Usually.
The one exception being when your well-meaning, but overzealous aunt drops by unexpectedly and interrupts your sleep.
“Aunt Mae. What are you doing here?”
She frowned and pushed her way inside. “That’s no way to greet your elders, young lady. What are you doing still asleep, it’s almost six in the evening.”
I sighed and gave her a very abbreviated version of events. “Nash asked me to watch Norah for a few hours and I fell asleep on his sofa until early this morning. When I came home I wrote for a few hours and then went to sleep. Two hours ago.” I emphasized that last part hoping Mae would get the hint and offer to leave. Hope was such a cruel bitch.
“Oh, well at least your words came back to you. That’s fantastic!” She walked away, heading towards the kitchen with full hands. “Come on, girl, I’ve got a new batch of moonshine for us to test out.”
I groaned, because the last time I tested moonshine with Aunt Mae, I lost two days. “Did you come here to get drunk with me?”
“No, I came to cleanse your home of negativity, and set you up for great success. I know you just humor me and I love you for it, but it helps. You’ll see.”
I didn’t humor Aunt Mae, I just didn’t judge her. I didn’t know if she had any real voodoo magic, but I knew that she was absolutely incredible to me. Inside the kitchen I wrapped my arms around her, ignoring the tie-dye eyesore of a caftan. “I think the magic is all you, Aunt Mae.”
“Oh, honey. You are just…” She looked away and fanned the tears forming in her eyes. “I love you, Viviana.”
“And I you, Aunt Mae. You are the best mom a girl could ask for.” I went to change my clothes and freshen up while Mae scared away all the negativity in my new home. I wasn’t sure if I believed in magic, but I would take any help I could get. Since Aunt Mae had brought her moonshine, I grabbed a pair of lightweight shorts and a loose racer back tank top, perfect for grilling and relaxing with my family.
“We’re all set, Vivi. This place has good energy now.” She hugged me, so excited I couldn’t help but let some of it rub off on me.
“Come on, crazy lady, I need to get some food on the grill before you end up drunk and naked, howling at the moon.” We both laughed as the bell rang. I frowned, wondering who it could be since I hadn’t made any real effort to reconnect with anyone in town yet. I pulled the door open and frowned at two sets of matching blue eyes.
“Hey guys, what’s up?”
Nash wore a sheepish smile. “Mae stopped by and told us to come over after six.”
“I couldn’t wait!” Norah bounced up and down and darted inside.
“She couldn’t wait,” he repeated with another sheepish grin. I stepped back so he could step inside, but he bent to pick up a wooden crate. “I brought you some beer. Zeke says this stuff is really good.”
“You’ll have to have a couple, or I might become Hemingway without the words.”
He barked out a laugh. “I never say no to beer with a pretty girl. Especially, when food is involved.”
I smiled up at him. “Hey, Mae, Nash has volunteered to man the grill.”
“Oh, goody! She bought a bunch of chicken and shrimp and it’s too much. I don’t know what you were thinking, Vivi.”
Nash smirked at her words and I said nothing. I didn’t even ask the universe how in the hell she knew the contents of my latest shopping trip, I just pulled it from the fridge and seasoned it before handing it off to Nash.
“Here’s your meat.”
He snickered. “You said it like that on purpose.”
I absolutely did. “Is it my fault your life is filled with things that could be dirty like wood and meat? Very phallic too. Interesting.” He growled and I ignored the way my nipples tingled, the slickness gathering at the top of my thighs.
“Maybe there’s something about me that makes your mind automatically go to sex.”
I laughed. “You definitely have that romance book hero vibe going on, but the truth is my life is pretty much sex and cocks, tits and pussies too. Of course, I have to be creative with what you call them otherwise it gets stale, but you get what I’m saying.” I was rambling and I knew it, I always did when I got nervous. But watching Norah talk animatedly with Mae helped ease my anxiety. “What?”
“You just…never mind. Never mind.”
