Page 3 of His to Love

He took mercy on her and changed the subject.

“This plate is hot,” he warned. “You might as well just eat with me. I won’t keep you long.”

They sat on the picnic bench in his backyard. She looked around his backyard. He followed her line of sight to his garage. It had a wall-to-wall door on the back as well as the front so a car could drive all the way through it. Left open, it was set up to jam. He noted her studying his guitars. He had a half-dozen or so setting on stands in a row.

“I’ve got quite a collection.”

His statement drew her focus to him. He found her so beautiful. She was definitely stirring him in a way he hadn’t been stirred in a while. He lived a great life, and he got to make a living doing what he wanted to do. Fame, however, was a double-edged sword. While the money was great, there was a part of him that was jaded and that tended to make him feel ungrateful which was completely insane.

The ugly side of doing so unbelievably well was that it brought out the worst in people. Sometimes he just wanted to make a simple connection but it was hard to know what people’s motives were.

There was something about Rainy, even though he had just met her, that was refreshingly honest. Maybe he just was desperate for someone to be real. To like him for being Kris and not Brock.

“So Rainy… where do you come from?”

“I’m a transplant from Baltimore.”

Kris’s eyes widened. He loved Baltimore.

“Ever been to the Papermoon Diner?” he asked eagerly.

Her face spread with warmth at the mention of the eclectic eatery.

“Of course. It should be a national monument to everything tasty. I’d go back just for the Oreo cookie pie.”

“It’s almost like Baltimore took a page out of Portland.”

“Or the other way around.” She lifted her shoulders. “Baltimore was here first.”

“Fair enough. Why are you here then?”

“I am going to work for Grand Canyon.” Her eyes were troubled, but she smiled trying to hide it.

“Oh,” he winced. “I can see why you’re sad.” She didn’t look like the type to work for the Amazon wannabe.

She made a pained face. “It’ll pay the bills.”

“I can see that you feel the same way I do about that company.” There was nothing wrong with Grand Canyon. Then again there was nothing right with it either. It was simply a knock off retailer. Kris preferred things with heart. Nothing flat-lined him faster than a place that lacked creativity and ingenuity. “Never have to leave your house. Grand Canyon provides everything from healthcare to groceries and whatever your heart desires. What kind of pod are you going to work in?”

She wrenched her face up and looked away, though she flashed a smile afterwards.

“Pretty sure the same kind that the other thousand employees work in.” She glanced around his back yard. “I can guarantee you that it won’t look anything like this.”

“That’s why you sounded unhappy.”

Kris lifted a bottle of beer and offered it to her.

“This isn’t the one you chugged from, is it?”

“No.” He grinned and pointed to the bottle by the grill.

“Okay.” She palmed the ope

n bottle.

“I don’t think I drank from it,” he teased, arching his brow.

When her eyes darted to his, he winked. Her head pivoted to the garage again.

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