I hadn’t meant to doze off, but somewhere between watching Hilary remodeling an old farmhouse and David showing a peculiarly picky couple houses on HGTV, I’d fallen asleep on my side, with my back curled against Reece’s front.
I’d never fallen asleep on a couch with a guy before. Seemed like such a simple thing that I imagined millions of people took for granted, but it was something entirely new for me.
At first, I wasn’t sure what woke me up. I blinked open my eyes, confused. There was an infomercial on TV, selling the newest Bowflex machine. I stared at it for a moment, seconds from drifting back to sleep, when I felt Reece jerk behind me.
My heart jumped at the unexpected movement. His arm was lax under me, but when I looked over my shoulder, I could see the tension practically pouring off him. He was on his side but his face was turned up to the ceiling. His jaw was locked in a tight, hard line and his brows were furrowed. Every couple of seconds, those thick lashes would twitch. His lips moved, the words silent, but his chest rose with a sudden, ragged, and broken breath.
“Reece?” I whispered, but he didn’t hear me. His chest rose again, the breathing more rapid. I twisted onto my other side, facing him as I pressed my hand on his chest. “Reece.”
He jolted away, his gaze fixed on the ceiling, and for a moment, he looked so far away, as if he wasn’t even aware of where he was. Seconds ticked by and then he turned his head toward me. His expression relaxed. “Hey,” he murmured.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
He swallowed. “Yeah.”
I didn’t really believe him. “You sure?”
Reece’s arm curved around me as he tucked me against his side. “Yeah, sweets, everything is fine.” As he threaded his fingers through my hair and guided my cheek to his chest, he sighed deeply. “Everything is good now.”
“You got some this weekend.”
I nearly choked on my soda as I looked up. Katie slid into the booth across from me, a bright pink-checkered bandana wrapped around her head. Her off the shoulder fuzzy blue sweater looked like it had it out with a bedazzler and lost the battle. She wasn’t alone.
Calla sat down next to Katie. She’d come back into town yesterday morning and had worked at the bar last night. Grinning, she tugged her blond hair up into a ponytail. I remembered, when I first met her she’d always kept her hair down to hide the scar. Not so much anymore.
Ignoring Katie’s somewhat astute comment, I nodded at Calla. “I’m surprised Jax let you out of his house to have breakfast.”
“He knows better than to get between me and food and my friends.” Flipping open the menu, she raised delicately arched brows at me. “So, is Katie right? You get some?”
Katie grinned. “I’m always right.”
I rolled my eyes as I sat back against the booth. Reece had fallen back asleep after what I guessed was a nightmare, and I’d taken him home yesterday morning. Before he’d climbed out of my car, he’d leaned over and kissed me. Just thinking about that scalding kiss made me want to fan myself, and then it made me think of what I’d watched him do.
Goodness, I needed a cold shower.
He’d worked the night shift, and I figured he was probably sleeping right now. He’d texted me right before I’d gotten off, a quick message telling me to let him know when I got home, and I did. The request was . . . cute, like he was thinking of me, and it made me feel all girlie.
“The tips of your ears are burning,” Calla pointed out, eyes narrowing. “Come on, fess up.”
The waitress saved me for a few minutes while she took our orders. Katie ordered half the diner, going for every version of bacon and sausage they had. “I need my protein,” she said as Calla and I gaped at her. “Dancing and climbing a pole is one hell of a workout. You guys should try it.”
I giggled. “No thanks.”
Katie rolled cornflower-colored eyes. “You guys are no fun.” She twisted toward Calla. “When is Teresa coming back up? She wanted to learn how to shake it until she breaks it.”
“I think she and Jase are coming up in a few weekends with me.” Calla smiled as the waitress returned with two coffees and a fresh soda for me. Then she pinned me with a look. “Did you and Reece
hook up?”
“What?”
At the same time, Katie answered, “Yes.”
I shot her a baleful look. “How do you know if we hooked up? Were you hiding in my house?”
“I know things,” she replied. “I know lots of things. And you totally just assumed that I’d be hiding in your house, which means something of the fleshy kind went down in your house.”
Calla propped her elbows on the table. “And Jax told me Reece came in on his night off and waited for you to get off. That you drove him home.”
