Текст книги "The Will"

Автор книги: Kristen Ashley

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“Josephine, every time I hit a red carpet, still think, whatever bitch I got on my arm, she’s not you. Class, straight up. Outside, ice cold. Shit-hot ice cold, but still ice cold. Inside, so fuckin’ warm…beautiful. You don’t give me that, I dig. That’s not in you. Don’t mean I still don’t wish I had it. It also don’t mean I can’t give you what I can give back. So you need anything, you call. I’m there. You hear me?”

And yet again, I was knocked on my ass.

Winded.

Because this was very nice, very sweet and very unexpected.

I knew he liked me. I knew he was attracted to me (that, during our night and even before, and if I was honest, also after, was absolutely not in question).

I just didn’t know how deep it ran.

Even winded, I replied, “I’m with you, Amond.”

“Right, your ass is back in LA, it’s also at my house. I’m cookin’ for you and listenin’ to you talk about your Granny.”

I smiled. “We’ll plan that.”

“Right, beautiful. Now lettin’ you go.”

“Thank you for calling, Amond.”

“You got it. Later, Josephine.”

I said my farewell and we disconnected.

I again felt warm.

I also felt strange. It wasn’t a bad strange. It also wasn’t a good one. It was like I was missing something, was supposed to remember something, but I couldn’t call it up.

I attempted to call it up, staring at the gray sea and sipping tea when the house phone rang again.

I sighed, put my tea down and went to get the phone.

“Lavender House,” I greeted.

“Josephine?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Boston.”

I closed my eyes in frustration.

I opened them and started, “Mr. Stone—”

He interrupted me. “I’m not calling about Lavender House. I would assume, after the things your grandmother shared with me about how she felt about the house, and that you shared those sentiments, that you’ll not be selling the property. I’m calling to ask you out for dinner.”

Good God, what was happening?

Luckily, I had a truthful reply that was also a negative one. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stone. I have plans.”

“Please call me Boston.”

I said nothing, unsure I could address a man by such a name.

“The night after,” he went on.

“I’m having dinner with Reverend Fletcher and his wife.”

“Monday night, then.”

I sighed.

“Josephine?” he called when I said nothing after my sigh.

“Mr. Sto…erm, Boston, I mean no offense, but at this time, I’m not looking for romantic entanglements.”

“That’s understandable,” he said gently, his smooth voice going suave. “However, I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that at times like these, any entanglements are more enjoyable than those likely occupying your mind.”

This was true.

Even so, I didn’t want to be entangled with him.

But before I could utter a word, he unfortunately continued.

“And you’re an exceptionally beautiful woman. So much so that it’s prompted me to act outside good manners to take my opportunity to make certain you understand I’d like to get to know you.”

“That’s very flattering, um…Boston. But—”

He interrupted me again with, “A drink.”

I wasn’t following.

“I’m sorry?”

“Not dinner. A drink. I’d offer to collect you but I feel you’d be more comfortable meeting me so we’ll do that. At the Club. I’ll give them your name at the gatehouse. Monday night. Seven o’clock.”

I sighed.

The Club was the Magdalene Club, an exclusive club that had once simply been a gathering place for the haves of Magdalene where they could go and commune with other haves while not having to mingle with the have-nots. Over the decades, they’d added a dining room to their bar and I’d never been there but Gran (and others) had told me it was quite excellent fare and had a lovely view of the sea.

I also had a lovely view of the sea from a variety of windows in my own home but I had the feeling that Boston Stone was not to be put off. Not Magdalene’s most eligible bachelor.

Unless I put him off face to face.

Which I would do over a drink.

“Fine. Monday. Seven o’clock.”

There was a smile in his voice when he replied, “I’ll look forward to that, Josephine.”

I didn’t share this sentiment so I made no reply.

“See you then,” he said.

“Yes,” I agreed.

“Try to have a good rest of your day.”

“I will, Boston. You too.”

