by Iris Trovao
He chuckled, leaning down to kiss the amazing woman that had stumbled so serendipitously into his life.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Jolie woke in a snuggly warm embrace, in a snuggly warm bed, under snuggly warm blankets. This would have been incredibly relaxing if it weren’t for the giggles coming from the hallway.
Giggles?
Her eyes flew wide and she sat up just as the bedroom door creaked open, and two teenage girls froze in their tracks, gaping at her.
A high-pitched noise leaked out of Jolie’s throat as she tightened the blanket around her chest and smacked Carson’s still form with the other.
He murmured and reached for her, eyes still closed, in a groggy attempt to pull her down to him.
“Dad,” one of the girls hissed, and suddenly his eyes were wide as doubloons.
Jolie would have laughed if she were watching the situation, but as it was she had no idea what to do.
“Girls!” he stammered, his cheeks flaring red as he sat up straight.
“We made pancakes,” the shorter one squeaked, and her sister grabbed her arm, dragging her back into the hallway.
“I’ll be down in a minute!” Carson called hoarsely as their footfalls thundered down the stairs. He pressed his palms to his face and Jolie couldn't hold it in anymore.
She burst out laughing, flopping backwards and muffling her guffaws with the blanket. He groaned loudly and that spurred her on more, and she rolled on to her side in her mirth.
She still didn’t know what to do—deep down she was mortified for him, and wanted to curl up in this bed and never leave. She didn’t want to face his daughters, two girls who she’d known were teenagers but somehow looked so much more grown up than in her head.
“I’m glad this is hilarious to you,” Carson murmured through his hands.
Jolie finally managed to catch her breath and peeked out from under the blankets. “You don’t think it’s a little funny?”
He pressed his lips into a line, but she could see the tentative smile in his eyes. Hope bloomed in her belly and she sat up, curling her arms around his.
“See? It’s cool,” she insisted. “Way more mortifying for them than you, anyway.”
He rubbed his forehead. “I know it’s mortifying for them, that’s why I'm…” He groaned again, taking a deep breath before sliding from the bed.
“I should go, right?” Jolie asked, chewing her lip. “Or like, I can just hide up here.”
He shook his head. “They already know you’re here, and they wanted to meet you anyway. Somehow I think you’re not getting out of this one.”
“They know about me?” She furrowed her brow, and her stomach flip-flopped. How much did they know? Did they know how long he’d been talking to her? Did they know they’d been friends before he and Gina split up? Had they known how big of an age difference there was before they saw her?
“They sent me off to our first date,” he said as he slipped into a dark grey t-shirt that hugged his body in a way that made her mouth water.
Fuck, focus JoJo, his daughters are downstairs, she chastised herself, and her stomach tightened. She had no idea how to navigate this.
“What do I wear?” she asked with a half-hearted shrug.
Carson rummaged in one of his drawers and pulled out a blue t-shirt with some baseball team’s logo on it, tossing it on the bed. “Should be fine with your leggings, right?”
She nodded as she gathered her clothes from the floor. Thankfully the rock-climbing had been cut short, so she hadn’t been sweating profusely in them. After, however…
“Should we shower?” She clutched the clothes to her chest. “Is it weird that we smell like sex?”
He seemed to contemplate for a moment, then pulled his clothes back off. “Probably.” He headed for the ensuite, and Jolie tossed her pile of clothes on the bed, trotting after him.
He seemed wound for sound, the muscles in his shoulders tense, and she contemplated giving them a squeeze as they got into the steamy tub together. But he was so mechanical, simply handing off soap and shampoo to her and swapping spots to rinse, that she wasn’t sure how to navigate him.
Old Jolie’s go-to would be snarky humour and a stiff drink, but old Jolie had gotten herself into a lot of trouble and sorrow, so instead she stayed quiet. It was clear that he valued his daughters’ opinion of him, but if they’d been cool with their date and knew about her then she didn’t think there was anything to worry about. It was just an awkward situation, that was all.
