Broken Dreams (Broken 2)

She turned her head, and her smile faded for a brief second before she flashed that beautiful smile of hers. “So, I earned a nickname from you, huh?” she said with a wink. “I think I slept okay. Were you in the room at one point? I thought you were, but I think I was dreaming. And don’t get all smart-ass with me. It wasn’t a sex dream.”

She doesn’t remember. I smiled as I stood up and winked at her. “Baby, you wish you were having sex dreams about me.”

I turned and walked into the house while she sat there in a laughing fit.

I walked up to the stove and held out my shaking hand. She’ll tell me when she’s ready to tell me. Don’t push her, Reed. Just don’t push her away.

I made up two bowls of stew and took them outside. She was buried deep into a book, and the smile on her face was so damn cute.

“Hungry? I’ve got some stew here.”

She looked up and nodded her head as she reached out for the stew. She balanced her Kindle on her knees and went back to reading as she blew on the stew and then took a bite.

“So, what has you smiling like that? What are you reading?” I asked before taking a bite of the stew.

She closed her eyes and then opened them. “It’s just a love story that’s making me swoon.”

“Swoon?” I asked.

She looked at me, scrunching up her nose, and I about died. It was the cutest thing I’d ever seen, and I just wanted to grab her and make love to her right here on the back porch.

“Swoon, Reed. You know…swoon!” she said with a giggle.

“Uh…doesn’t swoon mean to faint from extreme emotion?” I asked.

She turned a little bit more and smiled bigger. “Yes, so swooning is like being in a state of ecstasy.”

“Okay…so, it’s turning you on?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “No! It’s romantic. The guy is being utterly romantic, and it gives me butterflies in my stomach.” She turned back and began reading again.

“What’s he doing?”

She peeked over and looked at me. “You really want to know?” She slightly tilted her head. “Is there a reason you’re being so nice?”

My heart hurt a little when she asked that. “I really want to know. I’m interested in knowing what makes you swoon,” I said with a wink.

She sat back and took another bite of stew. After a few seconds of chewing, she began talking. “Well, it’s one of my favorite books ever. It’s called The Marriage Bargain, and the guy just realized he loves the girl. It was just a really sweet moment, and those always have the same effect on me every time.”

I nodded and then asked, “How many times have you read it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe nine or ten times.”

I choked on my stew and sat up. “Ten times! You’ve read the same book ten times?”

She bit down on her lower lip and whispered, “Okay, maybe fifteen…give or take one or two.”

Then, I really started choking.

“Are you okay, Reed?” she asked before she started laughing.

“Holy shit, Court. I’m going to die on elk stew here.”

“What? What did you just say?”

“I said, I’m going to die from choking on the stew. Fifteen times?”

“No! You said, elk stew. Oh God! Oh God! Am I eating elk?” She began flailing her free arm all around.