“Jax gossips like a thirteen-year-old girl,” I retorted, but I wasn’t upset with the line of questioning. I was glad both girls could do breakfast this morning, because I really, really needed to talk to them.
A moment passed and then I leaned forward, unable to keep quiet about it a second longer. “Okay. We kind of did hook up Friday night. We didn’t have sex, but . . .” I trailed off, pulled back to those early-morning hours. I could see him then, his hand wrapped around—
“All right, you guys definitely did something of the fun and naughty kind based on the way you suddenly look like you just took a hit of ecstasy,” Katie said.
Calla clapped as she bounced in her seat. “For real? Okay, girl, I’m happy for you, because Katie is right, you look like you just slipped into a sex coma.”
“Something you know a lot about,” I said under my breath.
She itched her nose with her middle finger. “But you wouldn’t even talk to him just a few weeks ago. Every time he walked in or even looked in your direction, you bailed. I’ve always known something was up between you two, but I’m confused as to what is going on here.”
I gave a wobbly smile. “Well, it’s a long story.”
“Since I ordered half a pig, we have time,” Katie replied.
“And you guys are going to think I’m a terrible person.”
“Doubtful,” Calla reassured me.
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I hadn’t told a soul except Charlie about what had gone down between Reece and me, including the huge misunderstanding. I took a deep breath and then I told them everything about the night with Reece, pausing long enough for our food to be delivered.
“So, yeah, that’s . . . that’s where I’m at with everything,” I finished as I cut the rest of my syrup with a side of waffle into tiny squares.
Calla stared at me, a piece of extra-crispy bacon dangling from her fingertips.
Even Katie gaped at me, which was saying something, if I managed to shock her into any realm of silence. I shrunk back against the booth, feeling sheepish and crappy. “I’m a terrible person, aren’t I?”
“No,” Calla said immediately. “You’re not a terrible person.”
“Wait.” Katie held up one hand. Somehow a thick piece of sausage had made it to her fingers. “So, let me make sure I have this correct. You’ve basically been in love with Reece since you were fifteen.”
“I wouldn’t say in love,” I muttered, but my heart thumped.
“Whatever. I’ve known you’ve been in love with him,” she insisted, and I didn’t protest it, because I figured it would end up with a discussion about her super-stripper powers. “Anyway, you’ve been in love with him, but he always treated you like the annoying kid next door.”
My eyes narrowed on her. “I wouldn’t say he treated me like the annoying kid next door either.”
She ignored me. “He finally starts treating you like the hot chick that you are, he comes to the bar one night, gets shitfaced, but because you’re madly, deeply, and irrevocably in love with him and because you’re a girl, you don’t realize he’s shitfaced.”
My eyes narrowed further on her.
“You two go to his house, because he asked for a ride for his drunk ass, things get hot and heavy. You see his sausage.” She waved the sausage she held, and Calla made a choking sound as she reached for her coffee. “You guys make out all the way back to his bedroom, where he passes out. Am I following this so far?”
“Yeah.” I folded my arms. “Kind of.”
Katie nodded sagely, and I had no idea what she was being sage about. “First off, that’s lame of him to get that freaking drunk, so he gets a cool point taken from him.”
“Cool point?” Calla turned wide eyes on her. “We’re still adding and taking away cool points?”
I snickered.
“In my world, we are,” she replied, and then she bit into the sausage, chewing thoughtfully for a moment. “So he passes out, you stay with him, and then he wakes up, thinks you guys had sex and is apologetic and regretful?”
Nodding, I popped a piece of waffle into my mouth.
“And you thought he regretted having sex with you,” Calla tossed in. “But he regretted getting so drunk and having sex with you?”
“Yep.”
Katie shook her head as she picked up the salt and dumped it on her half-eaten sausage. “But you two didn’t have sex.”
“No. And I started to tell him that when he first made the assumption, but he was so damn sorry about it all that I thought he was talking about the actual sex.”
“And that hurt your feelings,” Calla said gently. “That’s understandable. I probably would’ve thought the same thing.”
“But you could’ve cleared it up right then,” Katie pointed out.
“No shit,” I replied. “But I didn’t. I was so embarrassed and . . . yeah, my feelings were hurt, so I left his place and just so much time passed, and I was still all butt sore about it that I never cleared it up.”
