Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Chapter Seven
Daphne glanced at the big house. It was still lit up despite the fact that it was almost eleven o’clock at night.
“She’s fine, you know.” Boomer closed the door to his big truck, and the lock chirped.
They’d stayed at the party until five and then Daphne had gone and changed into the only good dress she had that wasn’t covered in red paint. It had been at the dry cleaners along with a couple of blouses and three pairs of slacks. Otherwise she might have had to go on her date in a Daphne’s Delights T-shirt and jeans.
“I think Lou’s more than fine.” Her heart seemed to tighten a little. “It’s the first time I’ve seen her genuinely happy. I guess I never realized how isolated she is and how much it’s affected her. She’s never had a bunch of friends.”
Neither had she. She’d had friends in school, but not like this group. Her friends had mostly been out of necessity. They helped each other with school and lost touch once they weren’t in classes together.
Now that she thought about it, no one had taught her how to have friends. Her parents had moved a lot when she was a child. At least every eighteen months or so they would get into financial trouble and downsize, or her mom would find a place she liked more than whatever they were renting at the time.
The only roots she’d ever put down had been with a husband who didn’t love her and a family that tolerated her because they had to or they would lose access to Lou.
“I’m glad. She’s found a good group.” Boomer’s hands touched her shoulders, the connection immediately warming her. “I know they can be weird, but they’re solid.”
Everyone here felt solid, and she wondered how long she’d been on ever-moving ground. She liked where she was. “I really like you, Boomer.”
His hands came back down, and she felt him move away from her. “I like you, too.”
Wow. He’d shut down fast. What had she said? She turned his way, the moonlight sliding over his masculine features like a spotlight that had found a worthy subject. “Is it wrong to like you?”
His head shook, and he had that half smile he got when he wasn’t truly happy but he didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. “Of course not. Like I said, the feeling is mutual.”
Oh, but he thought it wasn’t. She’d said one thing, and he’d heard another. And now that she thought about it, he didn’t know what was going on in her head, that she was trying to wrap her reality around the fact that she wanted this man in her life, and part of that meant stating her intentions out loud.
“I like you a lot, Boomer.” She moved in, feeling more confident than she had in years. Sometimes it felt like Lou might be the only good thing that ever happened to her, like Lou was all she got, and she should be grateful.
Or she should have more faith in the people around her. In herself. She should want more. She was more than a mom. More than a business owner. She needed to stop defining herself by other people’s views and try to honestly see herself as she was. As she wanted to be.
Tonight she wanted to be with him.
“I like you a lot, too.” Boomer still had that distant look on his face. “I should get going. Do you want me to take Lou to school on Monday? I know she says she hasn’t seen that guy again, but with what happened, I think it would be a good idea if I at least went with you.”
“You would, wouldn’t you?” She was constantly in awe of how good a man he was. He wasn’t perfect. He’d stolen a couple of her fries earlier this evening, and he’d gotten confused about directions to a restaurant he’d been to several times before. She knew that because when he’d walked in the owner had smiled and then asked the staff how much beef they had left. He would always bring home stinky animals and not think about the fact that they likely had fleas.
“Would take Lou to school? Yeah.”
She moved into his space, letting her hands find his chest. It was a bold move for her, but he made her comfortable enough to make it. “Take care of both of us even if I didn’t want to sleep with you. Which I do. A lot. Like I can’t stop thinking about it, and you should understand that the sleeping with you part is only partially about the fact that you’re the sexiest man I’ve ever met.”
He stared down at her, and his whole body seemed to relax. “I thought you were saying you like me because the date didn’t go well.”