“But…”
He steps forward. “Let me apologize for running you off the road. Show you I’m not all bad.”
“Oh,” I say, realization dawning. This isn’t about wooing me. It’s about me forgiving him. Well, I don’t need his pity. “It’s fine.” I pull my red hair off my forehead where there’s the lightest scar as a result of my injury from the incident in question. “All healed up.”
“Still. I’d like to make it up to you.” From his eyes, he seems earnest. Something I’ve never really noticed until now. But I’m not a pity case to anyone.
“Honestly, Gavin, it’s very thoughtful, but not necessary. It was nice running into you, see you around.” I move to walk around him, and he stretches out his arm to grab mine.
I stop, mostly from the rush of tingles racing up my arm to disperse throughout my body.
“I want to. Maybe I’m not saying this right.”
I pull my arm from his hand, and he sighs. “Gavi—”
“Posey, go on a date with me. Not as an apology for driving you off the road, although I am sorry about that. But I like you and I want to go on a date with you to get to know you better.”
He stumbles through as though this is his first time asking a woman out. Then again, it might be. He’s probably used to women in the lower forty-eight throwing themselves at him.
“Um…”
“I know I’m not your favorite person, but all I’m asking for is a few hours. Or even one hour. No time requirement necessary.” His cheeks turn the slightest shade of pink and it’s so adorable. So opposite of the confident guy he played in High Society.
Here I thought he’d be all suave and cavalier, but he’s adorably fumbling through this entire exchange.
“So, five minutes would work?” I cross my arms.
His eyebrows scrunch for a moment, but he straightens them. “Yeah. Sure.”
I laugh and touch him because that’s the kind of person I am. Touchy. To a fault. His gaze diverts quickly to my hand and back to my eyes. “I never pegged you for a shy guy.”
I can just hear my sister, Mandi, in my head. “If you want the guy to ask you out, don’t call him out.”
But do I want him to ask me out? Kind of. I mean, yeah, he ran me off the road, but that was almost a year ago.
“I can tell you for certain, I’ve never been this nervous to ask out a woman before.” He rocks back on his heels, peeking at me.
“Why? You’re Gavin Price.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’m still a guy, Posey.”
“Sure, but I have to be one of many.” I hike my bag farther up on my shoulder.
He huffs.
“You know what? This is—”
Before I can finish, he presses two fingers to my lips. “I’m nervous because you’re different. Because you’re Posey Greene and you’re headstrong and don’t give a shit that I’m Gavin Price.”
My thoughts are traveling at warp speed as I try to make sense of what he just said. I attempt to open my mouth despite his fingers, but he’s quick to cut me off.
“Go out with me? Tomorrow night. We’ll have dinner. I’ll pick you up at five.” He lowers his fingers but doesn’t step away.
My body feels as though it’s made of goo. I’m not sure if I can stand up straight after his declaration. “I’d love to.” The truth comes out of my mouth before I can decide whether it’s a good idea or not.
“Great, now I’ll walk you to your car.”
I chuckle.
“What?” His forehead scrunches up in the same way I remember it doing on The Carters when he was acting confused.
“It’s okay, I’m going to my sister’s inn right now.”
Although that wasn’t my original plan, it is now that he’s asked me out. She’s the only Greene besides Chevelle who would understand how huge this is.
“I can walk you there then.” He glances around. “It’s getting dark.”
“It’s Sunrise Bay. I’ll be fine, but thank you for the concern.”
“It would make me feel better if you’d let me walk you.” He fixes his blue gaze on me.
“Suit yourself.”
We fall in line down the cobblestone street of our little downtown area. We pass by the brewery, where we catch the attention of patrons downing their beer.
“I really am sorry about running you off the road last year.”
“Just think, now I’ll always remember you.” I motion to the small scar on my forehead.
He winces. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
I shrug. “It’s a physical scar. I think emotional scars are much worse.”
“That’s the truth. I always felt like I’d rather be pummeled to death in the ring by Logan than read another tell-all article about myself.”
We stop in the parking lot of the inn. Mandi’s got a great location here, so close to downtown and right on the bay.
“I can’t imagine living in the limelight,” I say. “I mean, being a Greene in this town is no easy feat, but you have the entire world watching you.”
“It sucked, to be honest. If I ever want to see how bad those awkward teenage years were for me, all I have to do is Google myself.” He laughs.
“I don’t remember any awkward years,” I admit.
He places his hand on my forearm before we enter the inn. I stop and look up at him. He’s obviously contemplating something, though he doesn’t say anything at first.
“Tomorrow night, can we please not talk about High Society or The Carters or any of that shit? Can we just be a normal couple on a date?”
I nod, seeing in his eyes how important it is. “So, no fawning over the Hollywood heartthrob? I can’t ask you for all the dish?” I give him an exaggerated pout.
He smiles, but there’s a tinge of sadness to it. “Yeah.”
“I think I can do that.”
“Good.” His chest rises and falls with a deep breath as his gaze flickers from the inn back to me.
When our eyes meet, it feels impossible to look away. The surge of electricity between us isn’t anything I’ve ever felt before.
If I’m honest, the reason I put so much effort into hating him after he ran me off the road was because that pull to him scares me. He was a drifter then. A guy who rented sports cars and spent a few weeks here sometimes. Definitely couldn’t be trusted with a lifestyle like that. But now he’s a Sunrise Bay resident. Maybe things can be different.
“Have you gotten your driver’s license for Alaska yet?”
He narrows his eyes. “Yeah.”
“Can I see it?”
Without asking any questions, he reaches back in his pocket and hands me the piece of plastic.
“This is your address?” I ask, reading the street I already know he bought a house on. News travels fast here. He’s bought a house, got his state driver’s license, and changed the address on his ID. He must be serious about sticking around and not using his place here as a vacation getaway.
“Yep.”
I hand him back the license. “So you’re really doing this small-town thing, huh?”