Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

THEO

I didn't have to wait a full week before finding the next puzzle. I came out of Lyon's Imperial on Wednesday afternoon to find a folded piece of paper tucked under my windshield wiper, and when I opened it, I found a logic puzzle written in Bennett's exacting hand.

This one featured a lone stargazer in his observatory, observing various constellations each night. The clues to determine which constellation was seen on which night were straightforward, but the final clue set my heart racing:

Theo Ross joined the stargazer in the observatory the night Cygnus was spotted…

I hopped in my truck and reread the puzzle to determine which night the stargazer found Cygnus.

It was… Friday .

Two nights from now. The same day I'd finish work at his house. The day I normally indulged in a late-afternoon dip in his pool. And now, finally , Bennett had invited me to join him.

When I got home that day, I looked up Cygnus—the swan—and learned as much as I could about it. And then I sat down with my favorite Prismacolor markers and spent the rest of my night trying to draw waterfowl that would make Bennett laugh.

The rest of the week crawled by. Every landscape job seemed to take months instead of hours. When I was in town, I scoped out my surroundings like a superspy in hopes of spotting my target, but no luck.

By Friday afternoon, my entire body vibrated with nervous desire. I wanted nothing more than to kiss Bennett Graham. Touch Bennett Graham. But I also wanted to ask him a million questions.

Did he make logic puzzles for fun, or was it something he did just for me? Was he going to stay in Copper County permanently or just long enough to see his niece through her final year of high school? Was he gay, bi, or something else? I'd seen a pride flag on his mailbox a couple of summers during Pride month, and I'd heard enough opinions from my brother and his friends to know most everyone assumed Bennett was into men. And then, of course, there'd been The Incident .

If he wasn't into men, he'd been incredibly turned on by the scent of a freshly mowed lawn.

Was he looking for a quick hookup, or was he open to more?

Not knowing the answers to these questions, I prepared for various scenarios. I could play it cool and accept the friend zone if that's the way the wind blew ( lie ). Or I would be down with a one-off orgasm exchange if that was his preference (down for it, yes, but not satisfied ). Alternatively, I would go along with a "first date" situation in which we spent time getting to know each other to assess whether or not there was potential for more there (there was, there had to be).

And obviously, I would be thrilled with a combination of orgasm exchange and get-to-know-you conversation ( understatement ).

Nerves tumbled in my stomach until it was finally time to go to the Observatory House. As I parked my truck and began removing the lawn mower from the trailer, I wondered how our initial meeting would happen. Would I have to knock on the door and ask to come in, or would he come outside and invite me?

Before I could even start the mower, Bennett came striding out of the house.

"Hi," he said. The man was clearly nervous, but he seemed to be putting on a brave face. "I… you… uh. It occurs to me that I've never officially introduced myself. I'm… Bennett. Graham. Bennett Graham." He winced, and I did my best to keep from grinning.

Of course I knew who he was. Even if this hadn't been a tiny town where everyone knew everyone, his name was on my invoice. I was pretty sure he'd said his name the day of The Incident , in fact.

But I didn't mind one bit. His flustered state was adorable, and it meant that maybe, maybe , he was almost as nervous as I was.

"Hi, Bennett Graham," I said, offering him a smile. "I'm Theo. Ross. Theo Ross."

He closed his eyes and exhaled. "I'm awkward as fuck."

I stepped closer, wanting to touch him but feeling like that might make him bolt.

"I like awkward as fuck," I said. "It pairs well with my apology for being a voyeur and invading your privacy a few weeks ago."

Bennett's eyes widened. "You? You're a voyeur? It wasn't like you had a choice! I was horrified. I am horrified. Please accept my heartfelt?—"

I held up a hand and grinned at him. "I can't let you apologize. You see… I guessed what you were doing before I saw anything. And since I… er… wanted to see something… I stuck around. Until I did."

My cheeks could have set water on fire. But I needed him to know he wasn't the one who'd acted inappropriately that day. He'd been doing something private in the privacy of his own home. I was the one who hadn't been able to tear my eyes away.

He blinked. "You… watched me on purpose?"

I heaved a sigh. "Unforgivably creepy?"

Bennett let out a bark of laughter, his eyes crinkling in a way that was not conducive to me handling a giant spinning blade or gardening shears. "Hell no. I was just thinking I was the creep for watching you. "

"So…" I smiled. "What you're saying is we're a matched pair?"

He blushed—God, how was he able to get sexier with every passing minute?—and blurted, "You're really talented."

Now, it was my turn to be surprised. "At… creeping on people through windows?"

"No! God, no." Bennett ran a hand through his blond waves and shook his head. When he spoke again, it was with a measured calm, like he'd forced his nerves away. "I meant your drawings. Your illustrations. They're incredible."

"Really?" A warm flush of exhilaration came over me. "Thank you."

He stepped closer. The afternoon sun adored this man and lit him up like a gift, gilding his hair and making his light eyes glow. "I mean it. I want to see more. I was hoping…" He paused and pressed his lips together. "I was hoping to get to know you better. If… if you don't think that's too creepy."

"I think we've established that creepy is kind of my jam." I bit my lip. "I was really hoping the clue on the puzzle was an actual invitation."

"It was…" Bennett's generous mouth widened into a tentative smile. "If you want it to be."

I nodded. "I very much do."

"Good. That's… good." He rubbed at the back of his neck. "What I didn't say is that I was hoping you might stay for dinner first? And maybe a swim? It won't be dark enough to see anything for hours yet. But don't feel obligated. You could come back, or…"

I caught his eyes and tried to reassure him with my expression. "I do like to swim."

He smiled again. "I know."

"And I like to eat." I shrugged. "Enough for three normal humans, people continually tell me."

He tilted his head to the side and gazed at me like I was special. "Noted."

My heart hammered in my chest. "And it'll take me some time to do the yard work first anyway. So I think… I think I should probably just stay. Maybe we can kill time by you telling me how you got into making logic puzzles."

"And you can tell me more about your art," he said.

"I'd like that," I said softly.

I didn't want to walk away, but if I didn't start on the yard work right now, I'd never be able to start our date. And I very much wanted to start our date.

Because it was obvious to me after this one brief conversation that I was at least getting part of what I wanted: a get-to-know-you first date, with dinner, and stargazing, and everything.

I closed my eyes and sent a brief wish into the universe as I left Bennett and went back to my work that "everything" would include kissing at the very least, because this beautiful man with the nerves and apologies and compliments was the most tempting thing I'd ever come close to wanting.

And as it happened, later that night, the universe delivered…

And then some.