Cassie drove the car around the turnaround, and we started back down the driveway.
“Your truck is on the causeway?”
“Yeah.”
“I really can’t believe you did this. You’ve got a knack for saving me. You must think I’m such a mess.”
“It’s fine. I’m honestly surprised I got this thing working again. Where in the hell did you even get it?”
There was a moment of hesitation, then she answered. “My grandpa.”
“Did he get it when he was a teenager then hand it down to you?”
“It’s not that old. At least I think it’s not.” She laughed, and I joined her. The same shock I felt when I’d laughed last night hit me again. How was it she could inspire laugher in me with such ease after so many months of not even being able to smile?
One look at Cassie and I was spitting out smiles like a malfunctioning ATM.
“This interior is... wow.” I ran a hand over the orange velour.
“Shut up, I know!” She laughed harder and my own smile grew with hers. “It’s so ugly!”
“It is not the kind of car I would picture someone like you driving.”
“Someone like me?” she asked, glancing over.
“Um, yeah, you know...” Hot. Gorgeous. Stunning. “A woman,” I lied.
“A woman?” Her dark-blonde brow rose in a challenge. “You think because I’m a woman I can’t handle this massive machine?”
Ugh. I’d just dug myself a grave I didn’t know how to get out of. “No. Not that you can’t handle it, but that you wouldn’t want to drive it. I figured women care more about their cars than men. This looks like something my buddy Aaron would drive. Hell, the interior matches his beard.”
“I met him last night!” she said, and I was grateful she let go of the subject so quickly. “Nice guy.”
“Yeah. He is. We’ve been buddies for years.”
“That’s what Jo said. You all grew up together?”
They’d talked about me? I wondered now how much they’d told her. I hoped not everything. Being cheated on was embarrassing enough and having the hot new girl view me as a pathetic loser wasn’t a pleasant thought.
“Yeah, we did. We all went to Gibraltar from kindergarten straight through high school. Jo’s like a sister to me, and Aaron... well, he’s like the weird uncle no one invites to Thanksgiving.”
Laughter erupted from her and it coaxed it out of me again. God it felt good to laugh again. I’d almost forgotten how mine sounded.
When we reached the causeway, I saw my Tundra parked on the side of the road. A couple fisherman had taken up posts on either side and they cast into the still water. I was going fishing today, but it involved taking a group of four guys out on a charter. I wished I could spend the day on the causeway just snagging fish solo and enjoying the solitude like these lucky bastards. But that wouldn’t pay the bills and I still had a mortgage and a few truck payments left before it all belonged to me. At least a charter on the lake looked a hell of a lot better than sitting in an office in the city all day. The thought of living in a congested city overflowing with people made my skin crawl, and I counted my blessings a hard day at work for me involved fresh air, a boat, and fishing.
Cassie pulled to the side of the road opposite my truck and put the car in park. “Do I owe you anything for fixing it?”
I snorted. “No. Of course not. I wanted to.”
“Well, then you need to come into the Ox tonight and at least let me buy you a couple drinks. It’s the least I can do.”
“Considering I stop there every day on my way home from work, I guess I’ll be taking you up on that.”
“Okay,” she said, and that sweet smile sent my stomach plummeting to my feet again.
Damn it.
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you tonight then?”
“Yep.” With a quick nod I started out of the car but then remembered the nearly weightless dog on my lap. If Hank sat in my lap, all one-hundred pounds of him would have crushed my femurs. “Oops. Sorry, Muskybait.”
Lifting the little ball of fur off my lap, I handed her to Cassie. When she took her from me, our fingers brushed, and it felt like a sledgehammer slammed into my stomach. From the look on her face I could see she felt it, too. Desperate to get out of this car and away from this woman, I spun away and whipped open the door. Moving so fast, I almost tumbled out myself, but unlike her performance last night, I managed to stay upright. Without a word I slammed the door and hurried over to my truck. I could see her watching me until I made it into the driver’s seat. When I gave her a quick nod, she drove away, and a black plume of smoke kicked out behind her car. The sight of that beautiful woman in her pink pajamas driving off in the ugliest car I’d seen in my life brought another unwanted smile to my face.
