Killing Me Softly: A Thriller Romance Novel

Chapter 26

Theo still carried a sadness about him.

I was such a fool in thinking that just because he kissed me he wanted me, all of me. I didn't know what I was thinking pulling him to my room like that.

The man was a fresh widower for crying out loud!

Whether he mourned her death or not, it was hard to tell. There was a side of him that was fragile and vulnerable, a tender side I felt he wanted me to see. Then, there was this other side, completely closed off from me.

I could understand, and I didn't condemn him for harboring his own thoughts and feelings. The guy had been through a lot the past few weeks. Who was I to lecture or punish him for it?

"Feel like answering some interview questions?" I asked Theo as we stood in the kitchen together.

Theo took a soda out of the fridge and turned to face me, popping open the tab. It fizzled briefly, and he slurped it.

"I don't know. I mean, don't you have to work?" He asked with a grin out the side of his lips, the same beautiful lips I had finally kissed.

"I do, but we can do the interview. Or, we can go out, if you don't want to stay couped up in here all day!" I said, cheerfully. "How does that sound?"

Theo gulped more soda down and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "Going out sounds good. That is, if you don't get in trouble with your job."

"No. It's fine. I'm 'remote' anyway," I said with my fingers as quotation marks, then laughed. "Besides, my boss is out of town today. I think it's safe to say we can venture out a little."

Theo was everything I always dreamed him to be and more. It was still hotter than blue blazes out there, but we decided to take some time out on Lady Bird Lake downtown.

"Oh, man! Paddleboarding? I've always wanted to try that!" Theo cheered when we drove over Congress Bridge.

"We should go! Come on," I said turning the car around. "We have to put on our bathing suits for that. Did you bring one with you?"

Theo laughed from the passenger seat of my car. "Uh, no. I have a pair of shorts I might be able to wear. That's about it."

We quickly changed, grabbed some towels, and drove toward one of the closest lake rental places, one of the perks of living off East Riverside.

Theo wore his new honey-colored sunglasses. I wore my red ones. We rented life jackets, boards, and paddles.

Theo visibly eyed me from head to toe when I pulled off my shirt and shorts and threw them in my car before we walked down to the lake, which was actually also the Colorado River.

It's confusing unless you live in Austin, that's all I have to tell you on that.

Then he pulled off his shirt and threw it in the passenger seat as well. Ugh, I pined over him even more now that we had kissed. We were much closer to the possibility of taking things a step further, when Theo was ready.

For Theo, I was always ready. Mostly because I knew the kind of guy he was. A good-hearted, kind, loving man. A sincere man. The kind of man you wanted to marry.

I think that's what Mary Jo saw in him, too, and that's why she scooped him up when she could. I couldn't blame her.

The water was surprisingly cold for it being 100+ degrees outside! Both Theo and I had goosebumps when we first got in, climbing atop our paddleboards.

"Wow, this is really nice," Theo said peering out at the water as we sat on our paddleboards together. Sun rays reflected from the water, glistening upon his angular face and sunglasses.