Katie finished off the sausage and then moved onto the smaller links. “And Reece has this thing with lying? That’s not good.”
I pinned her with a bland look.
She leaned forward, waving the link around like a wand. “Look, I totally get why you haven’t said anything. It’s like telling one little lie and then telling another little lie to cover that one and so on. Then it all builds up. I get that. A lot of time has passed and how would you explain what really happened? Hey Reece, would you like to play with my tits? Oh, by the way, we never had sex.”
Calla almost choked again. “That . . . that sounds like an awkward conversation.”
I sighed as I pushed my plate away from me. “I do feel terrible. I wish I’d pulled my head out of my ass long enough to give him a chance to explain why he reacted that way, and I wish I’d just told him the truth.”
“He ain’t completely innocent in all of this,” Katie argued. “Remember, he was so drunk he thought he had sex. I’ve drunk a lot in my day. A lot. Like so much, I’m pretty sure I’ve turned into a brewery, but I’ve never been so drunk that I didn’t know if I had sex.”
Calla nodded as she poked at her scrambled eggs. “True.”
Neither had I ever drunk that much, but that was beside the point. Taking a sip of my soda, my shoulders sank as the weight of the situation settled on them. I straightened my glasses as I sighed. “I . . . I really like him, guys. I really do.”
“Duh.” Katie rolled her eyes. “You’re in love with him.”
I ignored that comment, because love . . . love was a scary four-letter word. “He’s a good guy, a really good guy. And you remember the last dude I kind of seriously dated?” I asked Katie.
She wrinkled her nose. “Before Dean the ginger?”
“Oh my God,” Calla murmured, stifling her giggle with the back of her hand.
I shook my head and then took a drink. “Yes. Remember Donnie, the—”
“The really nice guy who took you to the Eagles game and you totally got with in the parking garage, but turned out to be married?” Katie supplied happily.
My lips pressed together. “No. That was Ryan the fucker and thanks for reminding me about him. He also had a kid he never told me about. I was talking about Donnie the starving artist who stole my jewelry my grammy left me.”
Calla blinked several times. “Wow. A married guy and a thief?”
“I normally don’t attract the greatest people.” I shrugged, but I thought of Henry, and that made my skin crawl. The thing was, I knew I dated guys like that for a reason. They were safe. “But Reece is not like them, and a part of me . . .” I let out a slow breath. “I have spent years lusting after him.” And I’d probably spent years feeling something stronger than that.
Sitting there, I shook my head. What was I even doing? I just needed to tell him the truth. Let this thing between us die before I got burned big time, but I couldn’t . . . I couldn’t not try with him. Not after all these years of wanting him.
God, I sounded like I had a split personality. Go after him. Don’t go after him. Tell him the truth. Don’t say anything. I was giving myself whiplash.
“You need to tell him the truth,” Calla advised. “As soon as possible. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
I arched my brows at her.
“Seriously,” she insisted. “It’s not like you lied about something major.”
“I think not telling him we didn’t have sex is pretty major.”
“Not really.” Calla smiled at me. “Trust me, there are worse lies out there. It’s not like you lied about being with someone else while with him or anything like that. He’ll understand. Right, Katie?”
She watched me, pouty lips turned down at the corners.
Calla elbowed her as she frowned. “Right, Katie?”
Frost coated my insides as Katie’s eyes clouded over. “I don’t know, Roxy. Tell the truth before he gets in those pants of yours for real. If you don’t, I think you’ve gone too far.”
Agreeing, I nodded slowly. The same dread I experienced the first time I realized I needed to tell Reece what really happened returned.
Calla cleared her throat. “It’ll be okay.”
“She’s right,” Katie agreed, stabbing her last link with her fork. “Besides, you broke Henry Williams’s window and he still gave you an orgasm. You’ll probably get an even better one out of this.”
Smacking my palm off my forehead, I groaned. “Oh God. Who doesn’t know about that?”
“No one, honey.” Katie bit off half the link. “Absolutely no one.”
Calla and I watched Katie speed out of the parking lot in her Mini Cooper, almost clipping a minivan that had a Baby On Board bumper sticker, but when the van parked, an elderly couple climbed out.