At least, she hoped so.
They toweled off quickly and Jolie ran her hands through her hair, managing to find her discarded hair elastic in the bedsheets and winding it back into a wet ponytail. Once dressed, Carson led them to the bedroom door, and he took a deep breath, his hand on the knob, frozen in place.
“Hey,” Jolie said, and put a hand on his arm. “It’s cool, right? They’re cool.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “They’re very cool,” he agreed, opening the door.
When they entered the kitchen, the table had four places set at it, and the girls were carrying plates of steaming pancakes from the counter.
“Morning,” Carson greeted brightly, though a little breathless. “This looks great. What’s the occasion?”
“We’re not allowed to surprise our dad with pancakes?” the older one asked dryly.
“Of course you’re allowed,” he said quickly, clearing his throat. He glanced down at Jolie and almost startled, as if he’d forgotten she was there. “Girls, this is Jolie.” He floundered for a moment, then finally motioned to his daughters. “Jolie, this is Lily and Rose.”
“Hi,” she said, giving an awkward wave. “Nice to meet you guys.”
“Hi!” Rose greeted. “Sit down, I’m starving.” She plonked herself down into one of the chairs, and everyone took seats.
Jolie ended up across from Lily, and avoided staring right at her. She didn’t seem angry, but the way she kept her chin raised, she looked so much like her mother and Jolie couldn’t help but anticipate some kind of outburst after meeting the woman the night before.
Rose doled out the warm food, passing plates around.
“So, is this the lady from the other night?” Lily asked as she poured a healthy dollop of syrup over her pancakes.
Jolie shoved a giant mouthful of the sweet food into her mouth, chewing slowly as Carson regarded his daughter.
“Yes, it is,” he said.
“That was fast,” Lily muttered.
Jolie nearly choked, lowering her gaze. She’d had no problem telling Gina where to go and how to get there, but this was uncharted territory. These girls were old enough to understand what was going on with their dad, and probably worried about him jumping into anything with a new woman.
“Honey.” Carson set down his utensils. “I appreciate your concern, but I’ve known Jolie for a while.”
“It’s fine,” Lily said as she cut off a forkful of pancake. “What you do with your own time isn’t our business.”
Rose raised a hand. “Lesson learned, do not sneak into Dad’s room to surprise him.”
Jolie stifled a laugh, muffling it with another mouthful of breakfast.
“Misguided idea,” Lily agreed. “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Jolie. Sorry for busting in like that.”
Jolie held up a finger as she struggled to swallow. “It’s all good,” she said, reaching for the glass of milk next to her placemat. “It’s your house. I feel like I should be the one apologizing, but I’m not exactly sure what to say.”
“No apologies necessary,” Carson cut in. “This is a lesson in communication. I love the surprise, but I'll make sure to let you both know when I have evening plans.”
“We’ve been wanting to do a pancake surprise for so long!” Rose gushed. “Especially since I don’t burn them anymore. We were going to wait until next weekend but mom said today would be as good a day as any.”
Jolie tongued the in
side of her cheek as the young woman dove back into her food. Of fucking course she had, she thought, and eyed Carson. His jaw looked set to explode, but then he focused on eating, slowly and methodically.
“So do you work with dad at the hospital?” Lily asked.
Jolie took a sip of milk to wash down the syrup and shook her head. “No, I’m a barista. Well, a baker.” She paused. “I work in a cafe. Not glamorous at all.” An awkward silence fell over the table, and she took another gulp of milk before standing up. “I actually have to go get ready for my shift today. Thanks for the fuel, ladies, it was nice to meet you!”
Carson got up as she scurried off to the front door, nearly pitching over onto her face as she tried to cram her feet into her boots.
“Hey,” he said softly, catching her arm. “You said you didn’t have to work today.”
