by Jen Andrews
Not moving his hand, he smiled at me. “It’s actually not so bad to talk about with you, for some reason,” he admitted as he slowly rubbed his thumb over my fingers. He had nice manly hands. They were clean, and his nails were trimmed short. You would never know he worked on cars all day long.
“So, tell me about yourself, Zoey,” he said, changing the subject.
Needing to break the physical connection with him, I sat back in my seat and pulled my hand away. I picked up my soda and took a drink, so it didn’t look so obvious.
“Well, I was adopted by the James family when I was fourteen…” I started. He seemed intrigued, so I continued. “My biological mom was a meth-addict, and my father wasn’t in the picture, so I spent six years in foster care before that.”
After everything he had told me about the accident that killed his family, I felt a little uneasy talking about my life. Nothing that had happened in my life could have been anywhere near as bad as losing your whole family in the blink of an eye.
“Your dad mentioned you were married before. How long have you been divorced?” Andy asked hesitantly.
“Around two years,” I answered, wondering why my dad would have told him that. I smirked inside when I remembered that my dad had told me Andy was also divorced. Was my dad up to something?
“Three and a half years for me,” he said. “What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I married someone who decided he didn’t want to be married to me after we found out I was pregnant—”
“You have a child?” Andy asked, cutting me off. The surprise was evident on his face.
I shook my head and finished what I was saying. “Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage. After that, I filed for divorce and I’ve just been working at the shop and running my store since then,” I expressed, frowning slightly on the outside, but cringing painfully on the inside.
“I’m so sorry, Zoey. That couldn’t have been easy for you, especially on your own.”
“Thanks. I’ve come to terms with it, but they say everything happens for a reason, I guess.”
Andy nodded, “True, but no parent should ever have to lose their child.”
He probably thought I was crazy. I was certainly wondering why in the hell I felt the need to blurt all of that out to someone I didn’t know, especially after he’d told me his entire family was dead. I felt terrible for him because he had lost so much.
“No they shouldn’t, Andy. But no child should ever have to lose his parents either.” I could not imagine losing my family like he had his. The devastation would be too much to endure.
Neither of us said a word for what felt like an eternity, and I wasn’t quite sure how to read the expression on his face since I didn’t really know him.
“Well,” he said after another minute, “we certainly are a pair, aren’t we?”
Both of us let out a laugh, and it immediately eased the tension in the air.
“Do you have kids?”
“No, no kids,” he answered. “We weren’t married long enough to talk about having any.” He seemed uncomfortable.
“How long were you married?”
“Six months,” he said as our food arrived.
Once again, I’d skipped lunch, so I was famished. I quickly dissected my steak into bite-sized pieces and cut any tiny trace of fat from it. Andy watched me interestedly as I poured a little pool of A1 Steak Sauce onto my plate.
“I missed lunch again,” I stated. He smirked and shook his head, and then started cutting up his own food.
“Would you like some dessert?” he questioned when he finished eating and was pushing his plate away.
“We can split something if you want, but you have to choose it.” I wasn’t picky about food at this particular restaurant. I was full, but something sweet did sound good.
When the server came back to take our plates, Andy ordered a slice of chocolate cake. Of course, it was my favorite. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I chuckled to myself as I thought back to my dream the week before. Who would’ve thought that a piece of moldy, chocolate cake would bring me to the place I’m at in my life? Guess that’s just one more thing that happened for a reason…
After dessert, the server dropped off our check at the edge of the table. I dug in my purse for my wallet, but Andy reached out and picked up the check before I could see how much my part of the bill was.
“Keep your money,” he said, shaking his head. “Please, I’m buying.”
I wanted to pay my part, so it didn’t feel like a date, but I thanked him instead.
When we arrived back at my apartment, we went our separate ways in the parking lot. While I was fumbling with my keys at my downstairs lobby door, he jogged up to me.
“Hey, Zoey, what are your plans for tomorrow? I don’t know where any stores are around here yet, and I need to do some shopping. If you don’t have any plans, would you care to help me out, once again?”
“You happen to be in luck. I’m free all day tomorrow and have some Christmas shopping I need to do.”
“Great, do you want to leave around nine?”
“Sure,” I said and stepped through my now open lobby door.
“Goodnight, Zoey.”
I smiled at him. “See you tomorrow at nine.” I shut the door and leaned against it. Oh, boy I am in trouble.
When I made it upstairs and into my apartment, the intercom buzzed from the porch downstairs. I pushed the button and said hello.
“Hi, again. It’s me.” I instantly recognized his sexy accent. “I forgot to get my things from your laundry room,” he said laughing.
“Oh yeah, you’ll probably need those tonight. Come on up.” I buzzed him in and left my door propped open. I walked down to the laundry room and checked the bedding in the dryer. The sheets were in a heap of wrinkles from sitting for too long, so I turned the dryer back on to try and get them out. I put the towels that Andy had folded in an extra laundry basket, so he could carry them home easily.
Right as I finished loading the towels in the basket, Andy stepped into the laundry room. “They’re all wrinkled, so I turned them back on for a while. Want a beer while we wait?”