“You’re really not going to hold a séance, are you?” Calla asked.
I laughed loudly. I’d told them about the strange things happening in my apartment. Luckily neither of them thought I was crazy or that I was weird for thinking that my place may be haunted. Of course, Katie had lots of ideas of how to address the strange happenings, and one of them was by calling someone in town who supposedly communed with spirits and could host a séance.
“Ah, you know, I don’t think that will be a great idea,” I said, grinning. “If there really is a ghostie roaming around, it hasn’t tried to scare me. In a way, it’s been strangely helpful.”
Calla snorted. “I bet more people would like to have a ghost like that.”
“And the whole idea of séance or allowing a psychic in the house just—I don’t know, if that’s what it really is, I don’t want to know what’s there. As long as I don’t wake up in the middle of the night and find it staring at me, then I’m cool with it.”
“Oh my God.” She shuddered. “That’s so creepy.” There was a pause. “But what if it isn’t a ghost?”
“What else could it be? Seriously, though? Unless I have people living under my stairs like in that creepy eighties movie, it’s either a ghost or I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re not crazy.” She squinted. “But maybe you should have Reece just take a look at your place. Or Jax?”
Yeah, I could picture both of guys never letting me live it down if I told them I thought I had a ghost in my house.
“So how long are you going to be up here?” I asked, changing the subject as I leaned against my car, pulled off my glasses, and used the hem of my shirt to clean them.
“My morning class is cancelled tomorrow so I’m going to head back then.” Calla glanced up at the overcast skies. The scent of rain was thick in the air. “Which is probably a good thing, since I think they’re calling for pretty bad storms today.”
I slipped my glasses on, smiling when I didn’t see any smudges or spots. “You and Jax got anything planned for today?”
“I think we’re just going to hang out at his place.” She twisted a length of blond hair between her hands as she shrugged. “What about you and Reece?”
“I don’t think we have anything planned. It’s weird. I don’t know if we’re dating or if we’re just . . . hooking up. He texted me last night, asking me to let him know when I got home and I did that.” I folded my arms, pursing my lips. “So I really don’t know.”
“You just text him, invite him over if he doesn’t work or something. Keep it casual,” she offered, and then laughed softly. “Honestly, I’m the last person who should be giving you advice when it comes to this.”
“No.” I reached out and squeezed her arm. “You obviously know what you’re doing. You hooked a guy like Jax, so . . . ?”
Her cheeks flushed and she laughed again as she propped her hip against the passenger back door. “You know damn well I had no idea what I was doing when it came to him.”
I grinned. Calla had been pretty clueless. “True.”
“But you know, I think it’s always like that when you really like someone. It was the same with Teresa and Jase. Liking someone makes us stupid. That’s what I’m going with.”
“Sounds accurate.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “I forgot to ask you last night. Who got you the roses? They are beautiful.”
Feeling creeped out by the roses since I assumed they were from Dean, I’d left them in the office. Now that room smelled like a florist shop. Ha. “You know, I have no idea, if they’re not from Dean.”
She arched a brow. “You really think they’re from him?”
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
“What did it say?”
“Something like next time will be better,” I told her, frowning. “Weird, huh?”
She nodded as she pushed off the car. “Maybe the flowers were meant for someone else if they weren’t from Dean.”
“I don’t know. They had my name on it. Maybe it was just a mistake.”
Calla smiled and she reached down and gave me a hug. “I’ve got to run, but I’ll call you later, okay?”
I waved good-bye and then climbed into my car. On the way home, I was surprised when Dennis called. Since it was Sunday, I wasn’t expecting to hear from him, but cops didn’t work normal Monday-through-Friday schedules. He let me know that Henry had gotten an estimate for the windshield damages and it was going to cost a couple of hundred to fix.
I groaned, thinking of how much I had in my savings account, which wasn’t a lot at all. But this was my bed I made, so I had to roll around in it and pick up more web design to make back the cash.
When I got home, I was halfway across the sidewalk when the sky ripped open and rain pelted me, soaking me in seconds. Squeaking, I dashed up to the porch. My wet sandals hit the floorboards, and I slipped. Arms wheeling like a windmill, my purse hit the porch and I lost my balance.