She pulled away from him and zipped up her boots. “I don’t,” she replied, keeping her voice quiet so the girls couldn’t hear her. “I just… This isn’t how I wanted to meet your kids. I never really thought about how I wanted to meet them, but…ugh.” She pulled her coat on, holding it closed as she looked up at him.
There was sadness clear in his eyes, and her chest clenched. She didn’t want to upset him, she was just so far out of her element here, and she didn’t want to embarrass him or herself any more than she already had.
“I just feel like I'm encroaching on a family moment…and it's awkward, and—”
“Can I at least give you a lift home?” He ran a hand down her cheek. “It’s far and cold.”
She smiled. “I’ll grab a bus if I get too cold. No worries. Have a good time, okay?”
“You’re not upset with me?”
“I’m not upset at all.” Jolie stood up on her tiptoes, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. “I’m just an awkward weirdo. Text me later, okay?”
He nodded jerkily, and she offered him one more smile before stepping out the front door.
Chapter Fifty
Carson watched her go. He wanted to call out to her, ask her to stay, but she was clearly uncomfortable and he didn’t want to force her. He hadn’t quite figured out yet how to broach the subject of meeting his daughters. Despite how well he and Jolie knew each other, this level of intimacy was still so new…
He steeled himself and wandered back into the kitchen, where the girls abruptly stopped whispering as he entered.
“She’s cute, dad,” Lily declared, and Rose clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling giggles.
Carson shook his head as he retook his seat. “Thank you.”
“I hope we didn’t scare her too bad,” Rose said, stabbing a hunk of pancake.
“If we did then she’s not right for you,” Lily quipped.
Carson couldn’t help but laugh at that, rubbing his forehead. “You girls are something else.”
“Just looking out for you, dad.” Lily reached over to poke his arm. “She seems really nice, though.”
“She is,” he agreed.
“You didn’t tell us the other day that you’d known her for a long time,” she continued. “How did you guys meet?”
He paused, chewing on a mouthful of soft cake to try to figure out how to answer. His chest twanged with disappointment that Jolie wasn’t here for this, but he understood that it felt too fast for her. He hoped he could ease her mind.
He finally swallowed. “Well, her friend got a new phone, and when Jolie tried to text her, she got me instead,” he explained. “We got to talking, and then became friends.”
“That is so cute!” Rose exclaimed. “Like in a movie!”
He chuckled. “Yeah, something like that.” They didn’t need to know exactly how long ago that had happened. From a general perspective, he hadn’t really thought about it, but it was quite the meet-cute.
“You know when I said I wanted to embarrass you, this wasn’t what I had in mind,” Lily said with a sigh. “I think I embarrassed her instead.”
He smiled softly. “She’s a tough girl. I think she was just surprised.”
“So were we,” Rose piped up.
“Well, she’s your girlfriend,” Lily said with a shrug. “She’ll get used to us being a package deal, right?”
He nodded, stuffing his mouth full of pancakes once again to avoid answering. They hadn’t exactly had a talk about defining their relationship…and he wasn’t sure how to initiate that. They’d both been so wrapped up in being with each other that it hadn’t even crossed his mind to flat out ask her if she was officially his girlfriend. Having not ‘dated’ in decades, it had been a long time since he’d had to worry about this kind of thing.
“She’s uh, kinda young, eh?” Rose blurted, and he nearly spit milk across the table.
Thankfully, Lily rolled her eyes. “No younger than Thad,” she said dryly, and Carson had never wanted to high five his daughter more than in that moment. “If she makes you happy, Dad, that’s what we care about.”
The goofy grin that always came with thoughts of Jolie erupted on his face. “She does.”
After a thorough clean up, the girls hung out for a tea and headed back to their mom’s to get on with the rest of their day.
Carson wasn't sure what to do with himself. He wanted to text Jolie, but he didn’t know exactly what to say yet, or how she was feeling. He knew rationally that he should just ask, but then, he didn’t know how to ask.
