He opened a small closet. “I hope you don’t have too many clothes. This house was built before walk-in closets were a thing.”
I looked in and noticed a child-sized western shirt hanging over a pair of red cowboy boots.
“For when I teach her to ride,” he said when I looked at him. “I promised her I would. I’m looking forward to it.”
“You’ve done a lot for her.”
There was a flash of something in his eyes, as if my comment bothered him.
“I know I’m selfish, but I want her to be comfortable here.” His voice wasn't angry, but I could hear frustration.
“You’re not selfish,” I said. I had an urge to press my hand to his cheek but I resisted. We were roommates, that was it.
“Mom left towels and other things she thought you might need on the dresser. The bathroom is next door. There’s a tub and a shower.”
“Thank you, Wyatt. I’ll admit, I was a little nervous, but you’re making this easier.”
He smiled. “Good. I’ll leave you to get settled. Supper will be ready in half an hour.”
He left me then, heading down the stairs. I was grateful for the respite from his overwhelming presence. Having him so close did all sorts of crazy things to me. Not just my hormones, which did go haywire, but also in my chest. My heart longed for him in the same way it had ten years ago. It didn’t seem to know, as my head did, that we weren’t the same people anymore. It wanted to go back to what we had, but that was gone. The torrent of emotions and titillation had to be a desire to recapture the past, but I knew that couldn’t be done.
I pushed all those crazy feelings away as I unpacked. I looked out the light filmy curtains toward the barn. He was right, Alyssa would like the view. But, what if she liked it here too much? I shook my head, not letting my mind go there. I made a commitment to help Wyatt and the other farmers. I was going to follow through.
The time here would allow me to see Wyatt with Alyssa and if it went as well as it had at my parents’ house, I’d be able to tell him the truth and feel good that he’d love her and stick by her. Ryder told me that it was wrong to make Wyatt pass some sort of test. He was right, of course, but when it came to Alyssa, I couldn’t risk her getting hurt. She came first. From the moment I held her in my arms, nothing was more important than her well-being and happiness. Wyatt deserved to know, for sure, but it didn’t trump what Alyssa needed.
I cleaned up in the bathroom, admiring the old claw foot tub and hoping I’d have a chance to enjoy it. Then I headed downstairs, following the scent of garlic.
He was in the kitchen with his back to me as he stirred something on the stove.
“It smells like an Italian restaurant in here,” I said as I went to peek at what he was cooking.
“You sound surprised,” he said, moving one pot over to the sink to drain water from the pasta.
“In high school, I always got the feeling you couldn’t microwave pizza snacks.”
He laughed. “I’ve learned a few new tricks since then.” He winked at me.
Was he talking about sexual tricks or were my hormones seeing innuendo where there was none? Because that night at the oak tree, he did show a few new tricks, the second orgasm being my favorite. Cripes, again with the naughty thoughts.
“Hungry?” he asked as he quirked an eyebrow at me.
“Starving.” And yes, that was innuendo on my part because Wyatt cooking was extremely sexy.
17
Wyatt
I was no gourmet cook, but I could whip up a pretty good batch of spaghetti. I focused on serving the plates to distract me from the fact that the woman of my dreams was in my kitchen, moving into my house. If only she was moving into my bedroom too.
I turned to put the plates out, seeing her standing by the table. She looked at home. Like she belonged. Because she did. Ten years ago, our plan was that she’d be here. We would fill the house with our love and laughter and kids. I fucked up that dream, but that didn’t mean all was lost. If I played my cards right, maybe we could still have that.
“Do you want wine?” I asked as I grabbed a bottle of red and two glasses from the cupboard.
“Sure. But don’t think I’m going to get hammered and let you have your way with me again.” She said it jokingly, but I knew there was a tinge of truth. She had a wall up and I had to respect it, hoping eventually she’d knock it down.
I poured us both a drink, setting the glasses by our plates and motioning for her to sit.
“Remember when you were the one chasing me?” I said as I sat across from her.