Page 66 of Lease to Love

“But back to Miss Proctor.”

I groaned. “Erik.”

“Last thing.”

“You said that three things ago.”

“Last thing, I swear.”

I gave him a look.

He raised both hands in surrender.

I grunted. Apparently, that was permission for him to continue.

“Summer is a sweet girl.” He said it casually, but I watched him from the corner of my eye. “Nice and kind, which is rare. Most people are either one or the other.”

I didn't answer because he wasn't wrong. I wasn't particularly nice, but I could be kind. There was a difference.

Nice was warmth.

Kind was intention.

I'd always been better at the second one.

“I think she'll be good for you.” Erik took another drink. “Remind your ornery ass how to be a human being.”

I looked back at the television.

I didn't think about the gala.

I definitely didn't think about the way the room had changed when Summer walked through it.

I didn't think about the way people who had spent years looking at me like I was an invading species suddenly smiled at me because she was standing beside me.

I didn't think about how easily she'd moved through that room, remembering names, asking about children, checking on businesses, laughing with people who had known her since she was a little girl.

And I absolutely didn't think about how much I'd smiled… More in those two hours than I had in some years.

Then there was the way she'd stood in that dress at her front door with the light behind her and looked at me like she expected something.

Like she expected me to do something.

I'd almost kissed her.

Her eyes had closed. Her chin had tilted up. Her lips had parted just enough to make my brain stop functioning for half a second.

Then I'd said:

Good optics.

The disappointment that flashed across her face had been immediate. Barely there, but I'd seen it.

That was the part I couldn't let myself think about too long.

“Rome?”

I blinked. Erik was looking at me.