“I will. Good-bye, Josephine.”

I gave my farewell, disconnected and decided not to answer the phone again that day.

I also decided not to think of a drink with Boston Stone, going to have it solely for the purpose of telling him I was not interested, as this would irritate me and I wasn’t in the mood to be irritated.

But I did this remembering why I didn’t get tangled up with men. They could be extremely irksome.

I turned my mind from that to my chair and my tea and in sipping it, my mind turned to something Henry said.

And in doing so, my body moved out of the chair and I set the tea aside again.

Slowly, I moved through the house to the den and entered Gran’s room.

I had not remade the bed. This was because I had a mind to returning that room to its rightful state as a den and, being in it, that was what I decided to do as soon as humanly possible.

I didn’t want a reminder that Gran got to the point she couldn’t enjoy all of Lavender House to its fullest, something she did even being there for decades all on her own.

But more, I didn’t need a reminder that was where she ended her days.

I then moved to the wardrobe she’d had put in there.

I opened the doors and saw her clothes.

I took one look, closed the doors and exited the room. My throat had closed. My eyes got blurry. My mind had blanked. And in this state, I made my way back to my chair in the family room.

And my phone.

Without even thinking, I picked it up, found the number and dialed.

I got five rings before I heard, “Spear. Leave a message.”

“Jake?” I said after the beep. “Josephine. I…would you, well…when you have a moment, could you call?”

I didn’t say good-bye before I disconnected.

Then I stared at the phone wondering why I connected in the first place.

Not having the answer to that, or perhaps not wanting an answer to it, I moved to the kitchen to refresh my tea.

By the time I was moving back to my chair, trying to think of what else to do that day, anything to keep my mind off a variety of things that I didn’t want to think about, coming up with nothing but sitting in that chair and staring at the bleak landscape thinking about those variety of things, my mobile rang.

I snatched it up immediately and hit the screen to connect.

I did this thoughtlessly and inexplicably.

But I did it because the screen declared Jake was calling.

“Jake?”

“Josie, you okay?”

“I…” God! What was I doing? “I…Gran’s clothes,” I stated stupidly and said no more.

“What, honey?”

“I went into the den,” I explained. “Gran’s clothes. I…there’s no reason to keep them. Someone can use them. And I-I-I need the den to be a den again. I can’t think of her…I don’t want to remember what happened…” I swallowed and concluded, “I wish it to be a den again.”

Not even a second passed before he replied, “Don’t think about the clothes. Don’t even look at the clothes. I’ll deal with the clothes. And I’ll talk to some guys. Get them over there. We’ll deal with the den.”

At his words, warmth swept through me so immense I had to sit down in the chair.

“Thank you,” I whispered into the phone.

“Not a problem, baby.”

I closed my eyes as more warmth swept through me at his deep, sweet, soft voice.

“I…uh, I won’t keep you,” I said.

“You’re good. Anytime you need to call, do it.”

And more warmth.

“All right.”

“You okay now?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I gotta work but you need me to swing around tonight? Have a beer? Talk?”

It was then I knew.

I knew.

This was what Gran wanted for me and this was what Gran gave to me in giving me to Jake Spear.

I just couldn’t understand why she kept it from me before.

“I’m fine, Jake. That’s very kind but really, I’m okay. I just had”—I hesitated then admitted—“A moment”

“You have any more of those I’m a phone call away.”

Yes.

This was what Gran wanted for me.

“Thank you, Jake,” I whispered.

“Any time, honey,” he whispered back. “You okay for me to let you go?”

“Yes.”

“Right. See you tomorrow.”

“See you then.”

“Later, Slick.”

That nickname sent a jolt through me, taking me out of the moment. I opened my mouth to say something about it but got out not a sound.

He’d disconnected.

Chapter Eight

The Courage to Try His Hand

Thirty seconds after Jake rang the bell to Lavender House, Josie opened the door.

And when she did, Jake froze.