“Sure, that sounds good,” he replied, and I brushed past him and back down the hall to the kitchen.
He leaned against the kitchen counter, while I dug two beers out of the fridge and opened them. I handed him one, and he followed me to the couch. I picked up my remote off the coffee table and pressed play to start my iPod.
We sat on the couch, drank our beers, and talked about music until the buzzer on the dryer went off.
“I’d better get home. I’m sure you want me out of your hair,” he joked as we collected the basket from the laundry room.
Um no, not really.
“Again, I can’t thank you enough for everything you and your family have done for me. I’ll see you tomorrow at nine. Sweet dreams.”
Then he was gone.
At seven the next morning, I woke to music blaring from my alarm clock. I had set it early, so I would definitely be ready when Andy picked me up at nine. I showered, dried, and then put on my favorite matching Victoria’s Secret panties and bra. Not that anyone besides me was going to see them, of course, but they made me feel pretty and a little more confident.
After blow-drying my long, golden hair, I used my flat iron and straightened my natural waves. Lately, I hadn’t been wearing much makeup, but decided to pay extra attention to my eyes. I curled my eyelashes just right and added an extra coat of mascara to make my big, baby blues stand out a bit. I even added a little bit of blush to my cheekbones for some color, since it was, after all, almost winter, and my nice California tan was fading. My trip to Cabo would take care of that.
I finished my makeup with some pink lip-gloss, and then went to my bedroom to pick out something to wear. I decided on a nice pair of jeans, my favorite brown boots again, a red, V-neck wrap around shirt, and my brown leather jacket. By the time I was ready, it w
as almost nine, so I went into the kitchen to wait for Andy.
Killing time, I checked my answering machine and found no new messages, but I did see several missed calls on my caller ID. I scrolled through the phone numbers, and every single call was from Rob. Ugh, what in the hell does he want?
Rob hadn’t called me in months, which meant he was either calling to beg me to come back to him, or to be a total dick and completely insult me. Since he didn’t get through to me, or leave a message, God only knew what he wanted this time. Since he’d already taken my prized possession from me six months ago, I figured he must want to try to win me back.
Great, just what I needed.
My intercom buzzed, so I picked up my purse and keys and skipped down the stairs to meet Andy.
“Good morning! How was your first night in the apartment?” I asked the moment I saw him. I was trying to be extra cheerful so he wouldn’t see my irritation.
That irritation being Rob’s calls.
“Wow, Zoey, you look amazing.” He gave me a once over from head to toe with his gorgeous blue eyes. He shook his head as if he was trying to remember what I’d asked him. “Uh, I slept really well,” he finally said. “Thank you. The apartment is very comfortable.”
I seemed to have flustered him, so I gave myself a little victory cheer on the inside. Ha! Take that, sexy man! You flustered me enough yesterday, so I think I owe you a few.
“Good, I’m happy to hear it,” I told him, deciding to play nice as we walked to the parking lot.
“After you,” he said as he motioned with his left hand toward his awaiting truck. It was a nice, newer black Crew Cab Chevy.
“Nice truck,” I said as he opened my door for me. “Is it the Duramax?” I asked, referring to the engine. Yep, with my dad and brothers all being mechanics, I was a little bit of a gearhead.
“Thanks,” he replied with a smile. “It is a Duramax. I know it’s a little big for living in the city, but I need it to tow my car trailer when I race.”
My curiosity, again, got the better of me. “You drag race?”
He nodded. “I built a ‘69 Camaro a few years ago. I used to race it in Sonoma, and I’ll probably start racing here in Sacramento, too. Will you come and watch?”
“Sure,” I answered reluctantly. “I’m sure the whole family will want to watch, too. Let us know when you plan on going. You’ll see my brothers out there, anyway. They’re always helping out with the cars they build.”
“So, what’s on our agenda for the day?” I questioned. I stole a look over at him as we pulled out onto the street.
“I have nothing for the kitchen, so we should start there, I think,” he replied. “I’ll need pots, pans, silverware…everything. Oh, and food too, since I’m gonna need to eat.”
“Priorities!” I joked as I thought back to our goofing around before we left for dinner the previous night.
“I’ll need to go to a Target store or something, too.”
“I think it can be arranged,” I stated.
“Oh, good,” he said as he scanned over a small strip of stores as we passed. “There’s a Laundromat right there, not too far from home. That’s good to know for laundry day.”
“Hell no!” I shuddered at the thought of him stepping foot inside that place. “I went there a while back to see if they had the big washers to wash one of our car covers for the shop. That place is nasty. You don’t want to go there. You can use my laundry room instead.”
He frowned when he looked over at me. “Zoey, you’ve done way too much for me already.”
“No arguing with me about this. Trust me.” I laughed to help lighten up his mood. “If it makes you feel better, you can buy your own laundry soap and dryer sheets. But if you insist on going to the Laundromat, you might want to make sure all your shots are up to date.”
He let go of the steering wheel, raised his hands in mock surrender, and grinned. “Okay, bossy. You don’t leave me much choice.”
“Can you turn in here, please?” I begged, pointing to the Dutch Bros. drive-thru. “I need caffeine. I didn’t sleep well.”