Damn it.
CHAPTER NINE
Cassie
“What do you think, Poppy? Too much?”
Her little head tipped to the side while I did a spin around in the outfit I’d picked out to bartend in tonight. Jo had given me a couple Blue Ox tank tops to wear but said I could wear whatever I wanted. Knowing Jake was coming in tonight, I wanted to wear something to make him sit up and take notice, so I’d torn through my suitcases to find just the right outfit.
“I can’t believe he fixed my car,” I said to her then flopped on the pink chenille blanket I’d used to cover the hideous couch. A little hop had her in my lap and I scratched under her chin. “Can you believe it?”
When I’d heard incoming fire this morning, I’d run to the window expecting to see another one of those non-existent Door County serial killers standing in my yard. But instead of the masked man sporting an arsenal of weapons I’d envisioned, my car had greeted my eyes instead. And Jake.
He’d emerged from the mud-colored monstrosity, flipping my stomach around when I’d seen him, and sending my heart racing like the first plunge down a rollercoaster. But what did it mean that he’d fixed my car? Was it really something he’d have done for anyone, or did it mean something more?
Unsure how to read the intent behind those brooding eyes, I decided that it had to mean something. He’d gotten up early and spent his time and energy fixing my car. Maybe it was just a small-town thing, but in New York if a man did something as chivalrous as fixing my car, it meant he was definitely interested. Although, honestly, no man I knew in New York could fix a car, and I didn’t own one, but regardless I felt confident it meant something.
Or did it? My head spun again while I remembered how he wouldn’t hug me back and how he’d shot out of my car like he couldn’t get away from me fast enough. Maybe it was just me who’d felt something when we touched, and it was just me who came unglued every time our eyes met. Ugh. He’s so hot.
Since I had no idea what was going on in his mind, I decided to pull out my big guns... the outfit that turned every head in New York when I went out in it. At the very least, it couldn’t do any harm at feeling out his intentions... or perhaps swaying them to the side of wanting to kiss me. With only a few minutes left to get ready for work, I decided my outfit would be just the thing to get Jake to start looking at me like I was used to other men doing. At least I hoped it would.
After getting Poppy situated in her predator-proof bathroom fortress, I buckled the straps of my stilettos around my ankles then cringed when I stood up. The pain searing through my still-sore feet sent me tumbling back down onto the couch.
“Ouch,” I breathed while I blew through the pain and stood again. Fashion first, I reminded myself and remembered the many times I’d chosen fashion over comfort. It’s worth it, I thought while examining how good they looked with my outfit and how stellar my legs looked when they were perched on top of four-inch heels. Next week I’d get some of those comfortable black shoes Jo swore by. But tonight, I was going to get Jake’s attention, and unless he was blind, this outfit would do it.
Trying not to limp, and forcing my body to accept my painful dec
ision, I climbed into my car and drove to the Ox. When I walked in, a half dozen locals were already belly up to the bar and Jo leaned up against it chatting with them. The door closed behind me and every head turned toward me. One by one jaws went slack as the men at the bar raked me up and down. Jo’s mouth dropped along with theirs, and the shock on her face had me reconsidering this decision.
A long, slow whistle broke the silence. “Is it a bachelor party? Are you the stripper?” A man I hadn’t met yet, but who looked a lot like every other man at the bar in a faded t-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap said, wiping his brow. “I’ve got money!”
A stripper? Now I really questioned my red mini-dress while I stood in the rustic bar. Sure, I would have fit in at any club in New York, Paris, or Milan, but the way they were looking at me had me ready to turn and bolt back home to change.
“Wow,” Jo said, shaking her head. “Are you planning on working in that?”
Biting my lip, I nodded. “Um, yeah. I guess maybe it’s a little much?”
“A little much? It’s a little... little!” She snorted.
