Because she’s beautiful and funny and—damn her and all redheads—I like her. I can pretend not to but that would be dumb. I’ve invited her into my home and my life.
At this point, how can I not help her with the car situation?
“She will be mad?” Vik asks, all but reading my mind. For a guy who doesn’t speak English very well, he’s uncannily intuitive.
“Maybe,” I admit as we pull up to the house. “But it’s done. We can argue about the bill later.”
He nods. “Will be okay.” Then he pats my shoulder like I’m a little kid.
We walk into the house and Serena immediately comes to greet me.
“What happened?” she asks.
“Let’s talk,” I say, grabbing her hand and tugging her into another room.
My friends scatter, leaving us alone in the great room.
“I have Triple A,” I say. “So having it towed was free. I chose a mechanic that’s not too far away, so it won’t be a hassle to get there when it’s time and he’ll give you a fair price.”
“Okay. Thank you.” She seems to be mulling over the information. “So, we have no idea what’s wrong?”
“Well, I can tell you both front tires were flat, so those will need replacing. The engine wouldn’t even turn over, so it’s probably more complicated than my knowledge of cars goes.”
“I figured.” She sighs. “But at least it’s not on the side of the road anymore. Hopefully, it won’t be super expensive to fix.”
“Let’s talk about that,” I say.
She starts to protest but I lift a finger to cut her off.
“I know. It’s a little weird. Probably a bit presumptuous on my part. You’re an adult, completely capable of handling your own crises. I get it. But here’s the thing—I don’t have to do this. I know that. The truth is…Iwantto. I like you. We had two really fun days together, despite the circumstances. We haven’t discussed what’s next, not really, but I want to see you again. And I’m just not the type of man who’s going to let someone close to me struggle over something I can help with.”
She doesn’t respond at first, merely gazes up at me with her pretty gray eyes. Like she’s trying to figure out whether or not to accept. Or maybe what I’m going to ask for in return.
“And if me helping you means no more fooling around, because it would feel transactional to you, that’s okay too.”
Even though not touching her might kill me.
“West.” Her gaze is locked with mine as she slowly shakes her head from side to side. “You are truly…special. I don’t know who your ex left you for, but she was crazy.”
That’s a subject I won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, so I dip my head.
“It was complicated.”
“Well, you didn’t really ask me any questions, so I’ll address each thing separately. First, yes, I do need help, but I don’t want a handout. Whatever the cost comes to, I will pay you back. That’snon-negotiable. But saving me from paying all that interest is a huge favor I’m grateful for. I get paid every two weeks and I’ll agree to this if we come up with a fair payment plan that won’t put undue stress on me.”
I nod. “That’s fine.”
“And second, we already planned to spend time together. Did you forget about our cook-off? We can call it hanging out or whatever, but it amounts to the same thing because there’s no way I’m agreeing to the third thing.”
“The third thing?” I’m momentarily confused by her train of thought.
“Sex. The fact that you’re worried about my comfort level means the world to me,” she whispers, eyes growing misty. “But when it’s all said and done, why on earth would we take something that feels so good off the table?”
“I just want to be sure…you don’t feel obligated because I’m lending you money.”
“Obligated to…what? Put out?” She shakes her head vehemently. “God, no.”
“It crossed my mind before too. When we were at your place, it was close quarters. No way to kick me out really. And let’s not kid ourselves, I’m physically imposing. You had your kid to worry about in the event I got angry or violent or something. I feel like the attraction between us is obvious, but sometimes, as the man, I need to be absolutely sure.”