I was so going down.
Before I crashed, the entrance door swung open and a blur shot across the porch. Strong arms caught me around the waist and jerked me up. The sudden impact against something hard and dry knocked my glasses off my face and punched a grunt out of me. For a moment, the only thing that moved was my pounding heart.
“You okay?” asked a low-pitched male voice.
Lifting my head, all I could make out through the curtain of my dark hair was that it was a guy with blond hair. Definitely not James, who had coal-black hair cut short. “I’m so okay. Thank you for . . . um, catching me.” Feeling like an idiot, I pushed my hair out of my face, and got a good look at the guy.
His face was vaguely familiar—cheeks a little round with a nose that was slightly crooked, obviously broken many years ago. His eyes were a dark brown and sharp. Intelligent eyes.
And he was still holding me by the waist.
Geez.
Stepping back, I laughed awkwardly as he dropped his arms. “Sorry about that. Usually I don’t almost kill myself when I try to walk on to the porch.”
A tight-lipped smile formed. “That’s good to know. Wait,” he said as I started to step to the side and reach for my purse. I froze while he swooped down, snatching up my glasses. “You almost stepped on these.”
Double geez.
“Thank you again.” I took them and smiled as he handed me my purse. Tucking my dripping hair back behind my ears, I squinted up at him. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
The tight smile expanded, flashing a little of white teeth. “I’m Kip Corbin. I live upstairs. Moved in a couple of months ago.”
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “That’s why I thought you looked familiar.”
“You did?” Surprise colored his tone.
I nodded. “Yeah, I must’ve caught a glimpse of you coming or going or something. Anyway, I’m glad we finally got to meet.”
“Same here.” He glanced out toward the street. Rain was coming down so hard, I could barely see my car parked along the curb. “Well, I’ve got to go.” He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket as he sidestepped me. “It was good meeting you.”
I turned to my door as I wiggled my fingers at him. “Same here.”
He hesitated at the top of the steps. “Be careful, Roxy.”
Unlocking the door, I pushed it open as I sent him a smile over my shoulder. “You, too. Don’t get washed away.”
He was already racing down the sidewalk as I stepped inside, closing the door behind me. Dropping my purse in the recliner, I stopped in the middle of the living room and frowned. Wait. He knew my name. I didn’t think I’d told him what my name was.
A knot of unease formed a tiny ball in my belly. How did he—? Okay. I was being stupid. James or Miriam could’ve told him my name. It also could’ve been the Silvers.
I needed to stop being an idiot.
Glancing at my purse, I also needed to stop being a baby and text Reece. But first, I needed sweet tea.
After making myself a glass, I flipped on the TV and turned it to the HGTV channel. Property Brothers marathon for the win. Grabbing my cell out of my purse, I took it with me to my studio room.
No sooner had I headed down the hall, when the phone rang while I held it. I glanced down and cursed when I saw that it was Dean. Part of me wanted to hit the reject button, but I forced myself to answer the phone.
“Hello?” My voice sounded as flat as a sheet of paper.
There was a beat. “Roxy?”
I rolled my eyes. Who else could it be? He called me, and I answered. As soon as those thoughts wrapped up, I felt bad. Dean hadn’t done anything wrong. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m getting ready to . . .” I looked around the room frantically, trying to come out with an excuse. “To . . . take a shower.”
I winced. Jesus. God. I sucked.
Dean laughed softly in my ear. “Well, thank you for planting those images in my head,” he said, and I cringed. “I don’t want to keep you. I just wanted to know if you were free tonight?”
“Dean,” I sighed, wanting to bang my head off a wall. Instead, I pushed my glasses up to the top of my head. “I actually do have plans tonight—”
“What about tomorrow?”
I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes. “Dean, I’m sorry, but I’m not really interested in a second—”
“I know we didn’t have the greatest first date, but I think we hit it off,” he insisted, and in my mind, I could almost see him blinking as he spoke. “And I think if we have another date—”
“I’m seeing someone else,” I blurted out, and that wasn’t a lie. Not really.
His inhale was heard through the phone. “What? Since when?”
“I’m sorry. You’re a great guy. It’s nothing personal—”
“What the fuck, Roxy?”
