Free The Fight for Us by Elizabeth Finn

grounded.”
    * * * *
    Joss wasn’t sure what inspired her to pick up the phone and call Isaiah three nights later—only that she’d been thinking about him non-stop since the last time she’d seen him, and now that she wasn’t certain the man hated her, she didn’t suppose there was anything wrong with calling him. He was attracted to her after all, even if he didn’t want to be, and even if she knew she shouldn’t want him to be either. But then, his behavior at the volleyball match a few nights prior seemed to conflict just a bit with the “want to be” part of his statement. Never mind the fact he sat beside her of his own choosing, and he was definitely aware of just how close they’d been sitting.
    The man was a widower. She was still trying to wrap her head around that one. He was too young to be a widower, but there it was. He was single for a reason—a rather sad reason she was guessing, and she was intrigued. She was sad for him too, but there was no getting around the intrigue of him.
    “Hello.” He answered after three rings.
    “Hi.”
    It was silent for a moment, and her heart raced. “Hi.” Then more silence. “Is everything okay?”
    “Yes.” She really should have figured out what the hell she wanted to talk about before calling the man. She was paying for her lack of planning now. “Umm… Hmm… How are you?” She gritted her teeth and grimaced at the stupidity of her behavior.
    “I’m fine. What are you doing?”
    “Just lying on my bed. And you?”
    “The same, oddly enough. Though, I was watching T.V. Is there something you need?”
    “Oh…! No. I just… No…” She was starting to regret this choice more with every passing second.
    “Sorry. I didn’t mean to suggest you needed a reason. It’s fine that you… I’m glad you called.”
    Joss bit the side of her lip, finally feeling marginally better about her decision. “How are you?”
    The warm chuckle that came back sent a pulse of warmth through her guts. “You already asked me that. But since I didn’t ask you, and you seem intent on this question, how about you answer?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Hmm… So, apparently we’re both fine, and we’re both in bed at eight thirty at night, which might be a bit pathetic really.”
    She laughed. Yes, it was a bit pathetic, but it was damn cold out, and it had been blustering and sleeting for hours. “My bed happens to be the warmest place in the house.” She didn’t intend for it to sound sexual, but the deep humming sound that Isaiah emitted turned her the hell on regardless.
    “Is that so?” He chuckled again, and that warmth still circulating through her veins intensified instantly.
    “Well, I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re in bed too?”
    “It’s nothing nearly so hot as your bed apparently. Nat is watching some movie that is so nauseatingly brain numbing that I had to flee the living room. It’s a small house—limited places to go.”
    “I see.” She stalled again, but the halts in the conversation were getting a little more comfortable and a little less terrifying. “Can I ask you a question?”
    “Okay.” He groaned and sighed quietly, and then came the sound of rustling as he stretched out or moved on his bed.
    She closed her eyes for a moment, imagining him in her bed, sprawled out beside her. She wouldn’t mind that in the least. “How old are you?”
    “Forty-two. You?”
    “Thirty-six.”
    Another humming sound from Isaiah later and she was wriggling against the warmth that was now pooling in her groin.
    “You were pretty young then when Harper was born.”
    “I was. I got pregnant when I was a senior in college in Madison. I dropped out, returned to Bristol. I didn’t finish school until four years later when she was a toddler. Real estate gave me a way to work and take online classes so I could finish my education, but I also ended up loving it.”
    “What about Harper’s father?”
    She paused for a moment. She hated even