He knew he should have been tired after their epic night, but he was wired for sound.
Car needs an oil change, he thought, and headed out to the chilly garage. He often brought the car to a mechanic, but occasionally when he had the time he liked to do it himself. Brought him back to his childhood, helping his father with the farm equipment.
He brought his phone out to the garage and set it down on the workbench. Then he picked it back up again.
How are you? He pursed his lips and hit send before he could change his mind. He set the phone down and rummaged through his toolbox for what he needed.
A reply came within minutes, drawing his attention to the screen.
Jolie: Good, those pancakes gave me a good boost of energy to make it home. How are you?
He wrinkled his nose. She sounded so formal.
I had a really good time last night.
Jolie: Me too. There was a little fire emoji next to it and he laughed.
He set down his tools and contemplated asking to get together. He wanted to go to her place, talk about things, smooth everything out. Assure her that the girls were fine and that everything was fine and the way she'd shut Gina down was phenomenal.
He wanted to tell her a lot of things.
But was it too fast? They’d spent almost a year not even hearing each other’s voices, and then in less than two days had spent more time together than apart. He’d be back to work the next day, and so would she, then what would happen? Did she need space? He found himself wanting to spend every second with her, now that they’d connected so beautifully…but he didn’t even know what to call their relationship.
He wanted to call it something. He wanted to tell her how he felt, how much she meant to him…but she was so much younger than he was. Did she want that? Or did she want to enjoy her twenties now that she was out of a shitty marriage and overcoming her grief? He didn’t want to drive her away by trying to tie her to him.
He groaned. These were things they could have talked about while lazing in the afterglow, but now things seemed so uncertain and tense.
His phone buzzed again.
Jolie: Speaking of, I'm beat and need a nap. I’ll talk to you later.
He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat.
Sweet dreams, he sent back before pinching the bridge of his nose. He turned back to his car and sighed.
“Looks like it's just you and me after all,” Carson murmured, and grabbed his tools.
Chapter Fifty-One
“Okay, spill,” Janos declared as he shoved a latte across the coffee bar. “What’s the story, mo
rning glory?”
Jolie wrinkled her nose as she hit send on the message to Carson, a pang in her gut at lying to him. “It’s not morning,” she murmured.
“You finally boned the sexy doctor, right?” He pointed an accusatory finger at her. “Spill!”
She batted his hand out of her face. “You are unhealthily obsessed with my sex life.”
“You’re the one who’s been a smarmy bitch for ages!” He leaned his elbows on the bar. “I’ve been praying some vitamin D would make you nicer to the customers.”
She batted her eyelashes at him. “Fat chance of that happening.”
“A business owner can dream.” He sighed wistfully, smacking a palm on the counter. “So share the gory deets! I assume from the freshly-fucked look on your face that he was no slouch.”
Jolie set her mug down and leaned her chin on her hand. “No, he was not.” Her stomach fluttered at the memory of his hands on her, his lips on her, his—
Janos snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Don’t zone out into fantasy land on me, babe.”
“Why not?” She pouted. “I haven’t been fucked like that since…well, ever.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Wow.”
“Yeah, wow.” She ran her tongue over her teeth and took another sip of her latte. “Met the ex, too.”
“What?” Janos choked out. “Like his ex-wife? The ex?”
“Yeah, she was a treat.” She frowned. “Apparently she misses her old life.”
He raised his hands, pumping them in the air a few times. “Whoa, whoa. You’re saying she showed up to try to get him back? Please tell me he was inside you at the time.”
Jolie snorted, shaking her head. “No, I mean, might as well have been. I put on one of his shirts and made a sexy appearance just to rattle her cage.”
“You’re my hero,” he declared, holding up his palm for a high five, and she gave it a hearty slap. “If he wasn’t in love with you before, I bet he is now.”
She choked on the sweet frothed milk in her mouth, near spitting it back into the mug. “Don’t say shit like that,” she sputtered.