My eyes popped opened as I pushed off the wall, stiffening. I’d never heard him cuss before. Not that I had sensitive sensibilities, but hearing him talk like that was jarring.
“You’ve been seeing someone else?” he charged on. “Don’t you think you could’ve told me that in the beginning? I wouldn’t have wasted my time with a slut.”
“Whoa. Yeah, that’s not okay. Fuck off,” I said, and then hit the end call button. My skin crawled as if a dozen fire ants were climbing all over me. I was so angry, my head was going to spin. It took several minutes for me to calm down enough to walk into my studio.
The plastic-like scent of the watercolors and the cedar brushes tickled my nose as I nudged the door open. I breathed in deeply, letting the fumes that might irritate someone else relax me, push away all thoughts of Dean. Some of my favorite paintings hung on the walls, above magazine clippings—words and phrases that I’d found over the years that I’d thought matched the paintings.
Placing the tea and cell phone on a small table by the door, I shuffled over to the easel as I pulled out a hair tie. My steps slowed, and I stopped in front of the easel as I tugged my wet hair up into a quick ponytail.
Wait a minute.
Lowering my hands, I wiggled my fingers as I stared at the easel. When I’d pulled off the painting I’d completed on Friday to take to Charlie, I hadn’t replaced the canvas, and I hadn’t had time Saturday to do anything. Come to think of it, I hadn’t even stepped foot in my studio yesterday.
But a blank piece of canvas was stretched onto the frame, sitting on the easel.
Cocking my head to the side, I retraced the last forty-eight hours. Was it possible that I had done that when I finished the last painting? It was possible. I did things a lot that I didn’t realize I was doing out of habit, but I was pretty positive I hadn’t done this.
I thought about the remote in the fridge, the dishwasher, the toilet seat and so on . . .
I really needed the Ghostbusters.
Then again, this ghost has been super helpful—creepy but helpful.
Turning from the canvas, I shook out my shivers as a chill snaked its way down my spine. My gaze fell to the cell phone. Forcing myself over to it, I picked it up and tapped on the message icon. Just holding the phone and opening Reece’s last text got my heart pumping ridiculously fast.
Texting a guy was not a big deal.
Texting a guy who’d seen my boobs and had gotten me off shouldn’t be hard.
Texting a guy I really, really liked was scary as hell.
I texted him a quick hey before I wussed out and then dropped the phone on the table like it was a snake and then felt like an ass because he was probably still asleep.
Hurrying away from the phone, I’d just grabbed my stool when I heard the phone ding. My stomach dropped.
“Oh God,” I whispered, turning around. The screen was lit up from a message. “I’m being such an idiot.”
I made my way back to the phone. As expected, the text was from Reece. Seven words—only seven words—and my lips split into a giant, goofy smile.
Hey babe, was just thinking of u.
Clutching the phone, I took several deep breaths. I was thinking of u too. My cheeks heated, because my response sounded so corny when his was all swoony.
The reply was almost immediate. Of course u were.
I laughed at his cockiness and felt my stomach dip again, because I knew what I had to do. I needed to talk to him before any of this went further.
Before I could respond, another text came through. & I really was just thinking abt u. Guess what I was doing while I was thinking abt u?
My eyes widened as I typed back Oh my.
There was a pause. Is that too real to admit that?
No. And I shook my head and sent back No.
Good, came the quick reply. Followed by Glad to know u don’t think I’m a pervert.
Nah, I still think ur a pervert.
A hot one at least?
I laughed out loud at that. Definitely a hot one. I waited a whole second and then sent, I think my house is haunted.
What?
The tips of my ears burned, and I wished I could somehow unsend that text. Never mind. I’m being stupid. Are u free tonight?
There was a pause before his response, which caused my stomach to twist. Got to work 2night, but I’m all yours 2morrow if u’ll have me.
Is that a joke? I typed back. Doing that stupid smile thing, I allowed myself a hobble and a shimmy before I added Tomorrow wld be perfect.
We exchanged a couple of more texts, deciding on meeting at my place around seven in the evening. He was going to bring food, and maybe I should go get some wine since I was probably going to need some liquid courage and something, in case it went bad, to drown my tears in.