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Great.
15
BRODY
My truck’sheater blasts into the cab as I wait outside the salon that evening.
The sun has already set despite it being just after five. There’s not nearly enough light on the street without it, and I make note to mention the addition of some extra outside lights to Wanda. Cherry Peak is safe enough, but knowing Anna—orany woman—has been walking home alone in the dark doesn’t sit well with me.
The reminder of why I’m here has my eyes darting to the coat on my passenger seat. I searched my closet high and low for one that wouldn’t either drown her or cover her in dirt before finding that one. Thick and lined with sherpa material inside and over the folded collar, it’s the nicest and cleanest jacket I own. I don’t know if she’ll even accept it, but I didn’t have time to stop at the store to grab one for her, nor do I even know what she would have liked if I had.
Fuck, I don’t even know her well enough to pick a winter jacket out. What makes me think I have the right to toss her one of mine and expect her to wear it?
It must be my manners. I was raised to put women first always, regardless of who they are to me. That’s what this is. I’mbeing thoughtful, protective in a very standard way. What kind of man would I be to continue letting Anna freeze half to death whenever she steps outside?
I shut my eyes and lean my forehead against the steering wheel. If my grandmother could see me right now, she’d lose her mind. It wouldn’t be long until she was shaking wedding bells and calling every living Steele relative with the news. Which is precisely why I lied to her when I left before dinner.
As far as anyone at the ranch knows, I’ve started stepping out every afternoon to meet with a member of Swift Edge Records while they’re in town to keep tabs on me.
I’m hoping it won’t be a lie for long, despite how badly I don’t want to be guilted into going back to work. It’s only a matter of time until Garrison sends someone else to guilt me into returning early or to remind me that my next album is supposed to be completed by the end of the year.
I startle when the passenger door opens and Anna hops into the truck as if she’s done it a million times and not only just once earlier today when I dropped her back off at work. Before sitting completely, she holds herself above the seat and grabs the jacket before her eyes lift to mine.
“Can I move this? I don’t want to sit on it.”
My throat is tight when I say, “It’s yours.”
“Mine?” she echoes, a hint of bewilderment in her tone.
I scratch the back of my neck, suddenly too hot. “You can’t be walkin’ around town in December with the jacket you have. If you don’t want that one, I won’t be offended. Just please use it until you get another.”
Something far too similar to pain flickers across her face. My brows scrunch at the reaction, not expecting it as guilt churns my stomach. Alarms blare in my head when she blinks and whips her head to the side, a hand coming up to rub at her cheek.
“I didn’t mean to upset you.” The words are stumbled, awkward.
Fuck.
She shakes her head furiously, as if she’s angry. “You hardly know me. Can barely stand me, really.”
“Wecan hardly standeachother,” I correct her, attempting to lighten the mood. It doesn’t work.
“And you still thought to bring me a jacket so that I didn’t freeze?Yourjacket?”
“I don’t use it anymore.” As if that’s a valid reason.
“That wouldn’t matter to most people,” she whispers.
I don’t have an answer to that. She’s right, and we both know it.
After a beat, she turns to me again, and I search her face for tears. The thought of them marking her pink cheeks is an unpleasant one. But there’s no sign of them after that first swipe of her hand. Instead, her mouth is quirked.
“Can I put it on now?”
I shake off my shock and nod. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”
The cab of the truck is big enough that she doesn’t have to struggle with taking off the too-thin jacket and dropping it to her lap before sliding her arms through mine—hers.
It’s a good two sizes too big for her, but with the sleeves rolled up once, it’s good enough. At least it’s warm and will keep her from turning blue with the true winter temperatures approaching. Her approval lights up her face and the whole damn truck.
