Not Quite Over You
Page 32
“Mom, Silver and I are in business together. We’re business partners. We just bought two more trailers together. AlcoHaul is expanding.”
Irene went completely white. “What? What! Drew, are you telling me you own a bar?”
“Technically he only owns part of a bar,” Silver clarified. “A traveling bar. We do mostly weddings, but parties, as well. A lot of theme stuff. It’s fun.”
Irene glared at her son. “No. You can’t possibly be telling me the truth. Why would you do this? Why would you want to have anything to do with this ridiculous town? You have opportunities that most people can only dream about. Do you know who you can be?”
She turned her attention to Silver. “If you think you’re going to trap him, you can forget it. He’s smarter than that.”
Silver shrugged free of Drew. “I already had my chance to trap him, Mrs. Lovato, and I didn’t take it. There are a lot of things you can worry about but my relationship with Drew isn’t one of them. Now if you’ll excuse me...”
She gave them both a brief wave, then let herself into her retail space. As the door closed behind her, she heard Irene shrieking something about Drew ruining his future. Rather than listen, Silver hurried upstairs. She might be overthinking the situation but she had a feeling Irene wasn’t going to be thrilled at the thought of being a grandmother.
* * *
DREW MANAGED TO extricate himself from the conversation with his mother, pleading an important meeting back at the bank. On the quick drive there, he tried to figure out what he was going to say to Silver. Irene had been rude, and her fixation with Cade and Bethany’s party wasn’t exactly normal.
He parked at the bank and walked inside. Libby was waiting for him and practically pounced when she saw him.
“You have a package,” his aunt told him. “I put it in your office.”
Since when did Libby do something as low-level as deliver the mail? “Thank you,” he said, not sure of her point.
“It was left in the night deposit.” Her smile turned sly. “It’s not what you think and there’s a note.”
Drew was fairly confident Libby wouldn’t allow anything dangerous in her precious bank, so he wasn’t all that concerned until he saw the large cardboard box on his desk. A box with airholes and a big arrow showing which way was up. As he got closer, he saw the note taped to the top of the box.
Mr. Lovato, this is my rabbit, Mr. Whiskers. I can’t keep him anymore and I cried a lot when Mommy told me. Mommy and Daddy trust you with our money, so I’m trusting you with Mr. Whiskers. Aaron at the pet store can tell you how to take care of him.
Your friend, Emily.
The box moved. No, what was inside of the box moved.
“It appears to be a rabbit,” Libby told him from the doorway to his office.
He lifted the top on the box and found himself eye to eye with a gray rabbit. Mr. Whiskers lunged and Drew quickly closed the box top. Rabbits weren’t vicious, were they?
“He can’t stay here,” Libby pointed out. “You’ll have to take that thing home and deal with it.” She sounded positively gleeful.
“First I’m going to find out what’s going on and then I’ll deal with—” he glanced at the note “—Mr. Whiskers.”
“Lucky you,” Libby said with a smile.
Drew waited until she was gone to call Melissa. His client stunned him by bursting into tears.
“I thought we’d lost him,” Melissa said. “I’m sorry to be such a mess. It’s just everything is so hard right now. Jacob has a rash and the pediatrician thinks he might be allergic to the rabbit. Emily already isn’t convinced she wants a baby brother and now we’re going to have to get rid of her pet. She loves him so much. We’re doing more testing, but until we’re sure...” She made a choking-sob sound. “I’m sorry, Drew. This isn’t your problem.”
Drew glanced at the box. It was a rabbit. How hard could it be for him to take care of it for a few days?
“Tell you what. I’ll deal with Mr. Whiskers until you figure out what’s going on with Jacob. If it turns out he’s allergic, then you can make arrangements for Mr. Whiskers to find a permanent home. If it’s something else, Mr. Whiskers can come back and resume his happy bunny life. Either way, Emily will know her pet is being taken care of.”
“I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t. I offered. It’s fine. I’m good with animals.”
In truth, he had no idea how he was with pets of any kind. As a kid, he’d never had one. But he was game.
“I’ll swing by and pick up some supplies, then take him home.” He would also visit Aaron at the pet store to get the scoop on rabbit care.
