Good Girl (Love Unexpectedly 2)

“A woman?” Finn says.

Shit.

“Yeah,” I say. “Which is bullshit, considering I was just this close to getting fucking married, but—”

“You want a different sort of woman,” Vaughn says.

I lift my shoulders. “Yeah. I want a woman who wants what I want. A woman who’s content to sit on the porch and watch dusk settle over the bayou—”

Finn cracks up and I punch him on the shoulder, hard, although I don’t mind the ribbing.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that your perfect relationship does not involve occasional strolls down the red carpet at the Grammys wearing a tux?” Vaughn asks, pretending to be preoccupied with his beer.

I glare at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He and Finn exchange a look, and it’s Finn who speaks up. “It means that you’ve fallen for Miss Grand Ole Opry.”

“I haven’t fallen for anyone,” I mutter, finishing off my beer. “I barely even know her.”

“But you like her.”

I want to deny it, but the hell of the thing is, I do like Jenny. I mean, I don’t get her. I don’t get how someone can talk about her grandparents’ quiet nights on the porch one minute and be talking to her agent about presenting at the CMA Awards the next. But I like the way she smiles. And listens. And stands up for herself, but also doesn’t hold a grudge. I like the way she makes little moaning noises after she takes a bite of steak, and pretends she wants the vegetables but only eats them after dragging them through a puddle of butter on her plate left from the baked potato.

I like the way she laughs, and the way she sneaks Ranger table scraps just like she does Dolly, and the way it takes her an hour to wash dishes because she has to keep taking breaks to jot down the music that she’s humming.

I like the way she fucks. God, do I like that.

“Jenny’s a…nothing. Rebound.”

“So you are sleeping with her,” Finn says.

I don’t respond, torn between protecting Jenny’s privacy and not lying to my best friends.

“Did you decide what I’m supposed to tell her about buying the house?” Vaughn asks.

“Wait. What?” Finn asks.

Vaughn fills him in on Jenny wanting to make an offer on the house, and I feel them both watching me out of the corner of my eye, gauging my reaction.

They can look all they want. Hell, if they come to a conclusion, I’d love a clue myself.

I don’t know what to do.

I want the house. It feels like mine, and not just because my name’s on the deed. I’m the one who’s slowly transitioning it from shithole to home, even if I do have a long-ass way to go. Fixer-upper doesn’t even begin to describe that place.

But Jenny buying the house…

It would mean Jenny stays.

Except she wouldn’t be here for good. What does

she want it for? So she can flit in and out when she feels like it? How would I fit into that?

I have no clue.

Don’t even know if I want to fit into it.

Liar.