He flipped on his turn signal, turned in, and pulled forward to the drive-thru window. “What should I get?” he asked while looking over the menu board. “I’ve never been here before.”
It was my favorite coffee place, so I pretty much ordered the same drink every time. “Do you like coconut and chocolate?” I asked as I dug through my purse for my wallet.
He smirked. “Yeah, who doesn’t?”
I glanced over at him, and he had a big, sexy grin on his face. That’s when I realized he was totally screwing with me. I shook my head and laughed. Oh, he’s a smartass, too. A sexy smartass though.
Since I liked my coffee extra sweet, I unhooked my seatbelt and slid across the seat to place our order, which put me right next to him. Dang, he smells good. I stretched across his lap to get closer to the window and ordered two large Cocomo’s with an extra shot of coconut in each.
While I was leaning across his lap, I felt his hand rest on my lower back. It sent chills up my spine and heat to other places I shouldn’t mention. I didn’t want to move back to my seat, but knew I couldn’t stay sprawled across his lap, no matter how badly I wanted to.
At the window, the barista told me the total price for our coffees while blatantly ogling Andy. I handed her the money. Wow, I was the one who ordered and paid, and she never took her eyes off him. I was practically sitting on his lap, and I was completely invisible to her.
“You smell good,” he whispered as we waited for the coffee.
“Um, thanks,” I replied nervously. I was too close to him. Holy crap, he thinks I smell good, and his hand is still on my back. Hurry up, coffee!
When our order was ready, the barista handed us our coffees and my change. “Come back soon,” she chimed as she batted her eyelashes and offered Andy her most flirtatious smile.
I giggled. “I think she likes you.”
He shook his head and smiled before he took a sip of his coffee. “Thank you for the coffee, Zoey. I like it.”
With my coffee in hand, I slid back to my seat. He laughed and pulled his truck back out onto the road.
Was this man completely oblivious to the effect he had on women? I sure as hell hoped he was oblivious to the effect he was having on me.
We headed to a kitchen store and proceeded to fill a shopping cart to near overflowing with pots, pans, dishes, silverware, and everything else he would need for a functioning kitchen.
“So, why’d your aunt and uncle pick Sonoma to move to?” I asked while we wandered around the store.
“My uncle took a job at a winery there, actually. We’re originally from the Auckland area, and my dad and uncle ran one of the big vineyards there for years. After the accident, my aunt and uncle thought it would be better for me to start over somewhere new. They wanted to move where they could work in a winery. It’s a family thing, and what better place than the California wine country, right?”
I nodded, understanding. “That’s a long way to go for a job, though.”
He winked at me. “Yeah, it was, but I think it worked out okay.”
We decided to go to Target next, where I loaded a cart with toys for my nephews’ Christmas presents. We filled yet another shopping cart of all the essentials for Andy’s place, which included a new bottle of laundry soap and dryer sheets, at his insistence.
“Don’t want you to think I forgot about these,” he said and put them in his cart.
We pushed our carts in the direction of the checkout registers. I stopped at the end of an aisle because I saw a book I wanted to look at because Jess insisted it was a necessary read. I didn’t know what it was about because I was out of the loop for newer books.
After reading the summary, I wanted to look at the second book of the series that was sitting on the shelf next to it. As I reached for it, I glanced down the aisle and noticed Rob standing in front of the magazines. He was flipping through a car magazine.
“Oh crap.”
“What’s wrong, Zoey?” Andy asked with a concerned look on his face.
“Over there, in front of the magazines.” I nodded toward Rob. “That’s Rob, my ex. He called me several times last night while we were at dinner, but never left a message. His number showed on my caller ID. I don’t want him to see me.”
“I think he’s going to see you. He’s coming this way.”
“Shit!” I grumbled. I did not want a confrontation in public, especially in front of Andy.
Andy took the book from my hands, and then his arms wrapped around me from behind. He tilted his head down a bit and whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry. I got this. Just follow my lead, alright?”
He slipped his warm hands inside my jacket across my stomach. I was too surprised at having his hands all over me to tell him no, so I nodded and went along with it. Plus, it felt nice, so…
Rob came around the corner of the aisle a split second later and found Andy draped around me.
Ignoring Rob, Andy kissed the top of my head, then pulled my hair back and nipped my earlobe with his teeth. Oh hell, that was hot! I swear on all that is holy, my knees trembled.
Freaking trembled!
“Zoey,” Rob called out loudly. “Aww, look at you. Did you finally get over me? Sure took you long enough.”
My mouth dropped slightly open in disgust as I glared at him. I was not going to take his shit in front of Andy and needed to stand up for myself.
“Really, Rob? Did you forget I was the one who filed for divorce? Not the other way around.”
Rob shook his head and scoffed. “If that’s what you want to think, babe,” he retorted as he stepped closer to us. “I was long gone before that ever happened officially.”
I wondered if he was trying to be intimidating by coming closer to us. It didn’t seem to be working on Andy, if that’s what Rob was trying to do.
“Hey, mate, you need to walk away,” Andy stated calmly. He stepped beside me with his arm protectively around my shoulders. “Zoey has moved on with her life, so maybe you should too.”