“I can’t thank you enough.” Melissa sniffed. “We’re so happy to have a baby, but it’s a much-bigger adjustment than we’d realized.”
“You can take Mr. Whiskers off your worry-about list. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Oh, just one other question. Do rabbits bite?”
* * *
JASPER ROLLED ONTO his side and watched Wynn walk to the bathroom, his attention captured by the sway of her hips. She was naked and unselfconscious about her body. He liked that about her. She was slightly pear-shaped with an ass a man could hold on to. He liked that, too.
It was nearly noon. Wynn had arrived less than thirty minutes ago. After very little conversation, they’d taken things into the bedroom. That was their routine—she left work and came to his place. They made love. Sometimes she stayed and they had lunch, sometimes she didn’t.
She returned to the bedroom, pulling her shirt over her head. She had long, dark curly hair and dark eyes. Based on her high cheekbones and her dark olive skin, he would guess she was of mixed race—but it wasn’t anything he’d ever asked about. He didn’t know about her family, where she was from or why, of all the places in the world, she’d chosen to move to Happily Inc. Not because he hadn’t asked—he had. But with Wynn, conversation was kept superficial.
He stood and stretched. “Are you staying?”
She smiled. “I thought I’d make us an omelet before I head back to work.”
“Maybe the boss would let you take off an extra hour or two.” Humor, because she owned the company.
“That bitch?” Wynn laughed. “You know she’s going to insist I hurry back as quick as I can. But I have time for lunch.”
She left the bedroom. Jasper washed up and got dressed. He found her chopping vegetables. The eggs were already whisked together in a bowl and the pan was heating.
He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She snuggled in close, pressing her butt against his groin.
“This is nice,” she said. “A little sugar in the middle of my day.”
“Maybe we could go to dinner sometime.”
She didn’t look up from her chopping. “You and I go to tournament night nearly every Monday. If you want to buy me a burger along with a drink, I won’t say no.”
He released her and started a fresh pot of coffee, then dropped bread into the toaster. While she cooked the vegetables, he set the table.
Their routine was familiar. Comfortable. This was what it was and he liked that. So why did he feel an uncomfortable need to push for more? He thought of his recent text from Hunter and had a feeling that was a big part of it.
Irene went completely white. “What? What! Drew, are you telling me you own a bar?”
“Technically he only owns part of a bar,” Silver clarified. “A traveling bar. We do mostly weddings, but parties, as well. A lot of theme stuff. It’s fun.”
Irene glared at her son. “No. You can’t possibly be telling me the truth. Why would you do this? Why would you want to have anything to do with this ridiculous town? You have opportunities that most people can only dream about. Do you know who you can be?”
She turned her attention to Silver. “If you think you’re going to trap him, you can forget it. He’s smarter than that.”
Silver shrugged free of Drew. “I already had my chance to trap him, Mrs. Lovato, and I didn’t take it. There are a lot of things you can worry about but my relationship with Drew isn’t one of them. Now if you’ll excuse me...”
She gave them both a brief wave, then let herself into her retail space. As the door closed behind her, she heard Irene shrieking something about Drew ruining his future. Rather than listen, Silver hurried upstairs. She might be overthinking the situation but she had a feeling Irene wasn’t going to be thrilled at the thought of being a grandmother.
* * *
DREW MANAGED TO extricate himself from the conversation with his mother, pleading an important meeting back at the bank. On the quick drive there, he tried to figure out what he was going to say to Silver. Irene had been rude, and her fixation with Cade and Bethany’s party wasn’t exactly normal.
He parked at the bank and walked inside. Libby was waiting for him and practically pounced when she saw him.
“You have a package,” his aunt told him. “I put it in your office.”
Since when did Libby do something as low-level as deliver the mail? “Thank you,” he said, not sure of her point.
“It was left in the night deposit.” Her smile turned sly. “It’s not what you think and there’s a note.”
Drew was fairly confident Libby wouldn’t allow anything dangerous in her precious bank, so he wasn’t all that concerned until he saw the large cardboard box on his desk. A box with airholes and a big arrow showing which way was up. As he got closer, he saw the note taped to the top of the box.
