Chances.
I almost smirked. Almost wanted to tell her she sounded just like Rynna.
Rynna.
Fucking beautiful Rynna.
“I don’t even know where to start,” I admitted through a sigh. “Been keeping people at arm’s length for so long, don’t have the first clue about how to get back in the dating game.”
But there was something about me and Rynna that felt like we’d already surpassed all of that. Our connection went deeper than testing the waters. Bigger than dating or seeing how it went.
Something strong blazed between us. A connection that shackled us together.
Unavoidable.
Irresistible.
Truth was that last night I’d felt closer to her than I’d felt to anyone in so damned long, and I wasn’t talking Frankie or my mom or the guys.
This was about being united with someone. Bonded. Tied.
That connection had lit into a frenzy when I’d sat in the darkness of her room and watched her sleep.
Fuck.
She was gorgeous.
The kind of gorgeous that wasn’t just skin deep, even though that body made me crazy with need.
I was talking about the goodness that poured from her.
Sunshine and sweet.
I’d watched her until the sun started to show, like it was drawn to her the same as I was to this girl. Finally, I’d forced myself from her bed so I could clear my head.
Thing was, the confusion had only grown the more distance I put between us. That gravity calling me back to her while all my resolutions and dedications had warned I was making mistake after mistake.
“You could start by doing something nice for her,” Mom said.
“Nice?”
She laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re so far gone you don’t know what nice is? There’s gotta be something you could do for this girl to let her know you care. That you’re interested. Doesn’t have to be extravagant. Just show her you aren’t the uptight, grumpy pants this whole town thinks you are.” A smile slipped into the words.
My brow rose. “Grumpy pants?”
Frankie was suddenly right at my side, dancing around, singing, “Grumpy pants, grumpy pants, my daddy is a grumpy pants,” over and over again.
Maybe Frankie could see it better than I’d thought.
And maybe it was fucking time I did something about it.
25
Rynna
Panic had me sailing out from the back of the kitchen and rushing through the dining room of Pepper’s Pies.
But this was a different kind of panic.
Not the kind incited by Timothy Roth.
This was a huge banging on the other side of the wall, the floors shaking and the fixtures trembling, so fierce I was terrified my grandmother’s restaurant was about to come crumbling down.
Confusion jolting me back, I skidded to a stop at the end of the hall that led to the restrooms.
My eyes narrowed as I attempted to make sense of the scene.
“What in the world are you doing?” I finally managed. Dust billowed in the enclosed area, and three strange men were in the midst of it, tearing out the plasterboard of the wall that blocked off the restrooms.
One stocky guy barely grunted an answer. “It’s demo day.”
Demo day?
“What are you talking about?” Exasperated, it tumbled out as I took a lurching step forward.
Another guy, dressed in a paint-stained tee, jeans, and work boots, tossed the piece of plywood he’d pried free into a small pile, which was growing quickly. “Boss sent us over. Told us this needed to get done and fast.”
“Boss?”
“Gunner,” the other guy huffed as he ripped free a huge piece of plywood that sent another plume of white dust billowing in the air.
Gunner.
Gunner. Gunner. Gunner.
The name spun through that haze before realization broke through the fog.
Oh God, what did he do?
I stepped back, trembling, the emotions tumbling through me too convoluted they were too much to fully understand. So, I latched on to one. That one that was frustrated and shocked, unable to process the actions of this unexpected man.
I rushed back into the kitchen and grabbed my purse and keys before flying out the door and hitting the road, my destination clear.
RG Construction.
I haphazardly parked and then flew through the entrance of the building. The interior space small enough that I didn’t need to do anything but round the secretary, who jumped to his feet.
“Excuse me, ma’am.”
I didn’t slow, I just thrust open Rex’s office door. I barged right in, the door banging against the inner wall when I did. I was flustered and angered and awed all at the same time. “You’d better have a good explanation.”
Surprised, his attention jerked up from the papers he was pouring over. “Rynna.”
God. He knocked the breath right out of me. I stood in the doorway, trying to brace myself, to remember why I was upset in the first place. Oh, yeah. “Why are there three men at my restaurant tearing it apart?”
Slowly, he stood, stealing a little more of the air. The man so powerful . . . so beautiful that I couldn’t think.