#FudgeADuck

When Colbie didn’t show up at Spence’s like she’d said she would, he figured she’d gotten caught up in her pages and lost track of time.

Something he understood all too well.

He waited another half hour before losing patience. He wasn’t a good waiter. He took the stairs down to her place and knocked on her door, but she didn’t answer that either.

He stood there for a few minutes, wondering for the first time if maybe he was being stood up.

Ten minutes later, he decided that, yep, he was definitely being stood up.

Which sucked. They’d managed to spend a fair amount of time together in spite of the fact that they were both working a lot—which he often gave thought to deep in the night while holding her in his arms.

And something else he’d spent a fair amount of time doing? Arguing with himself whenever he left her bed. It was getting harder and harder to walk away. He’d been telling himself all along that this expiration date of theirs was a good thing.

But he no longer believed it. The truth was that he wasn’t ready for her to leave and was pretty sure he’d never be ready for her to leave.

He made his way to the courtyard and poked his head into the alley to ask Eddie if he’d seen her.

And there she was, sitting with the old man, junk food wrappers scattered all around them like the living dead.

“What the hell?” He looked at his grandpa. “Tell me you didn’t get high and rob a convenience store with my girlfriend in tow.”

Colbie gasped at the sight of Spence and jumped up. “Fudge a duck!” She looked at her watch, squinting to read it. “It’s seven forty-five? How did that happen?”

“Well,” Eddie said. “The earth revolves around the sun, see, and—”

“I was supposed to pick Spence up at seven!” she whispered furiously to Eddie. “I’m late! I’m never late! Should I call him?”

Eddie grinned. “Or you could just turn around and talk to him.”

“Wait—he can see us?” she asked, horrified, eyes nearly bugging out of her head. “We’re not invisible?”

“Christ,” Spence said.

She whirled to face him. “I’m so sorry! I don’t know where the time went!”

He looked into her stoner red eyes and had to laugh. “I do.”

She flushed. “We got caught up . . . talking.”

“Uh-huh.” Spence looked over her head at Eddie and his mouth tightened. “You butted in.”

Eddie shrugged, the gesture apparently so Spence-like that Colbie clapped a hand to her mouth. “I see it now,” she said behind her fingers. “The similarities.”

Spence added disbelief to his anger. “You told her?”

“That you’re way too smart for your own good and you think you’re always right?” Eddie asked. “Yeah, I told her, but I don’t think she was all that surprised.”

Spence was not amused, but Colbie put her hand on his arm. “I think it’s incredibly sweet that you have your grandpa here, taking care of him like you do.”

“Darlin’, you’ve got that backward,” Eddie said with a grin at Spence.

Colbie slipped her arm in Spence’s and looked up at him with sweet worry. “I really am so sorry,” she said. “I never do this, forget the time. Or a date. Well, okay, so I forget dates when I don’t wanna go, but this wasn’t one of those times.” She paused. “I got hungry.”

Spence eyed the empty candy and chip wrappers. “I see that.” He turned and met Eddie’s nonsheepish gaze. “We’ll talk later.”

Eddie sent him a mocking salute.

“Oh please don’t be upset with him,” Colbie said earnestly. “It was my idea to have the second brownie—”

“You had more than one?” Spence asked and looked at his grandpa.

Eddie had the good grace to look slightly shamed. “She was really hungry.”

Spence shook his head, trying to let it go. The fact was, he and Eddie rarely saw eye-to-eye, and actually, that was all on Spence anyway. He’d never completely forgiven his grandpa for basically deserting his dad and grandma.

The resentment was in direct opposition to Spence’s need to still keep Eddie safe, but since the guy insisted on living on the streets, it was an unfulfilled need. It’d taken him a long time to accept his grandpa’s unconventional lifestyle, or so he’d always thought. But the truth—the rather appalling truth—was that Spence was far too much like Eddie for his own comfort.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie said quietly, and Spence stared at him in shock. He’d never heard those words from him before. He didn’t want to be moved, but like Spence himself, Eddie never said anything he didn’t mean. Spence nodded his appreciation of the statement and took Colbie up to her apartment. He had no idea what she’d planned for them but whatever it was, she was going to need a minute.

Or a few hours . . .

“I can’t find my key,” she said at her door, head bent, searching through her mess of a bag.

Spence took her hand and looked her over. She seemed okay. Her hair had fallen in her face, which was flushed because she was overheated and probably dizzy as hell. He gently pushed it from her eyes. “I can’t believe you ate the brownie.”

“Brownies,” she said, emphasis on the s. “As in plural. And I knew better too, but . . .” She trailed off guiltily.

“I know. He can be deceptively sweet and persuasive.” And a menace . . .

“Yes!” she said. “He’s so wonderful!”

