlanta.” She thought back to her tiny apartment and her solitary life. If she’d stayed, she’d have turned into her parents—working all the time to the exclusion of anything else. “I moved there for a job I liked, but I didn’t have a social outlet. None of my close friends lived in the city, and I found it hard to make genuine connections. Neighbors didn’t speak to neighbors and making friends was hard.”
“I get that,” Brock said. “It’s easy to get lost in a big city like Atlanta.”
“Don’t get me started about my experience with online dating.” Embarrassment heated Erin’s cheeks and froze her into place. Why had she mentioned dating to a man she barely knew?
Brock winced like he agreed. “That bad?”
Shoot me now.With no way to backtrack, Erin told the truth. “The men were just so … not what they claimed in their profile. And no one was interested in anything more than a hookup.”
“That sounds bad.”
“It was.” She shoved a bite into her mouth and prayed he’d change the subject.
“I must admit,” Brock said after a brief pause. “Cherry Creek is nicer than I expected, but can you see yourself living here forever?”
So much for casual conversation with an interesting man. Brock was as intense in person as his reputation had foretold. “I’ve made real friends here with people who like and appreciate me. People who know how to have a conversation. People who open themselves up to others and who aren’t afraid to speak their minds. It’s very refreshing. I don’t know if I would find that in another town.”
“But …” He paused, setting his fork down. “What about dating?”
Her stomach did a funny flip-flop that had nothing to do with Sal’s pizza. “Honestly, since I’ve been here, I haven’t really put myself out there.”
“A little gun shy?” he asked.
“I mean, even though I love living in CCR, it’s a little hard to explain why I live in an active adult community with my grandmother without sounding like a total weirdo.”
There was that sexy half-smile again, churning her insides into mush. “I see your point.”
“What about you?” she asked. “You live in a big city. There must be lots of pretty women in Nashville.”
“There definitely are. But I work too much to sustain a relationship.”
Yep, just as she imagined. “Don’t take this the wrong way because what you do is amazing, but that’s kind of sad.”
She got a full smile this time. If the half-smile flattened her insides, the full smile finished the job. “I can’t argue with you there,” he said. “It is sad.”
“There’s got to be more to life than work.”
“I agree. I need to make some changes—starting with getting back out there.”
