AllFreeNovel
Share Us
An hour later, Ted Whitman came out of the store pushing a cart filled with fertilizer, topsoil, and mulch. At his truck, he dropped the tailgate and tossed in each bag that easily weighed twenty pounds without hesitation.
Man, Ted. I was really rooting for you.
Lifting his camera from the car seat, Reynolds snapped the requisite photos that he would send along to the insurance company and waited for the guy to finish.
After following Ted back home, where he then unloaded everything into his garage, Reynolds decided to call it. There was more than enough that would satisfy the needs of his client. If he hurried, he would be back in time to catch Waverley before she left for the day and see how she was processing the latest news.
The clear skies of the afternoon had changed to dark, angry storm clouds, and the wind had picked up, scattering leaves across the road as he parked his car in front of his office.
He could see Waverley’s head just over the top of the reception desk as she talked on the phone. He sat another moment, struggling with emotions that left him feeling almost paralyzed.
Strange how he was filled with both excitement and a rush of tenderness for the woman at just the sight of the top of her head, as well as anger and frustration for feeling that excitement and tenderness at simply seeing the top of her head.
Grabbing his camera and bag, he got out of the car and made it inside the office just as the sky unleashed a torrent of rain. She looked up as the door opened, and at seeing him, her entire face lit up and an easy smile met him.
His heart felt like it was going to pound right out of his chest.
Damn. He was in trouble.
She put her hand over the phone receiver. “I didn’t think I was going to see you today.”
He grunted—it was all he could risk—and left to his office, where he sat at his desk, warring with his emotions.
Never in a million years would he have thought he could have feelings for a woman like Waverley Abbott. Cultured. Well connected. Heir to a fortune if her father deigned to bequeath it to her. She belonged in a world where having money and the right social connections were valued above all else.
From what he could tell, Waverley wasn’t like that. But she did suffer from a need to please people who lived in that world, and the question remained as to how much she’d let that pressure to please people guide her life.
Would she walk away from the life she was building here and return to Denver and her father’s grace? More importantly, would she walk away from him?
Not knowing that answer was why he’d fled town, because he had a strong hunch he wouldn’t survive that kind of abandonment again. He also didn’t know how he was going to continue to work so closely with her and not want more. Not want to pull her up into his arms when she smiled so joyously when she greeted him. Or kiss those sweet lips as he pulled her soft, luscious body to his, feeling that sense of what he could only describe as hope. Hope for a future of more kisses, more hugs, more time with this woman.
A few minutes later, she was at his door, her welcoming smile from a moment ago gone. “If you’re okay with it, I’m taking off ten minutes early,” she said, her tone sharp and angry. Okay, he deserved that. Still…
He glanced outside, where the rain was coming down in heavy sheets. “The rain might break if you waited a few minutes.”
“It’s okay. Will I see you tomorrow?” she asked almost as a challenge.
He hesitated. “I’m not sure. I need to check and see if I’m doing a follow-up on the Higgins case.”
Fire lit her eyes as she glared at him. “Fine. Just text me when you figure it out.” She turned and he heard her at her desk, slamming a drawer.
Okay, so he wanted some distance from the woman, distance that he wouldn’t get offering her a ride home and sitting a couple feet from her. But the weather was a hazard, and since she still didn’t have a damn car and she’d have to walk home, the hazard doubled.
Hell. He grabbed his keys.
“Hold on,” he said as she reached the door. “Let me give you a ride home.”
“I said I’d be fine,” she snapped.
“I’m sure you will be, but for my own peace of mind, I’d like to make sure you get home safely.” She still didn’t say anything. “I’m going to follow you all the way home if I have to, so you might as well just accept the offer.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said and opened the door and stepped out. The air was thick with cool moisture and that cloying mustiness that came with rain.
Keys in hand, he locked the door behind them and headed to his car. She was already at the passenger side, her hand on the handle as if to tell him not to bother opening the door for her. He unlocked it with his key fob, and she was inside before he even reached his own door.
They drove the few blocks to her place in silence, save for the sound of the wipers working to keep the windshield free of the relentless rain. As he parked in front of her building, he struggled to find words that would help ease the tension between them, tension that he knew he was to blame for.
“Waverley, I’m sorry if I’ve been…brusque lately. I just have a lot on my mind.”
