Choosing Fate (Love in Eden 1.70)

Beautiful.

That thought lasted for all of two seconds. Then I looked down at what he was handing me and felt my entire face heat up. The plastic of the wrapped condom that had fallen out of my purse and that I’d completely forgotten about sounded loud in the silence between us. I'd had the thing in my purse for years, though I hadn’t been the one to put it there. I opened my mouth to explain, then shut it, then opened it again. Then the strangest thing happened to me…

I began to laugh.

And laugh.

And laugh.

I had no doubt I was coming off as a crazy person, but in that moment I didn't care. It was like some valve inside of me had been released and all the hurt and sorrow and loneliness I'd been feeling since my marriage had collapsed came out. Only, it came out in the form of laughter instead of tears. Who would've guessed that was even possible?

I was still mid-laugh when I looked up at Zander to see if he was reconsidering his offer to give me a ride home. But when my eyes met his, I didn't see any judgment or concern. Instead, I saw some mysterious emotion that I couldn't put my finger on.

I had no idea what was happening to me, or what he thought of any of it, but for the first time in a long time, that was okay. There would be plenty of time later for self-doubt and regret, but for now, I was going to do a very un-Jolene thing and just go with what I was feeling for once.

Chapter 3

Zander

She fascinated me.

It was that simple.

And not.

Admittedly, I’d expected only one of two possible reactions from her when I’d handed her the condom. Embarrassment or coyness. And yeah, she was embarrassed, but the fact that she was currently laughing so hard she was nearly in tears was proof that the embarrassment wasn't too profound. And I was beyond glad that she wasn't hitting on me. I'd had more than a few women come on to me even while their boyfriends or dates were in full view. And while I'd never necessarily been in this specific kind of situation before, I’d become somewhat of a skeptic when it came to women. I supposed that wasn't their fault, necessarily. I just had really high expectations.

"Sorry," Jolene said as she put her hand to her mouth. She was clearly trying to get a hold of herself but failing miserably.

"Don't be," I murmured. "It's nice to be surprised for a change," I added, knowing she wouldn't understand what I meant. Her laughter died down and that mysterious thing flared up between us again. Although if I was being honest with myself, it wasn't really all that mysterious. I was pretty sure what it was… I just hadn't felt it in a very long time.

My body radiated with the need to step close to her again, but this time I managed to resist the urge and instead turned on my heel. "Stay here, I'll get the car." Even as I said the words, I knew they were coming out too harshly. But I wasn't in any mood to explain that I was angry with myself, not her. How would I explain that, anyway? And what would she think if she knew that it was taking every bit of my self-control not to reach for her a mere ten minutes after watching her being assaulted by the jackass that had gotten off far too easy?

"Zander, if you're too busy—"

"It's fine," I bit out, mostly because I didn't want her changing her mind. I would've liked to say that was because I didn't think it was safe for a woman to be walking alone this time of night, but that was just part of the reason. Although keeping my hands to myself would be an epic task, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to her just yet. While Eden wasn't a large town, it stood to reason that I wouldn't see her again. Especially if I stuck to my schedule and moved on within the next couple of weeks.

As I hurried to my car and cleared off the tools I'd been using to work on it, I kept glancing over my shoulder to make sure Jolene hadn't left on her own. She was standing near the gas pumps with her arms wrapped around herself like she was cold. It wasn't a particularly chilly night, but the dress she was wearing was pretty light. It was a nice dress, but somehow it didn't fit her. Like it was too… much.

Once I pulled the car out of the garage, Jolene began walking toward it. I wasn't sure why, but I liked that. I left the car running so I could close the garage. By the time I was returning to the car, Jolene was just a few steps away. I met her at the passenger side door. When she put her hand on the handle, I covered it with mine and said, "Wait up."