I shrugged because as much as I wanted to know what he was going to say, I didn’t, because I wouldn’t be able to unhear it. “Okay.”
“Hey you two, get over here.” Mae waved us both over as Norah took a seat under the gazebo. “Norah’s going to work on her play while we have our first prosperity ritual rehearsal.”
“Right now, Mae? After you’ve given me three glasses of moonshine?”
She waved away my concerns. “You needed to loosen up.”
Nash and I spent the next thirty minutes letting Mae put us in different positions with long-winded explanations I was destined to forget. “Mae, how long is this ritual?”
She grinned. “It’s thirty minutes long and I need you guys to always be touching.” She put my hand in Nash’s. “Like this, but if that’s difficult then find a way to stay connected. Always connected.” She walked us through the entire ritual, most of which was incoherent to me. “And then we’ll finish here right in front of me. Nash will wrap his arms around you and tilt you back Vivi, while you look up at him with love shining in your eyes. This will all end with a kiss, but we can skip that part now because I want you to focus on staring at each other. Now.” With a clap of her hands, Aunt Mae ordered me to stare deeply into Nash’s eyes, so blue they looked as bottomless as the sea.
I noticed the moment his pupils dilated, darkened to a midnight blue that I was powerless to turn away from. “You have flecks of gold and silver in your eyes.” That breathy voice that sounded exhausted from too much sex, was mine. Yep.
Judging by Nash’s smirk, he’d heard it too. “Thanks?”
“It’s pretty,” I assured him and yeah, I got more pleasure than I should’ve out of his put off expression.
“Pretty? Seriously?”
“That’s perfect! Remember this moment, oh damn, stay just like that!” Mae rushed to her phone and snapped a few photos while Nash and I shared a laugh. “With the kiss, this will be perfect.”
Oh shit, the kiss. I couldn’t kiss Nash. No way in hell could that happen because then I’d want more and I might beg for more, like for him to drive deep and make me come. Hard, fast and out of control.
“We done, Aunt Mae?”
“What? Oh, yes. Would you look at the time! I have another engagement so I’ll be seeing you both real soon. Good luck with your masterpiece, Norah!”
“Thank you, Aunt Mae! Good look with your…thing.”
And with nothing more than a coy smile and a wave, Mae escaped into the house and left before we’d even gotten the food off the grill.
Nash
Vivi looked so deep in thought, so engrossed in what she was doing that I hated to disturb her, but I’d taken a lot of shit in town for this sugary caramel macchiato that I had insisted was for her. I didn’t want to be a liar. That was my story and I was sticking to it.
“Knock, knock.”
Her head popped up, a tangle of curls stacked on top and glasses on her face. “Come in.” She waved me over and turned back to her laptop, typing quickly and then saving the document, I assumed anyway. “Good morning.”
“Is it, but you look kind of…,” I didn’t want to be rude, but she didn’t look like she’d slept at all.
“Ragged? Haggard?” She laughed and ran a hand through her hair, unearthing two pencils. “Why the hell do I even have pencils? I’m totally digital. Paperless.”
I shrugged, but I didn’t think she really wanted an answer. “You just look like you’ve been up all night.”
“I have,” she admitted on a sigh. “I was writing. A lot.” The smile she wore said it was a good thing, but I wasn’t sure if I should ask.
Then I remembered we were friends. “Were you worried about it?”
She nodded and gifted me with a smile when her effort to remove the elastic band from her hair was successful. “I was. I’ve been working on this book for a long time and I was worried maybe I didn’t have another one in me.”
“I’m glad you do. Even if I still don’t know your pen name.” I would find out, as soon as I had the time to play online sleuth.
“In due time, grasshopper. What brings you by and with a bribe no less?”
I slid the coffee across the table and took a seat. “Can’t two friends enjoy a cup of coffee?”
She gave me a long look, studying me carefully to see if I was full of shit or not, before she leaned back and nodded.
“Sure. What are you working on?”
“Today? Nothing. I just finished a table large enough for twenty, along with twenty chairs. Some of my best work,” I told her, honestly.
