Page 8 of Wrong Number, Right Grizzly (Dial M For Mates #7)

RONAN

When Nix offered to have me go to his place, take a shower, wash clothes, that kind of thing, the responsible me should have said no and that I really needed to get home.

I was expected at work and still hadn’t called in yet.

But the second he made the offer, I told him that I would love it, and that was the truth of it.

I would love to spend more time with him.

Responsible me had been left at the side of the road during the storm.

I hadn’t expected him to offer to take me home so willingly. I should have… He was a walking green flag and had shown nothing but kindness to me from the get-go. Of course he was going to help me in any way that he could. That was just who he was showing himself to be.

But leaving him, I wasn’t ready to do that just yet. I wanted to be trapped here, as selfish as that was. I longed to stay with him while the parts for the car came in. And the not-so-small part of me hoped that some of the parts would be backordered and need even more days to arrive.

I’d never felt this way about anyone before, and the only way I could describe it was love. Logic said I shouldn’t be feeling this way this quickly. But love was anything but logical.

Love. Of course I didn’t love him. It was ridiculous to even think so.

I barely knew him. But also, there was this warm feeling being around him, on top of the attraction unlike any I’d ever felt before.

My stomach did little flips, my heart started beating faster, my ears got warm all because he smiled at me. There was just something about Nix.

As we reached his house, I told him I would stay outside for a minute and call my boss. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to go well, and I didn’t want Nix to hear that, because if he did, there was no part of me that doubted he would shoo me back in the car and drive me all the way home again.

I sucked in a deep breath and then pressed the call button. And when Mary, the office manager, answered, I had a split-second hope that my boss wasn’t around. He didn’t generally have his phone rerouted like that unless he was unavailable.

“Hey, Mary, it’s Ronan. I was actually calling the boss man.” I kept my voice light, not to worry her or to help her spread the gossip because that was one thing Mary was great at… gossip.

“Yeah, well, he’s looking for you.” That was the last thing I wanted to hear. “Apparently you were supposed to be in already.”

“Yeah? About that... you know how we had the big storm come through the state yesterday?”

“Oh yeah, it was on the news.”

“Well… I was driving through that, and long story short, my car’s in the shop.

It’s gonna be there a few days, and not all the roads are passable yet.

” With Mary, it was important to keep it to the need-to-know details because she was going to share them, and the game of telephone in an office always went wrong.

“Yikes. Are you okay?” Unlike our boss, she was worried about me. It was sweet. And true, she was going to share our entire conversation with the office, but in her heart, she did care.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I met someone here who’s been helping me out.”

“You met someone who’s helping you out?” She was 100% collecting tea.

“Yeah, I dialed the wrong number, and he came to help.”

“He’s not a serial killer, is he?” I couldn’t tell if she was teasing or not.

“If he was a serial killer, either A) I wouldn’t know about it till it was too late. Or B) if I did know about it, I wouldn’t be here to tell you about it.”

“That’s fair enough. Too bad, that would have been an interesting thing to bring up at the staff meeting.” I can picture her, shaking her head, her tail when she thought she was being funny.

“Are you kidding me, Mary?” She 1000% was.

“Obviously not.” The humor in her voice was gone, and I quickly discovered why. “He’s here now. Let me give him the phone.”

My boss got on, and I relayed the same story that I told her, but unlike Mary, he wasn’t as understanding.

“When are you coming back?” No ‘are you OK?’ No ‘do you need any help?’ Just straight to ‘why aren’t you at work yet?’

“I think I might have a ride tonight.” I wasn’t making any promises. I should. It was my job, and even if Nix couldn’t get me there, I could figure out a way. Something was stopping me, and I offered him the only thing I could. “But I’ll try to be there tomorrow.”

“Do you have PTO?” Asshat, he knew I did. I never took time off. I had weeks and weeks built up.

“Plenty,” I assured him, trying my hardest not to be snappy with him.

“Well, keep us updated.”

I hung up. That went a little bit better than I thought it was going to, so there was that.

I went into the house, seeing Nix there, his hair wet, new clothes on. “I took a quick shower while you were calling your boss. Is everything all set?”

“Yeah, it’s good.” Good enough, anyway.

“Excellent. If you want to pop in the shower, I’ll make us something real to eat.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

When I went into the bathroom, I quickly discovered that he had laid everything out for me. There was a fresh towel, a new toothbrush, and even a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt. He was the sweetest.

His water pressure was amazing, so much better than the motel.

And even though I had cleaned up there, I’d never felt clean because of the mold and grossness.

Now that I was here in a real shower, surrounded by very un-moldy things, I felt more like myself…

myself with a little added side of Nix. There was something so sexy about wearing his pajamas and using his soap and shampoo.

I didn’t exactly smell like him, but I came close. And it was fabulous.

The door to the bathroom was barely cracked open when I smelled the bacon. Nix had made a full breakfast that included potatoes and toast and eggs, all of the foods I’d told him I loved as we were chatting away while playing cards.

“This looks amazing.” It was all I could do not to snatch a piece of bacon.

“Do you want to eat inside or outside?” he offered.

“Outside.” As horrible as the weather had been, there was something special about the way the air scented after a rain.

He carried a little table out and a couple of chairs, his outside furniture still wet from the weather.

We sat in the backyard eating and talking about little nothings and just get-to-know-you kind of things—first pets, what we did in college, what shows we liked to watch, that kind of thing.

Never once was there a lull in the conversation.

We’d have stayed outside even longer if it weren’t for the bugs starting to come out.

Everything was more fun with Nix, including washing the dishes.

He had a dishwasher, but we didn’t use it.

It was a waste for so few dishes. We looked like an old sitcom couple…

one of us washing, the other one drying, and neither one of us really knowing how to keep out of each other’s way.

Only for me, it wasn’t a case of not knowing so much as I didn’t want to get out of his way.

Being in his space just felt warm and cozy and exactly where I needed to be.

But then, all too soon, I got a call. It was from the mechanic who said that the parts were going to be here earlier than he had originally thought, and if all went well, I could leave sooner than anticipated.

And that was both good and bad. Good, because if we were leaving earlier, there was no point in going home only to turn around and come right back.

I could spend more time with Nix, and I had a feeling there would never be enough time with him, even if I was told I was here for a week, a month, a year.

Yes, I was getting ahead of myself. No, it wasn’t going to change.

It was also bad, though, because that meant I’d be spending less time with Nix than I wanted and had sort of been planning to get.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” he asked after I’d changed back into my clothes fresh from the dryer. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the pajamas. They were his, something I longed to be.

“Not really.” And it wasn’t just because of the bugs. “I have something else I want to do.”

If we had limited time, I was going for it. I didn’t wanna live with regrets, wondering what if. Life was too short for that.

I stepped into his space, wrapped my arms around him. “Can you just hug me for a second?”

He held me so close I felt his warmth. And then, when I looked up and he looked down, I did something I’d never done before—I initiated a kiss. I couldn’t help myself. I needed to taste his lips, to feel them pressed against mine, and when I did, I melted into his arms.

This was where I was meant to be.