“Hello, Jake,” she said. “I’ll just get my coat.”

Jake didn’t move.

This was because the vision of her was burning itself on his brain and he was enjoying the feeling.

Then she turned and he got her back.

And Jake didn’t move again.

This was because the vision of her back was making his cock get hard and he was fighting the feeling.

She was in a dress that was an unusual shade of yellowish-green satin, like the color of an apple. Thin straps, a diagonal neckline that had a flap of material falling down her front. The top fit her snug, accentuating every line and curve. The skirt caught at her hips, somehow turning into panels that ended in a spiked hemline, the spikes brushing her knees.

But the back…

Fuck.

There was no back.

It bared her from shoulders to the top of her ass.

Jesus.

Her hair was up again, this time in curls arranged in a bun at the side of her neck. All Josie, it was elegant. But, unlike Josie, it also was almost playful.

And fucking hot.

Even as much as he liked her hair, he’d prefer to see it as it was in that picture he had of her.

Down.

But not blowing in the breeze.

Spread on his pillow.

And he liked that dress a fuckuva lot but he’d like it more on the floor by his bed.

From top to toe, she was the shit. Maybe especially her toes seeing as their nails were painted fuck-me red and they were exposed in shoes that were a mess of very thin, dark silver straps. So many straps, the fuckers had to be zipped up the back.

And the heel was tall and lethal.

He had no fucking clue how she could walk on those things.

But she did, gracefully this time, no tripping. He watched her do it and he watched her grab her coat from a chair in the hall. This finally spurred him to move.

Which he did, right to her, taking the coat from her.

“Got this, Slick,” he muttered, shaking it out and rounding her to hold it up for her to put on.

Her face appeared startled when she looked over her bared shoulder at him but he looked away from her face, and her bare shoulder, then he couldn’t find anywhere to look because all of it was too good.

Finally, she stuck her arm through the hole, he got her other one in and he settled the shiny silver coat on her shoulders, covering her.

Thank fuck.

He had no idea how he was going to have dinner with her wearing that dress without dragging her to his truck then taking her back to Lavender House and probably fucking her on the floor of the foyer.

Then again, when she’d walked on her classy high-heeled boots, wearing her classy shades, that scarf blowing in the wind yesterday, he’d thought the same thing and he’d managed it.

He’d do it again.

Somehow.

She grabbed her purse and turned to him.

“Ready,” she said softly, her sweet voice as it always was, from the very beginning, cultured but melodic.

“Right,” he muttered and grabbed her hand, moving them to the door. “House locked down?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Great.” He was still muttering as he moved her out the door.

He stopped her, released her hand, dug in his pocket for the keys and used his own to lock the door behind them.

Then he grabbed her hand again and walked her to the truck.

“You look nice,” she noted.

“Thanks,” he replied, distracted, thinking about her ass in his truck. More to the point, thinking about reclining his seat and dragging her ass over to his side and what he’d do with it when he got her there.

On this thought, a thought that wasn’t helping him keep his cock from getting hard, he opened her door for her as she asked, “Where are we going?”

“The Eaves,” he answered, pulling gently at her to maneuver her in his truck.

But she’d stopped dead so he looked at her.

“That’s very expensive, Jake,” she whispered.

“Babe, you’re you,” he replied. “And you’re you in that dress. Where the fuck else would I take you?”

He saw her draw in a soft breath, and that was sexy as fuck too, making him wonder how he could make her do that with his hands, or his mouth, before she luckily took him from this train of thought and pointed out, “You took me to The Shack yesterday morning.”

“And gave you the best omelet in the county.”

“This is probably correct,” she murmured as if to herself, her doing this reminding him she could be cute, which finally made him grin.

“It’s definitely correct. Now get your ass in the truck.”

She looked into the truck and hesitated a second before she put her fucking fantastic shoe on the running board and he put his hands to her waist to heft her up.

He got her ass in the seat and she looked at him. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure I could get up on my own.”