“Do you feel lost when you finish a piece? I always feel a little nervous, and like a piece of me is out there when I publish a book.” Her words were so honest and spoken so freely that I envied her ability to be so open to a virtual stranger. “Is that weird?”
“Not at all. I guess maybe that’s what this funk is. I just thought I felt restless because I’m between jobs again.”
“Come on, Nash. That table was easily twenty grand, you’re not worried about work. You create these amazing things with your hands out of things provided in nature, that’s as personal as it gets. I’m not saying cry about it, but acknowledge it. It’s okay, I promise not to have your man card revoked.”
She made some good points, but I wasn’t much of a sharing my feelings type of guy. “My man card could never be revoked.”
She snickered. “If you say so, tough guy. Thanks for the coffee, but for future reference, dark roasted and black is how I take it.” Still, she ripped the lid off and took several big gulps. “That stuff is crack!”
Another laugh bubbled up out of me. “You are a strange cupcake, Vivi.”
She froze and then smiled and I ignored the tingling behind my zipper. “Thanks, Nash. So, do you have, like an agent or manager, or someone who gets you those big commissions?”
I didn’t know what she was getting at so I nodded. Slowly. “I do.”
“I’d like to place an order. For a headboard.” Her expression was unreadable, but I didn’t think she was joking. “How much, at least an estimate?”
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah. I mean I don’t know much about art, but I like what I’ve seen of your work, and this way I’ll use it every day which allows me to justify the cost to myself.”
She really was a strange woman, but in the best way possible. “If you’re serious, I’ll do a sit down with you and ask you a few questions.”
“Sure. Want to do it now?” She was eager and adorable with her wide smile. “No, of course, you don’t. Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing, Vivi. Want to come to my workshop?”
She laughed. “Is that like showing me your etchings?” Her laughter grew uncontrollable and I continued to stare at her like she was out of her mind. Because there was a good chance she was.
“Not quite, but maybe I’ll let you see my carvings.”
“Ooh, even better. Okay, let’s go!” She stood, looked down and shrieked. “First, I’ll go put some pants on and then we can go.”
“Don’t go putting pants on to please me,” I told her honestly, but even I could hear the laugh in my voice.
“Oh, hush up, Nash Boudreaux. I like writing outside in the fresh open air.” She turned away giving me a long glimpse at a barely covered ass thanks to black lace shorty things that showed off half her ass cheeks.
“Looks like some of your underwear’s missing, Vivi.”
“Some lucky guy took a bite out of me,” she said over her shoulder as she climbed the steps. I let my gaze roam over her behind. Just because she was my friend didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the view. And I did, soaking up every last second until she disappeared.
I figured I had a few minutes before Vivi returned so I reached for her coffee, determined to see what the fuss was all about. It was sweet as hell, but also strong. “That’s damn good.”
“Oh, that’s the perfect blackmail photo. Better be nice to me or else,” she sang playfully before shoving the phone in the back of her denim shorts. “Let’s go treat me like a real customer.”
“You are a real customer, Vivi.”
“Right, but you know what I mean. I’m also a friend, not that I expect you won’t do a good job otherwise, it’s just…I’ll shut up now.”
I laughed. “Don’t on my account. This is highly entertaining.” Her word-vomit was charming and the fact that it embarrassed her only made me like it more.
She tried to look stern and annoyed but failed, epically. “Jerk.”
“Want to try that again with more conviction?”
“Nah.” She smiled. “I’m just going to tell you every idea I ever had about my headboard and let you sift through them all to figure out which one I really want.”
That sounded like pure hell. “Or you could be reasonable, and remember that we’re friends.”
“True, I could. But what would be the fun in that?”
“Careful, Vivi, or you’ll end up with obscene things hidden in your headboard.”
She gasped and then laughed. “Seriously? Because that would be pretty great. Like The Garden of Earthly Delights! Oh that would be so cool!” And already she’d taken my punishment and turned it into what sounded like a pretty great work of art. “Is that insane?”
