The Spark

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 28

Autumn

 

“Hey.”

Donovan gri

He lifted a duffle bag I hadn’t noticed in his hand. “It’s not an overnight bag, I swear. I just threw in a change of clothes so I could get out of this suit I had to wear to di

I stepped aside to let him in, and he stopped in front of me, toe to toe.

“I was appreciating the view, not worrying you might overstay your welcome.”

The right side of his mouth twitched to a cocky grin. “Oh yeah? Well, you can watch me change if you want the full view.” He leaned down and planted a kiss on my lips. With our mouths still attached, he spoke softly, “I’ve missed you.”

Three little words and the walls around my heart were already crumbling. It wasn’t because they were sweet—though of course they were—but because I knew he meant it. As a woman who hadn’t trusted a man in a very long time, I felt in my bones that he was being honest. And that made me unsettled when it should’ve made me the exact opposite. So rather than be honest and tell him I’d missed him, too, my sense of self-preservation kicked in, and I backed away from the moment with sarcasm.

“What’s your name again?”

He tapped my nose with his finger. “Smartass.”

I shut the door with a smile.

“Sorry I’m so late. The client wouldn’t shut the hell up.”

“It’s fine.” I pointed to my toes and wiggled them. “They needed to be painted anyway. Skye and I usually do it when she comes over for our binge-watching sessions.”

“How’s she feeling?”

“Achy with a slight fever. When I went over to drop the soup, her boyfriend was there, and she was letting him take care of her. That’s how I know she isn’t feeling well. She doesn’t let people do things for her. She’s very independent.”

Donovan tilted his head. “Sounds familiar.”

I smiled. “I guess so. I’m sure it has to do with our trust issues.”

He nodded. “I get it. Growing up, I never got too close to anyone. If you don’t let people in, it doesn’t hurt when they take off.”

I frowned. “I’m sorry. That’s exactly what I did to you last year, too. We had a co

“It’s fine. You had your reasons.”

I’d never really considered how it might not be so easy for Donovan to trust me because of what I’d done. “It’s really not fine. I should’ve at least been upfront about what I was doing and said goodbye.”

“That’s behind us now.”

“But how is it behind you? You’ve let me in when you keep distance from most people. And I already took off on you once. You make it seem so easy to get over your fear of people you care about taking off.”

Donovan stared at me for a moment. “It’s not easy, Autumn. But you’re worth the chance.”

That might’ve been the single most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to me. “Wow.” I shook my head. “I don’t even know what to say.”

He looked away and then back to me with a boyish grin. “You don’t have to say anything. Just don’t take off without talking to me again.”

I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I can do that.”

He pulled me flush against him. “Good. Because I know where you live this time, and I’d track your ass down.”

“Hopefully that won’t be necessary.” I laughed. “So did you save room for dessert?”

Donovan’s eyes dropped down between us. From this vantage point, he was looking straight down my shirt. “Always room for dessert.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, and I laughed.

“So do you prefer toasted coconut chocolate chip, cookies and cream, or chocolate peanut butter?”

“Yes.”

“Good choice. I like a taste of each, too. Why don’t you go get changed and relax, and I’ll make us bowls?”

Donovan disappeared into the bathroom and came back out moments later in jeans and a T-shirt. He tossed his duffle on the side of the couch and settled in.

“I was looking through movies before you got here, but I wasn’t sure what kind you liked, so I saved a bunch to my favorites on Netflix, if you want to take a look.”

“Actually, I have something in mind I thought you’d enjoy watching,” he said. “I’ll cue it up.”

“Oh…okay.” I whipped up two bowls of ice cream with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and crunchies and headed over to the couch. His bowl was twice as full as mine. “This one is yours. I went a little overboard. I hope you like all the junk I put on.”

“There’s not much I don’t eat—except ketchup. My mother didn’t cook much, but when I was about seven or eight, she had this asshole boyfriend of hers move in with us for a while. He used to make us eggs for breakfast and put ketchup all over them. I told him I didn’t like ketchup on mine, and after that he put twice as much on my plate. Haven’t eaten the stuff since the day he moved out.”

“Good to know. I was thinking about adding some ketchup to our sundaes, too.”

He chuckled.

I tucked my feet under me on the couch and pulled a blanket over my lap before shoveling a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth. “So what are we watching?”

Donovan grabbed the remote and pressed a button. The TV illuminated with a half-dozen episodes of The Bachelor.

“Awww. You’re very sweet, but we don’t have to watch that. I know you’re not a fan.”

“How am I going to find out if Kayla’s dad really hits Brad during the hometown visit or not, if I don’t watch the next episode?”

My eyes flared. “You watched The Bachelor?”

“You said you were going to watch the last five episodes if Skye had the flu.” He shrugged. “Figured I had some catching up to do. I got out of court early today, so I binge-watched up to where you left off.”

My insides melted. “I can’t believe you did that.”

He swallowed a mouthful of ice cream and pointed his spoon at me. “If you mention it to Bud, I’ll deny it.”

I pretended to zip my mouth shut over my smile. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

After I finished my dessert, I snuggled next to Donovan on the couch and covered us both with a blanket. At one point, he took a break from his ice cream and rested his hand on my thigh. It felt like it could burn an imprint into my bare skin. I did my best to ignore it. Halfway through the first episode, my cell phone rang. It was on the end table next to Donovan, so he handed it to me. Dad flashed on the screen.

I sighed. “He’s been relentless the last few days. His wedding is next weekend, and I still haven’t given him an answer. My therapist thinks I should go.”

Donovan pushed a button on the TV to pause the show. “But you don’t want to?”

I shook my head and silenced my phone. “I don’t know. We used to be so close, especially right after my mom died. I don’t have much family other than him. My mom was an only child, and both her parents passed away when I was little. But…it’s hard for me to forget how he handled things six years ago.”

Donovan’s eyes roamed my face. “You mentioned he wasn’t supportive after, but did he not stand by you when things went down?”

“He insisted I get into therapy, and he did anything I asked. But he was kind of distant during the entire thing. At the police station, when I finally decided to come forward and report what had happened, I cried the whole time, and the policewoman comforted me. My father just kind of sat there, almost detached. And I couldn’t understand how he could stay partners with Braden’s father after everything he’d heard me say.”