Not the exact word Spence would have used. He took her purse and tried to find her keys, but all he saw was her wallet and notes upon notes. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll get you another key, but for now we’ll go to my place.”

“But I went grocery shopping to make you dinner,” she said. “I went on an empty stomach too, so I’m now the proud owner of aisles three through twelve.”

He laughed because damn, she was a really cute stoner. “We’ll figure it out.” He took her up two flights, opened his door, and ushered her in.

“I like this place,” she said. “It’s serene and quiet. But you really need some pictures and personal stuff. Hey, are my feet touching the ground or am I floating?”

He sighed and she laughed. “Okay, never mind. I only float after a few margaritas. Hey, do you have any idea how lovely I think it is that you take care of your grandpa like you do?”

“Says the woman who takes care of her entire family,” he said.

She pointed at him. “Touché. I like him, by the way. A lot. Is he a secret?”

“No,” Spence said. “I just . . .” He shook his head. “I guess I feel like I’ve failed him by not getting him off the street.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Do you want to know why I love your grandpa so much? Because we’re kindred spirits. Like him, I always truly believed I’d be happier alone. It was actually a huge fantasy of mine all my life. When I was growing up, all I wanted was to not live with two brothers and my mom in that teeny, tiny one-bedroom, one-bathroom hovel we grew up in, where I never had a single inch of space to myself. Being alone has always sounded like heaven, just me and my computer and my imagination. But this trip . . .” She shook her head. “I had it all wrong, Spence.”

He ran a finger along her temple, tucking a loose strand of hair back from her face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Stepping into him, she ran a hand up his chest. “And you’ve got a lot to do with that. I learned some things from you.”

He pulled her into him and nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck. “I learned something too,” he admitted. “Something I didn’t see coming.”

She slid her hands into his hair. “What’s that?”

It took him a moment to find the right words. “For most of my life,” he finally said, “I wanted to change my grandpa. Make him . . . I don’t know, normal, I guess. Then when I bought this place and coerced him into moving here, I expected him to take an apartment. I had no idea how to help him, how to keep him safe. I just did the best I could. And in the end, he’s the one who helped me. He taught me acceptance.”

“Acceptance?”

“Letting people be who they need to be,” he said. “Including myself.”

She nodded. “I like that. I’ve always micromanaged my mom and siblings, setting up their lives how I thought best. They let me but . . . I haven’t done them any favors.”

“It’s never too late to change.”

She met his gaze, hers open and sincere, and nodded. “Why don’t you have any Christmas decorations?”

The abrupt subject change reminded him that she was pretty toasted. “I do,” he said. “You just can’t see them because you’re stoned.”

She laughed. “You’re funny. Hey, do you have food?”

“I have anything you want.”

Her eyes were big and luminous. “Anything?” she asked, whispered really, looking very intrigued.

He smiled. “Are we playing?”

She bit her lower lip.

Yeah. They were playing.

“I need to get ready to feed you. But I need a shower first.” She sidled up to his front, giving him a very inviting smile, her eyes seeming to strip him naked.

Which he was totally okay with.

She ran her hands up his chest and around the back of his neck, lightly scraping her fingernails up into his hair, giving him goose bumps, among other things.

“Can I use your gym shower?” she asked. “Or am I allowed in your personal space now that you’ve had your merry way with me? Many times over now . . .” She brushed her mouth across his earlobe, laughing softly in his ear when he tightened his grip on her hips.

And then suddenly she had like eight hands and they were everywhere. “Colbie—”

“Colbie,” she said, mimicking his lower tone. “You sound very serious now, Spence. Have I been bad? Am I in trouble?”

Jesus. He nudged—maybe pushed—her into his bedroom.

“Ooh, the man cave,” she purred.

—And then into his bathroom. He gave her another nudge toward the shower and tried to step out.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“To order food.”

“What kind of food?”

“All the food,” he said. “Unless you have a preference. What are you hungry for?”

She smiled a man-eating smile and he groaned.

And got harder.

He pointed at her. “Behave.” And then he left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He leaned back against it and swiped his forehead. “I’m fucked.”

“Yes. I’m pretty sure that’s her plan.”

Spence turned his head and found Caleb standing there, eating out of another Tupperware that Spence knew damn well had come from his fridge. “What the hell?”

Caleb shoved in a bite of what looked like Trudy’s famous chicken enchiladas and groaned in pleasure. “Turns out that Colbie’s not the only one who’s hungry.”

“How long have you been here?” Spence demanded.

“Since before you. Neither of you even noticed me. And why are you standing here griping at me for eating your food instead of getting into the shower with the Stoned One? She’s hot.”

Spence opened his front door and jerked his chin toward it.