“Well, you’re there, Slick,” he noted.

She opened her mouth to say something but he stepped out of the door, ordering, “Buckle up,” before he slammed it.

He moved around the hood, hauled his ass in at the other side, buckled in and started her up.

He sent them down the lane and did it deciding to get the tough stuff done first.

“I’ll be over tomorrow, first just me to box up Lydie’s stuff, and then some guys are comin’ over. I’ll be around about ten. They’ll be around at eleven. You gotta know what you want done with the den by then, babe. I’ve got a place to store Lydie’s furniture. You want it sold, I’ll get Con on putting it on Craig’s List. You got a use for it and decide you want it back, just let me know.”

“All right, Jake,” she whispered.

“That’s done,” he replied. “But just sayin’, the boys are over hauling furniture around, you’re gonna have to feed them. You don’t have to go whole hog. Pizza is good.”

“All right,” she said, louder this time. “And thank you. I don’t know what to say about all you’re—”

He gentled his voice when he cut her off with, “You don’t have to say anything, Josie.”

He heard her sigh and pointed the truck toward town.

“If you like, the kids can come over,” she offered. “The Fletchers are coming for dinner tomorrow night but I can make enough for all of you.”

“Not sure Reverend Fletcher wants to break bread with the owner of the local strip club,” he replied.

“Oh,” she whispered, then again louder, “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“We’ll come over Monday night. Con’s off work and Ethan’s been talkin’ your meatloaf up. Con’s feelin’ left out.”

“I would enjoy meeting your eldest child but I can’t do Monday night. Maybe we can do Tuesday?”

“Can’t do Tuesday. Con’s workin’,” he told her. “What do you have on Monday night?”

“I’m having a drink with Boston Stone at the Club.”

His chest seized and his hand tightened on the steering wheel as his lips forced out, “Come again?”

“I know,” she stated even though he didn’t know until she gave it to him, “It’s irritating.”

He looked her way and saw she also looked irritated. Then again, as polished as she was, Josie still tended to let it all hang out.

He looked back to the road and asked, “He on you about selling the house?”

“He’s told me he’s given up on the house,” she shared. “He wants to”—a pause then, with frustrated emphasis—“get to know me.”

Jesus. Shit.

“He’s makin’ a play when your Gran just died?”

“Yes, and he isn’t easy to put off. So I’ll put him off face to face.”

No, she wouldn’t.

Jake would put him off.

Therefore, he declared, “I’ll deal with it.”

He felt her eyes on him. “Pardon?”

“I’ll deal with it,” he repeated.

“How?”

“Don’t worry about how. Just know it’ll be done and me and the kids’ll be over Monday night.”

“I…” Another pause then, “Maybe I should phone him and be clearer about how I feel about not wishing to get to know him.”

“Babe, what’d I say?”

“What did you say?”

“Yes, what’d I say?”

“I don’t—”

“I’ll deal with it.”

She fell silent.

He simmered.

Boston Stone, fucking dick.

Jake barely knew him but from this shit, he knew he was a fucking dick.

That said, the man was perfect for her. All his money, his class, his power. It wasn’t surprising Josie caught his eye. He had the money to get the best of everything and he was the kind of guy who had it in him to know exactly what the best was. And he didn’t have to know the guy to know he frequently indulged in both, what with the asshole lording his shit all over town.

She decided to change the subject and he knew this when she asked, “What are the children doing tonight?”

“Amber, pouting because she had a date with Noah that she had to break because she’s grounded. She also has no access to the phone so that means she can’t call his ass and talk with him in her bedroom for hours like she normally does. Ethan’s probably eating a shitload of crap so he’ll have a stomachache that’ll wake him up at about two in the morning, which means my ass will be up at two o’clock in the morning. And Con’s always got his old man’s back. In order to look after Ethan and make sure Amber doesn’t do anything that’ll get her into more trouble, one of his girls is comin’ over rather than him takin’ her out.”

