“Question.”
“Answer,” Wolfe retorted.
“Why do you wear mostly rock band t-shirts when you only listen to classical music?”
Again, this woman.He’d known Dante for more than a decade and even he didn’t know.
“I’m just an enigma.I like to keep people guessing,” he explained, erecting the wall he effectively used to keep people out.
“You are an enigma, but I call bullshit,” Aspen said smartly, completely ignoring the perfectly good wall Wolfe built.“Look, I’m not looking to read your childhood diary, Connor.Just...I don’t know, I’d like you to trust me enough to let me in.Just a bit.”
“My diary reads likePenthouse Forum.You sure you don’t want to take a peek, BB?”Wolfe trailed the backs of his fingers down her arm.“That might come in handy with all that creativity you’re touting.”
“I’m serious, Connor.Please.”
It suddenly felt too real.Too much.But one look into her muted green eyes so filled with compassion and maybe even, fuck, love, he wanted to tell her, at least share part of the story.
“All right.You know my dad and I have a shitty relationship?”Wolfe continued when she nodded.“Before it was...bad, it wasn’t.My dad taught me construction basics.We were actually quite close.Anyway, he had—has, I’m sure—an incredible collection of rock albums from the seventies and eighties.I remember constantly going through the covers of the albums while the music blared through the house.”
“What changed with your dad that your relationship is so strained now?”
“Let’s just say shit happened.So, anyway, I wear rock band t-shirts to remember a time that doesn’t exist anymore.”
The air seemed to thicken around him and his eyes stung a bit.Wolfe could guaran-damn-tee himself that he wouldn’t cry like a fucking pussy because he had daddy issues.No, his concerns ran much, much deeper.
He couldn’t think of any of those concerns at the moment because Aspen threw herself into his arms and hugged him like they were struggling to stay afloat in the ocean.
Maybe it was Wolfe who needed the life preserver.
“Thank you for sharing that,” Aspen wrapped a hand in his hair that hung loose at his shoulders.“It means more to me than you know.”
Wolfe hung on to her for a few moments before she tilted up her face to kiss him softly on the lips.
“Tell you what.Since I’m sporting this amazing new t-shirt that screams ‘check me out,’ let’s go to a nifty food truck that serves a mean street taco.Then will come back here and I’ll give you the grand tour.”
Wolfe surprised himself at the offer, as if Aspen already belonged in this space.
“Depends.”
“On?”
“Does the tour end in your bedroom?”
“Damn straight.”
A mega-wat smile lit up her gorgeous face.“Then lead the way.”