Taylor decided to take advantage of the next twenty-four hours being child-free. Not that she enjoyed that, because she didn’t.
She’d uprooted her and Angie’s life so that Angie could get to know her grandparents, in the process not getting to spend much time with Taylor’s family back in Florida. But money talked and Taylor didn’t have much to say since her pockets were pretty bare. Nor did Taylor’s family offer to help much at all.
Angie had kissed her on the lips and given her a big hug when Jack’s parents, Karen and Mitch Jamison, showed up with their noses turned up at her house and Mutt barking up a storm. Mutt didn’t like anyone that came to visit. He was a good guard dog and that was the reason she’d adopted him when they moved here.
Little did she know at just ten months old he’d be this big. The shelter had assured her he was done growing. They’d lied.
“Be good for Grandma and Grandpa,” she’d told Angie, prying her daughter’s tiny fingers from her neck.
“Nana and Papa,” Karen had corrected her. Whatever, Taylor thought, but wouldn’t say it out loud. Jack’s parents did love Angie and treated her well, so she wouldn’t hold their prick of a son against them or their uppity attitude toward the woman that bore them their only grandchild.
Once the last load of laundry that she’d started hours earlier that morning was done, she folded it and put it all away, then took note it was just shy of eleven and she still had twenty-five hours before her baby girl would be back home.
Probably the best time to get groceries and run a few more errands while she was at it...anything to take her mind off the fact her baby was with anyone but her.
***
Reed was walking around the hardware store trying to remember what he needed to buy. He hadn’t even been home yet after staying out with Josh and drinking. They’d taken an Uber back to Josh’s where he’d crashed on the couch once they’d killed the last of the Johnny Walker in the liquor cabinet.
He was turning the corner while he pulled a list out of his pocket to get the measurements of the faucet that he wanted to change out in his spare bathroom, when he ran smack into someone.
“Sorry,” he said, looking up into a pair of clear blue eyes he recognized. The grin filled his face and his hands went out to steady her. Any excuse to get closer.
“Sorry, Reed,” Taylor said, sniffing her nose at him. He’d showered at Josh’s but put on yesterday’s clothes and probably still smelled like the alcohol he consumed, though he was sober right now. Not to mention the fact he hadn’t shaved.
“My fault. I was looking for my list and not paying attention to what I was doing. Fancy meeting you here.”
“I’m just picking up a few things myself,” she said.
He looked down into the little basket she was carrying to see light bulbs and cleaning supplies. “I’m doing some work in my house and figured today was a good day to get it out of the way.”
“That’s nice,” she said, making her way past him. “Well, have a good day.”
“Do you have plans today?” he heard himself ask.
He didn’t want to go home alone right now. It seemed like more and more he hated to be by himself in the house, but didn’t want to share it with anyone either. A huge contradiction he couldn’t reconcile to save his soul that was forcing him to constantly make changes in the hopes that his home would feel more like a place of comfort rather than a memory full of misery.
She hesitated for a moment, more than he thought she would. “Actually...”
He didn’t give her a chance to finish though. “How about lunch? My treat,” he said. “Kind of a welcome to the company thing.”
“You’re a little late with that,” she said, grinning.
It was the first time she’d shown any reaction to him that might be somewhat promising. “Better late than never. What do you say? I’ll grab what I need and we can meet out front. Don’t say no,” he said. It might be the closest he’d come to begging any woman in years.
Hell, women came to him now. He didn’t need to ask for anything other than their number or if they wanted a second night together. Though in all honesty, it’d been months since he’d even done that.
He went out when he had the urge or the itch, but otherwise most of his time was spent doing anything other than relaxing at home or thinking about women.
Been there done that and couldn’t care less about a woman for more than a bit of action now. Once a fool, never again, was his motto and that meant he wasn’t about to let even the possibility of getting burned make an appearance. So he couldn’t figure out why he was so determined to get to know Taylor.
“Don’t you think you should go take a shower first?” she asked. He liked that about her. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind when so many others wouldn’t.
“I showered this morning,” he said, winking at her. “I just didn’t shave.”
“Or change your clothes,” she pointed out.
“So you remember what I was wearing from yesterday.” Meant she was paying more attention to him than she wanted to admit when he was in her office.
She laughed this time. “I don’t know if it’s wise to go to lunch together. Or be seen together outside of work, period.”
Which meant she was thinking about it and there was no way in hell he was letting this chance go. “Give me a good reason why.”
“Because I work for you and I’m not interested in anything you have to offer other than my job.” Her eyes moved up and down the length of him. “It seems to me you can probably find what you’re looking for easy enough without getting it from an employee.”
He laughed. “That was two reasons, and just for the record, I spent the night with Josh, my best friend. We had a bit too much to drink last night and I crashed on his couch.”
She lifted her eyebrow. “Do you do that often?”
“What? Stay the night at Josh’s or have too much to drink?”
“Both.”
“Once in a while,” he said. He wasn’t about to admit that he didn’t want to be alone last night after talking to her. After thinking about her the rest of the day and wondering how he could get to know her better. He liked that she was upfront and not afraid to say what was on her mind to him. He was her boss, he’d been trying to get her attention for a bit and she always looked the other way, but he was wondering if it was an act.
Didn’t she hesitate before she agreed? She could have just said no right away but hadn’t. Then she called him out on being late to welcome her, maybe needing a shower, even changing his clothes.
Most women wouldn’t dare say those things to him. Not her. He liked that about her. A lot!
He hadn’t felt that way about another woman in a long time and all it did was bring up bitter memories that he’d rather not remember. But there was something about her personality that drew him in, making him want to learn more about her rather than just wanting to see her naked.
Here he was talking to her now and trying to figure out a way to have lunch with her while an odd mixture of thoughts tumbled about his head. He was just a glutton for punishment it seemed.
“I don’t know,” she said again.
“In the short period of time you’ve worked for me, you’ve never hesitated over anything. Come on, I know you want to. And just so you know…don’t believe everything you hear about me.”
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“It means I’m sure you’re hearing rumors that I get around. That all I want from a woman is sex and that is why you’re ready to turn your back on me but are trying to do it politely since I am your boss. I’m not asking you for sex at all. Not even on my mind,” he lied. “I just see an opportunity to welcome a new staff member to the company, however late it may be. Nothing more than that.”
He held his breath hoping that she was buying what he was selling. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt anything. Just so you know—I’m not thinking of sex at all. Men...they aren’t on the top of my list of favorite species right now. Period. I’m not interested in anything. I want to make that clear.”
“You can’t get any clearer than that,” he said, wanting to laugh over the fact that though he should be annoyed, he was thankful. He might actually be able to have a conversation with a woman and not worry about them wanting one of two things from him.
Sex, which he never said no to and wouldn’t if Taylor was offering it.
A relationship, which he was avoiding at all costs. Every woman wanted one from him it seemed when it was the last thing he’d ever get himself involved in again.