“One of his girls?” she asked.

“He’s got five. Steady.”

There was a heavy pause before, “How can he have five steady girls?”

“No clue how the kid manages it, Slick, just know he does. That doesn’t mean those five get along and like sharin’. Just know they put up with it whatever Con does to make ‘em do it.”

“I do not see good things in the future about this, Jake,” she declared. “Women don’t like to share. This détente may last for a while but it won’t last forever.”

“He’s got his hand in the candy bowl and he’s keepin’ it there, he’s gotta deal with the pain when someone bitchslaps him to pull it out.”

“A difficult lesson to learn,” she murmured.

“Conner’s like his dad. He learns by doin’ or, in some cases, by fuckin’ up and tryin’ to be smart enough not to fuck up the same way again.”

He knew he had her eyes again when she protested, “But people are involved, in this case girls and their hearts, and they might get hurt.”

He looked her way to see she was looking at him and he gave her a shake of his head before looking back to the road. “That’s the difficult part, Josie. A man’s any man at all, the first woman he hurts, he learns not to do that shit again. Good he learns at seventeen rather than twenty-five when shit might count.”

She said nothing to that for some time and Jake had pulled off Cross Street and onto the coastal road when she spoke again.

“When did you learn that?”

“How do you think I got married three times?” he answered.

He sensed he again had her eyes when she asked, “Pardon?”

“Learned early. Not at seventeen but saw a girl, had a girl on the side my sophomore year in college. They found out about that shit, it did not go down very well. I felt like a total fuckin’ asshole mostly ‘cause I was. The look on my girl’s face. Fuck.” He shook his head at the road. “Never forget that look, honey.”

“And how did this lead you to getting married three times?”

“Didn’t want to see that look again, got no clue how to get shot of a woman so I find I got her ring on my finger instead of seeing her in my rearview.”

“You…” she paused and her voice was higher pitched when she went on, “married women instead of ending things with them?”

He grinned at the road. “Never claimed to be Einstein.”

“Indeed you haven’t,” she murmured.

“How real do you want it?” he asked.

“How”—another pause—“real?”

“Honest. Straight up. How much of that can you take?”

“You’ve been astoundingly open already, Jake.”

He glanced at her again before looking back to the road and asking, “We gettin’ to know each other?”

“Yes.”

“Are you mine?”

A shocked, “Pardon me?”

“Did Lydie give you to me, babe,” he explained.

“Well…yes.”

Fuck yes.

There it was.

She was his.

“Then you’re mine,” he stated. “And that means you’re my kids’. And that means we gotta dig in there and give each other shit. So we shouldn’t hide and anyway, I got nothin’ to hide. I did what I did, made stupid decisions, fucked up, I’m still standing, my kids are healthy and happy. Not countin’ Amber pouting and being an occasional pain in the ass, Con serial dating and Ethan mourning the only grandmother he’ll really ever know.”

There was another pause before, quietly, she began, “His other grandmothers—”

“My ma’s dead, babe. So’s my dad,” Jake told her. “His mom’s dad is also gone and her mom lives up in Bridgewater. Sweet lady but a little whacked. She’s a hoarder, doesn’t leave her house and I don’t want my kid in a house like that. Plus, it isn’t exactly close. They talk on the phone. That’s all he’s got.”

“I’m sorry to hear of this, including about your parents, Jake,” she said, voice still soft.

“We deal, Josie,” he replied in the same tone.

He didn’t ask about her parents.

This was because he knew her father was dead. He’d asked his cop buddy, Coert, to look into it because Lydie asked him to and Coert found that shit out. He also knew her uncle was alive. And he knew her mother was off the grid, probably buried so deep under whatever identity she took when she escaped Josie’s assclown of a father, if she was alive, she’d never surface, even though her motherfucker of a husband was long gone.

Bitch should have taken her daughter.

But the bitch left her daughter to a monster.

“Would you like to, well…share about how you lost your parents?” she asked carefully.