Caleb blew out a breath. “Fine. But I’m taking the enchiladas with me.” He turned back. “And you’re an idiot if you don’t go take what that woman is offering you.”

Spence shut the door on Caleb’s nosy nose just as Colbie came out of his bathroom. She was wearing the bathrobe his mom had bought him a couple of Christmases ago that he’d never worn—and bright blue toenail polish. That was it. He watched with a mix of lust and wry amusement as she sauntered straight to his pantry and helped herself to not one but three bags of chips.

She hopped up on the counter, opened all three bags, and began a smorgasbord, stuffing her face for a few solid minutes before going still, a handful of chips paused in the air halfway to her mouth. “I think I’m a little stoned.”

He smiled. “You think?”

“No, I mean . . .” She shook her head. “I was sure I wasn’t. I didn’t feel anything.”

“Honey, you’re about as high as my drone can fly, which is nearly out of the stratosphere.”

She ate a few more chips, closing her eyes and groaning. “Oh. My. God. Where have . . .?” She straightened out one of the bags and read the label. “Salt and vinegar. Where have salt and vinegar chips been hiding my whole life?”

Spence took a bottle of water from the fridge, removed the top, and handed it over to her.

She downed it and then went back to the chips. “You don’t by any chance have any dip, do you?”

“No. But . . .” Spence pulled out a stack of takeout menus and handed them to her. “Take your pick and I’ll order.”

She tossed the menus aside and grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him in close. “I want to order you. You smell so good, Spence. You always smell so good.”

He planted a hand on either side of her hips to keep an arm’s length between them, but she had a good grip on his shirt with one hand, her other placed precariously low on his abs. Wrapping her legs around his waist to further trap him, she crossed her ankles at the small of his back.

“Colbie.” He both laughed and groaned. “You said you’re hungry.”

“Yes, but not for food.” She pressed her face against his throat and inhaled him like he was a ten-course meal.

His entire body went on high alert, sensing action within its grasp. He slid his hands up her arms to take ahold of her wrists, bringing them down to her sides.

“Mmmm,” she said, taking a lick of him as she wriggled. “I don’t remember feeling this . . . trembly with anyone else. You’d think I’d remember, right? I mean, sex is always nice and all, but this, with you, it feels a lot more than nice.” She lifted her head, her eyes guileless and a little worried. “Do you know what I mean?”

He did, although he felt like he was eavesdropping on her personal thoughts, letting her tell him things like that when she was under the influence. “Colbie—”

“Uh-oh,” she said. “You don’t know what I mean. Well, that’s embarrassing.” She tried to shift away but he caught her.

“No, I do,” he said. He knew exactly. “But, Colbie—”

She wriggled against him some more, during which time he kept a tight grip on her because if he let her go, he was afraid of what she’d convince him to do. “You’re not yourself,” he said. “I don’t want to take advantage, but I’m only human—” He broke off on a groan when she squirmed some more, humming when she came in contact with the proof of what she did to him, cradling him in the wedge between her thighs.

God help him. She was sexy and cute and sweet all in one package, and she had some moves too. “Honey—” He broke off when his phone buzzed an incoming call.

Colbie pulled back, eyes at half-mast as she smiled up at him. “You taste really good. You should answer your phone, Spence. Maybe your mom or grandpa needs you.”

He didn’t bother to point out that his family wasn’t like hers. The Baldwins didn’t need each other. They worked very hard to be independent. Stupidly so. Plus they’d just seen his grandpa. The man was a menace but fine.

“Seriously,” Colbie said, her eyes so deep and earnest that he did what he’d told himself not to do again—he pulled out his phone and answered without looking at the screen. “Baldwin.”

“Spence,” a male voice said. “Don’t hang up.”

Spence stilled at the sound of Brandon’s voice, then backed away from Colbie and turned from her.

“We need to talk,” Brandon said.

“Sure. When hell freezes over.”

“Seriously, man. My boss wants a follow-up, and I know what you’re going to say but think about it. It could be really great for you too.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Spence said.

Brandon dropped the charm. “Look, I did you a favor with that article. I put you on the map with all the exposure.”

“We were friends. You knew I didn’t want any of it.”

“If we’d been friends, I wouldn’t have had to beg for the article in the first place. Look, you were the golden boy. A’s in every class. All the teachers loved you, whatever. You were untouchable, man, never needing anyone or anything. So yeah, you threw me a bone and then gave me a boring interview that you could’ve given any Joe Blow, big fucking deal. The real sign of friendship would be you giving me a follow-up.”

Spence actually laughed. “Do us both a favor, Brandon, and lose my number.” He disconnected the call and then, for shits and giggles, blocked Brandon’s number. When he shoved the phone away and turned back to Colbie, she was walking down the hall, clearly trying to give him privacy.

Which at the moment was the last thing he needed.