Trying to force the blush from my cheeks I stood while they drank in every inch of the view this tight dress and plunging neckline offered them.
“Should I go change?” I asked, my confidence faltering to zero. Dressing like a runway model for a locals’ bar was such a stupid idea. I’d have to add it to the list of my previous stupid ideas topped by that time I almost got arrested in Tijuana last year.
“No time. Happy hour starts in five. Just try not to break a heel. Or a leg.” Jo gestured to my stilettos.
Feeling only an inch tall, even though I soared above her in these shoes, I walked behind the bar with her. Another slow graze over my outfit and she shook her head.
“You’re something else,” she said with a chuckle. “At least we’ll make great tips. I may have to reconsider my own choice of footwear.”
The door opened, and more locals filed in. One by one they slid to a stop when they saw me. A couple came in together and the woman took one look at me, then at her gawking husband, and dragged him out by the arm. Even though I’d felt like I could own any club in the world when I’d left my cabin, I now wanted to crawl into the beer cooler and stay there until my shift ended.
With no time to feel sorry for myself, I jumped into action as quickly as my heels would let me go. Jo called out the beer she needed, and I realized in an instant how difficult tonight would be trying to keep my ass covered while I pulled beer out of the below knee level coolers. This dress was made for standing and being appreciated, not a night spent bending and squatting. Cursing myself for not thinking this through, I tried to squat down while tugging at the bottom of my skirt with one hand and pulling out a beer with the other. As I looked behind me, I saw the neck of every man at the bar craning and their wide eyes staring at my ass. Each one looked ready to fall over the bar they were trying so hard to vie for a better look.
When I stood up without revealing the ass cheeks my lace thong would reveal, a long-conjoined groan rumbled through them.
“It’s going to be a long night,” Jo said while she blew past to deliver another drink.
After an hour of teetering on my too-tall heels and trying not to flash the bar every time I bent down into the coolers, the bar was still packed, but Jo and I had caught up. While she chatted up the locals, I slid a wet rag down the bar and wiped up the rings left behind by glasses. The door opened, and I looked up. Even beneath his hat with his head dipped low, I saw a flash of those blue eyes.
Jake.
He made his way through the small crowd and up to the bar. Only one stool remained open, the same one he’d been in last night. When he slid onto it, I wondered if he’d lain an unspoken claim to that particular stool, since there was an unspoken rule this was his bar.
“Hey, Jake,” Jo said, and I wondered how the hell she could act so calm around him. Granted they’d known each other since they were kids, but I didn’t think any woman could ever get used to being in a room with him without turning into a puddle of mush.
“Hey, Jo,” he answered, then his eyes moved to me. His eyebrows shot to his hairline when he saw me, then he dropped his gaze back to the bar. “Hey, Cassie.”
The confidence I thought this outfit would help me project came out as a whisper. “Hi, Jake. Whiskey and coke?”
“Yep.” His eyes seemed to burn through the bar while he kept them forced down, when every cell in my body demanded that he look up.
That he see me.
Closing my eyes and wishing I could click my heels three times and go home, I waltzed my Manolo’s over to the ice bin and filled up his drink. When I delivered it to him, he didn’t even peek through the fringe of his eyelashes.
“This one’s on me. Thanks again for fixing my car. I really appreciate it.”
“Yep.” His eyes remained glued to the dark stain beside his glass.
“You fixed her car?” Jo asked, as she dropped a drink to the man beside him.
“Uh, yeah,” he answered.
“It broke down last night on my way home. Jake gave me a ride then fixed it this morning for me.”
“He did, did he?” Jo arched a brow and smiled, her gaze darting between us.
“Yeah. It was really amazing of him.”
“It sure was. What a guy. Pretty nice thing you did for her, huh, Jake?”
His hunched shoulders lifted with a sigh and I saw a smile tug on his lip. “It was nothing.”
“Mmmhmm,” Jo said, and her closed lip smile grew.