He didn’t hesitate before he gave it to her.

“Dad, aneurysm. Right at work. Sixty-four. A few months from retirement it hits him, he’s down. Gone. Ethan was born three months later.”

“Jake,” she whispered but said no more.

Jake did.

“Ma died when Eath was nearly two. He doesn’t remember her. She had an infection, didn’t catch it, thought it was just bein’ tired ‘cause she was sad she lost Dad. By the time she looked into that shit, it had done a number on her heart. Too much damage to repair. Few months later, she just slipped away. Amber was tight with her, though. Like with Lydie, she took it hard.”

To this, he got nothing.

When he continued to get nothing, he turned his head and saw she was looking out the side window.

He looked back to the road.

Fuck, he was a dick.

“Josie,” he said gently. “I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have gotten into that shit.”

“Life happens, Jake,” she replied quietly. “And you’re just being”—she hesitated– “real.”

Too real.

“We’ll stop talking about that.”

She said nothing.

He drove on.

Finally, she broke the silence. “So, being, erm…real. Your wives?”

Terrific.

Now he got to give her not him being a dick but instead being an idiot.

“Donna, the first one, loved her. Probably shouldn’t have divorced her. She wanted it, I didn’t get it, but I gave it to her.”

“That sounds odd,” she noted when he said no more.

“It was,” he agreed. “To this day, I still don’t get it but what I get pisses me off so I try not to think about it.”

“You don’t have to share,” she offered.

That made him grin.

“Babe, laid myself out already. Too late for that.”

“Indeed,” she murmured but he heard a smile in her voice too and he looked at her to catch it.

He got a glimpse before returning his eyes to the road and he was glad he took that shot.

She was pretty normally. When she smiled though…

Jesus.

“Though, I don’t want you to get angry,” she went on.

“Too much time has passed, not worth it to get angry anymore,” he told her.

“All right,” she replied and he went for it.

“We fought, not all the time, but that shit happens,” he told her. “And honest to Christ, don’t know what was up her ass but something was. She got her teeth in it and wouldn’t let it go then wouldn’t let anything go then wanted to let me go. How I remember it starting was she wanted a new car. I couldn’t afford a new one so I bought her a used one. It was better than the one she had so I thought she was good. She didn’t. Told me I never listened to her. I told her I did but we couldn’t afford a brand new car. She got shitty, kept bein’ shitty, kicked my ass out. Lost her man but got herself a new car.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she snapped, suddenly pissed and he fought back the grin. But he had to admit he liked it that she gave him that emotion.

“That shit happened. She tried reconciliation. What we had was good, so I tried with her but seein’ as that shit kept comin’ up for me and pissing me off, it didn’t work. She threw away a marriage, a family, for a new car. Not down with that.”

“I heartily agree,” she declared and at that, he didn’t fight the grin.

He gave into it.

“Still, life led me to eventually gettin’ Ethan outta it, wouldn’t have had him with Donna so I guess shit works out the way it should.”

“Yes,” she agreed.

This was breathy and he didn’t know why. But he liked the way it sounded.

“Mandy, number two, was the shit,” he kept going. “Loved her too. She was all over me, all over bein’ stepmom to my kids. Put a ring on her finger, she wanted me, realized, 24/7, she couldn’t hack kids. She took off. Just one day came home and she was gone. Got the divorce papers in the mail. Haven’t seen her since. Good news was, I didn’t have her ticket, but the kids did so it rocked my world but they were glad she was gone.”

“That, well…rocking of your world sounds unpleasant.”

Jake shook his head at her words and the way she said them.

Fuck, half the time with her and the way she talked, he didn’t know whether to laugh or kiss her.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t do the last and didn’t think she’d appreciate him doing the first so he did neither.

“It wasn’t, honey, but don’t worry. Got over it quick, her hauling ass like that. Not cool. Figured, in the end, she was like that, I got off clean and did it fast, so I did all right.”

