His jaw took on a stubborn set. “I’ll make it stick.”
“Look, I like you.” There was an understatement.
“I like you, too,” he said. “I like being with you. I want to spend more time with you.”
“Let’s settle for being neighbors.”
“Good neighbors.”
“Good neighbors,” she agreed. Here came Martin, up the street to visit her mom.
“Like Martin and your mom,” he said.
She half laughed. “They’re inseparable.”
“Like Martin and your mom,” he repeated. Then, before her frown could turn into words, he continued, “Let’s not let the losers in our lives stop us from having a good time together.”
“I don’t want to have a good time.” Okay, that sounded stupid.
He took a step closer. She could feel his body heat. Or maybe she just felt her own body warming up. “What do you want, Zona? Tell me.”
“I want to be happy. And I want to feel safe. I don’t want any more relationship trauma in my life. Can you promise me that?”
“I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t guarantee things would work out between us, but I can guarantee I’m not like your exes. I’m not out to hurt you. I’m into you and I like being with you. A lot. I want the same things you do. I’m tired of chaos and drama. I’m tired of being pissed all the time. I want to enjoy life, and I want some peace. You do, too, so let’s see where this goes.”
He was so persuasive. She wanted to believe him.
“Hang in there a little longer with me,” he urged. “If things get scary, then I’ll back off and we’ll wave at each other from opposite sides of the property line.”
She let out a tired breath. It would be so nice to enjoy a relationship with no drama, no hurt. But she was beginning to think her daughter was right. Maybe there was no such thing.
“I think we may have started something good. Let’s not let the people around us ruin our lives,” he said. “I’m sick of that happening.”
So was she. Darn it all, didn’t she have the right to some happiness, some calm waters? Could she and Alec make that happen?
He nodded in the direction of his truck. “Let’s go get a drink.”
The porch they were standing on suddenly felt like a high dive over a shallow swimming pool. To jump or not to jump?
She jumped. “Let’s go. But as friends. Just hanging out.”
“Just hanging out,” he agreed.
“Tell Mom I’m going out for a while,” she said to Martin, letting him in the house, then she walked with Alec to his truck and got in. She’d jumped. She hoped the water would be good.
It sure felt like it as they sat down at a table at Kalaveras, acolorful Mexican eatery in Covina. The painted skull on the outside of the building was simply for atmosphere, not a subtle warning, she assured herself. It was only drinks.
And conversation. And a shared laugh over something funny he showed her on social media. And more conversation, talking about their respective pasts and how they were leaving them behind. And his hand brushing over hers and making her thirsty for more than another frozen mango margarita.
She wanted laughter. She wanted hot kisses and a honeymoon style ever after. She wanted that happy ending she used to enjoy reading about when she believed in the books she’d read once upon a time. She wanted to live out a fantasy and leave reality behind.
But she would settle for a nice, easy friendship, something manageable like what her mom and Martin had. Something platonic would be safe and good medicine for her heart.
If only her body didn’t crave more.
Back at Alec’s house, once they were out of his truck she found herself leaning up against it, him next to her. “I could fall for you,” she blurted. Could fall? She already was and almost down for the count.
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”
