Page 58 of The Way We Touch
“Good, because Miss Gina has a job for you. Steven is retiring, and she needs someone to help with her garden and minor repairs. I told her you were available.”
“Dylan,” he groans.
“Well, you are, and she’s blind so no pitiful looks. It’s the perfect thing. She’s the sweetest little old lady, and she needs help with that big ole house.”
“I can’t be running up and down all those stairs. Aren’t they marble?”
“Good news: She has an elevator.”
Quiet falls around us, and he leans on the doorknob, which I guess means it’s time for me to go. His chin lifts, and he seems to acknowledge defeat.
“Fine, I’ll swing by and talk to her.”
“You’ve already got the job. She even said she’ll pay you.”
“How much?” His brow furrows, and I shrug.
“I didn’t ask her. That’s your business.”
“Oh, now it’s my business.” A low chuckle gives me the smallest bit of relief.
He’s not a total lost cause, and I have faith in Miss Gina. Reaching out, I slide my hand over his wrist, giving him a squeeze.
“Thank you, Zane.”
I start for the door when he stops me. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Dee. It always weighed on me… I guess karma took care of that.”
Sadness twists in my chest, and I look up to meet the ghosts in his eyes directly. “I have never once held what happened against you. It was just one of those things—a freak accident.”
He nods, turning away. “How did you get over it?”
It’s a quiet question, and it breaks my heart. I don’t like to think of him up here struggling alone. Craig would never leave me alone that way, and I’m not leaving my brother either.
Exhaling a laugh, I do my best to stay upbeat. “Who says I did?”
Before I leave, I pause, looking around the small but clean space. “Are you sure you don’t need to move downstairs? We could put Logan up here?—”
“Across the hall from you?” His voice rises, and he becomes a touch more animated. “Sounds like a good way to burn the house down.”
My eyes widen. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not blind.” His eyebrow arches. “Or deaf, Miss Phone Sex.”
Heat races up my neck behind my ears, and I hustle through the door. “Good, because Miss Gina needs somebody who can hear.”
His deep laugh follows me down the stairs, and I wince. I might be embarrassed as hell, but it’s not too much to drown out my relief. I think that might have been a little breakthrough.
Maybe that old blind lady is right. Maybe something good is coming.
“Your brother didn’t kick my ass.” Logan’s forearm is braced on the door frame above my head, and my back is against the door.
After stealing little touches and thrilling looks all night, we’ve managed to sneak out to the empty playground behind the restaurant. The moon is almost full, and a breeze lifts my hair around my shoulders.
“I’m glad to see it.” He’s so tall, I have to tilt my head to look up at him, and I can’t keep a silly grin off my face. “What did he say?”
He reaches up to slide his thumb lightly from my chin down my jaw. “A lot of things I didn’t know.”
The warmth in his eyes makes my stomach squeeze. It makes me cross my arms over my waist.