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“I meant to hang out with you.”

The phone rang again.

Thea nodded. There hadn’t been a question of what her heart wanted.

It wasn’t necessarily the best idea, but she’d had enough of trying to stay away from him. “I’d like that.”

His fingers slid from her arm, but she hesitated.

The next ring jolted her out of the haze, and she turned for the office, looking forward to an evening with Brett.

Chapter16

Brett

Brett parked in front of Hadley and Thea’s cabin and settled back into the seat. “You can hang out with her without scaring her off. Don’t lead with your feelings.” He gripped the wheel and huffed. “Don’t force your feelings on her.”

Thea went along with things to make everyone else happy, and he’d spent the afternoon questioning whether he’d imagined a connection earlier because he wanted it so badly.

Did Thea feel half of what he felt? Then, now, any time?

He shut off the engine and pushed the truck door open with more force than necessary. She’d agreed to spend some time with him, and he wasn’t going to waste any more of that time hem-hawing about it. He stomped his snowy boots on the porch and gave a quick double knock.

“Come in!”

Thea sat up from the couch. “Sorry. It’s much faster for you to let yourself in.”

He hung his hat and coat by the door and toed off his boots. “Don’t worry about it.”

She looked him up and down. “You look ready for bed.”

Glancing down at the gray sweatpants that had been tucked into his boots a few seconds ago, he shrugged. “Almost ready for bed. I don’t sleep in this.”

Thea’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

Let her mull that one over for a while. He sighed loud enough for her to hear.

“You okay?” Thea asked.

The little wrinkle between her brows was endearing. She did care about him, but how much?

“What a day,” he said as he lifted her legs from the couch and sat, placing them back in his lap. “A hot mess of a woman needs my help all the time. It’s hard being a knight in shining armor, you know?”

Thea relaxed and swatted his chest. “Stop it.”

“It’s true. She’s ridiculously hot too. It’s a problem, but don’t worry about me. How was your day?”

She was smiling now, and his work was done.

“It was good. A super sexy cowboy has been doing everything for me, and I can’t lie, it’s fantastic.”

“A sexy cowboy, huh? Should I introduce him to my fist?”

Thea rolled her eyes. “You can act like you’re a caveman all day, but you’re a total softie.”

“It’s true. I’m a teddy bear. I need lots of hugs.”

This was what he’d been missing. It was like a bridge had been mended between the past and present and he could be himself again.