Mr. Lovato, this is my rabbit, Mr. Whiskers. I can’t keep him anymore and I cried a lot when Mommy told me. Mommy and Daddy trust you with our money, so I’m trusting you with Mr. Whiskers. Aaron at the pet store can tell you how to take care of him.
Your friend, Emily.
The box moved. No, what was inside of the box moved.
“It appears to be a rabbit,” Libby told him from the doorway to his office.
He lifted the top on the box and found himself eye to eye with a gray rabbit. Mr. Whiskers lunged and Drew quickly closed the box top. Rabbits weren’t vicious, were they?
“He can’t stay here,” Libby pointed out. “You’ll have to take that thing home and deal with it.” She sounded positively gleeful.
“First I’m going to find out what’s going on and then I’ll deal with—” he glanced at the note “—Mr. Whiskers.”
“Lucky you,” Libby said with a smile.
Drew waited until she was gone to call Melissa. His client stunned him by bursting into tears.
“I thought we’d lost him,” Melissa said. “I’m sorry to be such a mess. It’s just everything is so hard right now. Jacob has a rash and the pediatrician thinks he might be allergic to the rabbit. Emily already isn’t convinced she wants a baby brother and now we’re going to have to get rid of her pet. She loves him so much. We’re doing more testing, but until we’re sure...” She made a choking-sob sound. “I’m sorry, Drew. This isn’t your problem.”
Drew glanced at the box. It was a rabbit. How hard could it be for him to take care of it for a few days?
“Tell you what. I’ll deal with Mr. Whiskers until you figure out what’s going on with Jacob. If it turns out he’s allergic, then you can make arrangements for Mr. Whiskers to find a permanent home. If it’s something else, Mr. Whiskers can come back and resume his happy bunny life. Either way, Emily will know her pet is being taken care of.”
“I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t. I offered. It’s fine. I’m good with animals.”
In truth, he had no idea how he was with pets of any kind. As a kid, he’d never had one. But he was game.
“I’ll swing by and pick up some supplies, then take him home.” He would also visit Aaron at the pet store to get the scoop on rabbit care.
“I can’t thank you enough.” Melissa sniffed. “We’re so happy to have a baby, but it’s a much-bigger adjustment than we’d realized.”
“You can take Mr. Whiskers off your worry-about list. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Oh, just one other question. Do rabbits bite?”
* * *
JASPER ROLLED ONTO his side and watched Wynn walk to the bathroom, his attention captured by the sway of her hips. She was naked and unselfconscious about her body. He liked that about her. She was slightly pear-shaped with an ass a man could hold on to. He liked that, too.
It was nearly noon. Wynn had arrived less than thirty minutes ago. After very little conversation, they’d taken things into the bedroom. That was their routine—she left work and came to his place. They made love. Sometimes she stayed and they had lunch, sometimes she didn’t.
She returned to the bedroom, pulling her shirt over her head. She had long, dark curly hair and dark eyes. Based on her high cheekbones and her dark olive skin, he would guess she was of mixed race—but it wasn’t anything he’d ever asked about. He didn’t know about her family, where she was from or why, of all the places in the world, she’d chosen to move to Happily Inc. Not because he hadn’t asked—he had. But with Wynn, conversation was kept superficial.
He stood and stretched. “Are you staying?”
She smiled. “I thought I’d make us an omelet before I head back to work.”
“Maybe the boss would let you take off an extra hour or two.” Humor, because she owned the company.
“That bitch?” Wynn laughed. “You know she’s going to insist I hurry back as quick as I can. But I have time for lunch.”
She left the bedroom. Jasper washed up and got dressed. He found her chopping vegetables. The eggs were already whisked together in a bowl and the pan was heating.
He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She snuggled in close, pressing her butt against his groin.
“This is nice,” she said. “A little sugar in the middle of my day.”
“Maybe we could go to dinner sometime.”
She didn’t look up from her chopping. “You and I go to tournament night nearly every Monday. If you want to buy me a burger along with a drink, I won’t say no.”
He released her and started a fresh pot of coffee, then dropped bread into the toaster. While she cooked the vegetables, he set the table.
Their routine was familiar. Comfortable. This was what it was and he liked that. So why did he feel an uncomfortable need to push for more? He thought of his recent text from Hunter and had a feeling that was a big part of it.
