Dating My Protector by Kate Swain

Author:Kate Swain [Swain, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

15

Matt

I leaned back for a moment, looking down at the bike we were working on. It was painted blue. I was supposed to be picking out the details in yellow, and the job seemed to be going kind of well, if my own handiwork was anything to go by. It was Tuesday, and I really should have finished it yesterday, when I started the work.

I was surprised it was going well, because my mind was anywhere but on the job. It was about ten miles away, to be precise, at my home. I couldn’t stop thinking about Tessa. I had missed seeing her yesterday morning, and this morning I had barely spoken to her. She had been quiet, not quite meeting my eye.

I felt like a fool.

“Looking good,” my brother Mark said.

I looked up, barely focused. “Thanks,” I said.

Mark frowned at me. “You sleeping?” he asked. His lean, handsome face was lined with concern. I shrugged.

“I slept,” I said.

I bent down to my work again, reluctant to talk about my worries. I felt, for some strange reason, as if Mark would misunderstand my relationship with Tessa. Actually, it was hard for me to understand it sometimes. I dipped my brush in solvent to clean it, reaching for another color of paint. As I did so, my mind flashed back to the evening I had spent with Tessa.

Her hands, her hair, her body. Those beautiful eyes, watching me. The taste of her mouth. Her touch.

I didn’t understand anything of what had happened, myself. I was overwhelmed. I had never actually felt like this about a woman before. Not since…

Not since Amy.

I couldn’t bear to think about it, but it was true. The only person I had ever felt this instant connection with, was my wife Amy. I had never thought I would feel anything like that again. And, if I thought about it, I wasn’t feeling anything like what I felt for Amy. This was as intense, but nevertheless different.

Amy was sweet and gentle. Tessa is…

I searched for the right word to describe her. Tessa was strong, independent, vulnerable, scared. Tessa was untamed.

I let out a deep breath. She was like nobody I knew, and it was unsurprising, then, that the way I felt for her was like nothing I had ever felt.

I dipped my brush into the yellow paint again, moving to pick out a detail that I had missed earlier. It was precise, fine work and I was glad for the distraction from my thoughts. I was more confused than I had ever been in my life. I felt guilty, I felt overwhelmed. I felt awake, enlivened in ways I had not for ages.

I finished the paint and went to move onto another job – a simple one which involved checking the tire pressure and oil – a general check I could have done when I was just twelve years old. I sighed and went to fetch my tools.

“Matt?” Mark said, as I bent to take off the cap over the valve.

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