“And the last?” she prompted when he stopped talking.

“Sloane, Ethan’s mom.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re down with real?”

A pause then, “Yes, Jake, I’m down with real.”

He grinned again at the way she said that then stated, “She was fuckin’ fantastic in bed.”

When he said no more she asked, “That’s it?”

“No,” he answered. “She was unbelievably fuckin’ fantastic in bed.”

“I, um…well, that is to say…it doesn’t sound like you wanted to end things with any of these women.”

“You open your eyes, you see signs. You keep ‘em closed, you don’t see dick. Lookin’ back, every one of them gave me reason to throw in the towel before things got legal. I didn’t see it because I wasn’t man enough to look for it.”

Again, he got silence for a long time before she said, “I don’t know much about these matters, Jake, but I would think it would make a man less of a man if he was in love and he didn’t have the courage to try his hand.”

The courage to try his hand.

Fucking hell.

She kept going.

“Therefore, outside of Ethan’s mother, who you didn’t claim to love, you just followed your heart and I find that very manly.”

Followed your heart.

Fucking hell.

“Jake?” she called when he was silent.

“Yeah, baby,” he answered quietly.

“I…” Another pause and then, “Are you all right?”

“Laid it out, it was ugly, you went gentle,” he replied, reaching out and finding her hand. He gave it a squeeze and finished, “Appreciate that, honey.”

“Well, you’re welcome,” she murmured and it took her a second but she squeezed his hand back.

He kept hold of it, resting the back of his on the sleek silk over her soft thigh and her hand again squeezed his, reflexively this time. He figured he knew what this meant but he didn’t let her go even as they hit The Eaves and he turned into the parking lot. He only let her go when he stopped the truck outside the front door.

He put it in neutral, opened his door and jumped down. Rounding the hood, he pulled open her door.

“I’ll let you out here. Place is always packed. I find a spot far away, don’t want you walkin’,” he explained.

“That’s kind, Jake. Thank you,” she replied and undid her seatbelt.

When she turned to the door and cautiously put one of her shit-hot shoes to the running board, he put his hands to her waist. She put hers to his shoulders and he pulled her down, setting her on her feet.

He let her go, she dropped her hands but he grabbed one and walked her to the front door and through it.

Once he had her out of the cold, he lifted his other hand and squeezed the side of her neck as he squeezed her hand in his, bent close and said, “Be back.”

Her blue eyes held his and she murmured, “All right.”

He grinned at her and took off.

He was assaulted with the vision of her in that dress when he returned. Obviously, they’d taken her coat.

He was still dealing with her and her dress when she turned her eyes to him near on the second he came through the door, her lips tipped up, her eyes for some reason bright, and she said, “I inquired. Our table is ready.”

Then she held out her hand to him.

Christ.

It hit him in that moment in a way he knew he’d never forget that he could take that hand and she could lead him anywhere. Just tip up her lips, turn those eyes to him and hold out her hand and he’d go straight to hell with her and do it smiling.

He knew the idea was fucked.

He also knew no one grieved like she did for Lydie without feeling deep. He knew she wasn’t giving up the house, something that would break Lydie’s heart—and his children’s. He knew she was looking after a dying woman she barely knew so her husband could have a break. He knew she was the only person who seemed to pierce even an inch through the web of teenaged girl drama Amber had woven around herself. He further knew that his daughter was a vegetarian for a day and then she gave that stupid shit up, definitely because of Josie. He knew she helped his son with his homework. He knew he gave her all his fucked up shit with women and she made it sound like he was a knight in armor on a white horse. And, last, he knew she knew she’d fucked up with him and she didn’t even leave it for a day before she hauled her ass to him and apologized.

She was wrong. With Donna and Mandy, he’d been blind.

Now he had his eyes open and he liked a fuckuva lot what he was seeing.

He strode forward and took the hand she was offering. Then he pulled it up and tucked it to the side of his chest, his eyes going to the hostess.