Scrunching my brow, I wondered what she was getting at. Jake’s face slid further behind his cap while he lowered his head even more.
“How was work?” I asked, noting everyone at the bar had a drink so I had a few minutes to spare.
“Fine.”
One-word answers again. Trying not to lose what little confidence I had left, I pressed on. “What do you do, anyway?”
“Fish.”
“Fish? For a job?”
Another sigh lifted his shoulders and then his eyes rose. When they locked with mine, I reached out and grabbed the bar for support. Between my throbbing feet, these heels, and the way those eyes unraveled me, I was certain I was going down.
“I charter fish.”
Three words! Progress! “What’s that?”
He took a sip of his drink. “People pay me to take them out on my boat and fish.”
“People actually get paid to fish?”
“Yep.”
Damn it. One word again. “How long have you been doing it?”
He shifted on his stool and his gaze skipped to the side, like he searched for an escape. But instead of bolting out the door, he took a deep breath and his face softened, just like it had when he’d been laughing in his truck last night.
“Well, my dad used to take me fishing as a kid. He taught me everything I know. When I was a teenager, I was pretty good at it, so I got a job on a charter boat one summer. I worked with them every summer through high school, then full time after I graduated. Five years ago, the owner retired, so I bought his boat, got my Captain’s license, and went out on my own.”
That was like... I couldn’t even count all the words. The mute man faded, and I saw a glimpse of the charming one I’d met for a moment last night.
“That’s amazing. So, you own your own business?”
“Yep.”
Not wanting to let him crawl back into his camouflage cubby and curl up over the bar again, I kept on.
“I’ve never been fishing.”
“Never?” His eyes widened.
“Nope. Never.”
“Not even as a kid?”
“Not even as a kid,” I said. I didn’t think there was a lot of fishing in New York, and it never even occurred to me to try.
“I’ve been fishing since before I could walk. Rarely make it a day without reeling in a fish. Or at least trying.” One side of his lips lifted, and I watched to see if the other side w
ould follow suit and give me a full smile. Even though they stopped just short, his half-smirk still had me grinning.
“Is it fun?”
“I think so. Relaxing at least.”
“You should take her,” Jo said as she passed by.
Both sets of our eyes shot over to her, and I saw the two of them exchange a glance, like a silent conversation was happening between them.
“I don’t think so,” he said, shaking his head.
“Why not? You fish every day. She’s never been. You’ll love it, Cassie, and you’re off tomorrow night. I bet Jake is, too. Aren’t you, Jake?” A sinister smile curved her lips.
“Jo,” he warned, but she ignored him.
“You two will have so much fun! Pick her up around six?”
Daggers shot from his eyes and impaled her, but she kept grinning. They both looked at me and he shook his head, exhaling the breath he’d been holding. “Fine. I’ll pick you up at six.”
My eyes widened. Was this a date?
“Unless you don’t want to,” he grumbled.
I nodded my head. “Yeah. I want to. Why not? But only if you agree not to use my dog as bait.” This little hiatus from my life was about trying new things, wasn’t it? And getting to spend an evening alone with Jake had my heart racing even if the thought of touching a fish made my skin crawl.
“Then it’s settled.” A triumphant grin flashed across Jo’s face and she gave him a playful glare before she walked down the bar.
“What should I wear?” I asked, noting I had no idea what one would wear out fishing.
“Not that,” he answered with a snort and gestured to my dress with his drink.
“Shut up!” I retorted with a blush that heated my cheeks. “So maybe it wasn’t the best outfit choice I’ve ever made.”
“I’m surprised Jo let you work like that.” He chuckled, but his gaze shot fire before he could mask it.
“I look that bad?” I asked, my prior shame crashing back into me.
“Uh, no. Not bad. Not at all, it’s just... it’s not... it’s fine, I guess.” His tumble over his words while his eyes locked onto my impressively lifted breasts refilled me with the confidence I’d been lacking. He did think I looked good.
The Other Half (Door Peninsula Passions Book 1) Page 9