“Not at all. It sounds doable, but we should still talk,” I told her and opened my workshop door.
“I trust you. I just want it tall and intricate and beautiful, but if Billie needs you to make him a new guitar or something, definitely do that first.” She pointed a finger at me and then realized where we were and suddenly I no longer had her attention. She was looking at the finished and half finished pieces all around. “This is all yours?” She ran a finger along every newly sanded piece, reverently. “It’s so beautiful, Nash.”
“Thank you.” It was nice to hear that people appreciated my work, but the awe and reverence in her voice made me feel like a fucking rock star. “That means a lot.”
“You should probably come to my bedroom too, right? To take measurements and stuff.”
“Right. But first we need to figure out what wood you want used; style and all those details.” She nodded and sat down much too close to me while she answered my questions, giving as much detail as she could while deferring to me on certain things.
“I like the details on your bookshelf, that slightly gothic feel, if that helps.”
“It does.” I couldn’t help but smile. Vivi was so much like I remembered, but also so very different, it was hard to remember we’d been friends once. That I’d been an idiot and rejected her.
“Okay, then. I can’t wait!” She looped her arm through mine. “Come on, let me buy you lunch. Or even better.” She turned and began walking backwards. “I can whip up some sandwiches and my homemade potato chips and we can day drink.”
“You know, Vivi, I think we’re going to be the best of friends.” Even though I was mostly joking, I had a feeling it just might be true.
Viviana
“Oh my goodness, Viviana Stark, is that you?” I heard the voice and it sounded vaguely familiar, but I hadn’t heard it in at least a decade. Maybe more.
I turned and saw Maddie Trenton, one of my closest friends in high school, unearthing herself from a stack of clothes inside High St. Fashions.
“Maddie Trenton, you haven’t aged a day.” Seriously, other than a few extra curves, you’d think we tossed the old cardboard hats just a couple years ago, and not more than ten years ago. Her thick blond hair was shorter now, stopping at her shoulders, and her brown eyes sparkled prettily when she smiled.
“Oh
please, I’m a train-wreck and we both know it. I heard you were back in town.”
“I am. Chicago was not what I thought it would be, so I came back here. What about you?”
“You’re standing inside the second love of my life,” she said proudly, gesturing to the store and all its contents. “The first is running around here somewhere, and he’ll probably put something you don’t want in your basket.” We both spotted the blond curls bobbing from side to side between stacks of dresses. “That’s Max.”
“Wow, he’s adorable. You’re married?”
“Ha!” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Nope, I’m a cliché. Got pregnant junior year by my boyfriend and he told me to get rid of it, so I got rid of him instead.” She sounded breezy about it, but I imagined it was hard at first.
“His loss. This place is great, and I just need something…new.” That’s why I’d gotten out of the house today, because I needed to go into town and be surrounded by people. Make some other change in my life other than geography.
“Well, I’m not sure about your sense of style, but I do have a few things that would look good on you.” She whirled off and picked up a few pieces of fabric and then a few more. “Your color is so great. The perfect kind of pale for jewel toned colors.”
I rolled my eyes, because she’d always been the fashionista, looking more on trend than anyone in Belle Musique. And she was currently piling her arms high with pretty dresses and other frilly things I would never need. Probably. Although if I ever wanted to get laid this century then I probably needed some date night outfits.
“Okay, Maddie, let’s not go crazy.”
“Sorry! I have a tendency to go a little crazy with clothes.” She pulled me towards the back and gave me half the stack. “Start with the dresses and work your way back. The blue one will be extra fantastic on you!”
When Maddie left me in the fitting room I took a deep breath and looked at my reflection in the mirror. With each day that passed it felt good to be home, and reconnecting with an old friend like Maddie made it more enjoyable. “It’s so good to see you, Maddie,” I told her when I stepped out of the fitting room in the blue dress. She was right, it was pretty great on me.
Accidentally On Purpose: An Accidental Marriage Boxset Page 4