“I’m sure they’re delicious,” I assured her.
Edith smiled. “It smells glorious in here. What did you two make?”
“Lasagna,” Lily said.
“My favorite,” Edith said.
I grabbed some plates and set them beside the stove, upon which the lasagna was cooling. “It’s basically ready, though it wouldn’t hurt it to sit a bit. Lily, can you go wash your hands? I’ll pour you something to drink. What would you like? Water?”
“Chocolate milk,” she said, taking off down the hall to the bathroom. I heard the tap turn on.
“Of course,” I said, tugging open the fridge and pouring her a small glass. My child was a chocolate-milk addict. “Would you like something, Edi? Water, sparkling water, juice? I think I have a bottle of white wine in the fridge, too.”
“I wouldn’t mind a glass of wine.”
“Perfect. That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
“I’ll get it,” Edith offered.
She and I had spent many a night in this little house together, especially after my ex left and it was just me and Lily when she was little. Edith had stepped in and acted like a second parent without my asking.
I recalled a night when Lily was sick, and so was I. All I’d had strength to do after she fell asleep was sit on the bathroom floor and cry.
Edith came over with a “get well soon” basket full of an assortment of teas, cookies, cold medicine, ice cream, and veggies. She made a big batch of soup in my crock pot while I slept the afternoon away, and she cleaned and sanitized the house.
After Lily and I had gotten up, we ate our soup, and Edith washed our bed sheets and vacuumed—something she hadn’t done already because she didn’t want the sound to wake us.
I’d recovered within the next twenty-four hours and was eternally grateful to my friend for knowing the exact cure for my misery.
Edith had my back no matter what, and I had hers. My home was her home and vice versa. There wasn’t a single person on this planet I would rather have as Lily’s aunt than Edith.
I cut and plated the lasagna. Edith put our wine glasses and Lily’s chocolate milk at our places at the table in front of the patio doors, which opened up onto a small but decent back porch. I brought our plates over, and Lily came down the hall to take her seat.
She took a big sip of chocolate milk and earned herself a chocolaty moustache, which neither Edith or I bothered to tell her about because upon the second sip, she did it again and would continue to do so throughout the entire meal.
I cut up her lasagna so she didn’t burn herself and slid her plate back to her. Lily dug in, and Edith and I followed suit after scooping salad onto our plates.
Edith closed her eyes and swallowed her first bite. “Senna, this is unreal. You have to give me the recipe.”
“I found it online. I’ll send you the link. What do you think, Lily? Should we add it to the list of dinners we like?”
Lily nodded eagerly with a mouth full of food. “Yesh pwease, Momma.”
I snickered. “So, did the two of you have a good night last night?”
Edith nodded. “Sure did. Didn’t we, Lily?”
“Yep. We made a house out of popsicle sticks and—”
“Shh,” Edith said, holding a finger vertically in front of her lips.
I looked back and forth between them. “What?”
Lily crammed a bite of lasagna into her mouth and stared at her plate, so I turned my gaze to Edith, who had a devious smirk playing on her lips. “Nothing. We made crafts. And maybe something for you. But you don’t get to see it until it’s done. Isn’t that right, Lily?”
Lily nodded but didn’t say anything. She still had a mouth full of food, and her cheeks were swollen like a chipmunk.
I put a hand on hers. “Maybe slow down a bit there, bunny. Smaller bites and chew them up in between. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said after finally managing to swallow.
Edith nudged my shin under the table with her toe. “What about you, huh? How was your Saturday night?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Lily interjected with enthusiasm. “Suit helped her do inventory.”
“Oh,” Edith said, both of her eyebrows creeping up toward her hairline. Her eyes flicked to me. “We’re still calling him Suit, are we?”
“Not to his face,” I said.
Edith sipped her wine. “Poor fellow.”
“Poor fellow nothing,” I said.
Edith’s eyebrows crept up even higher. Then she mouthed the word “really” and widened her eyes.
I fought the burn in my cheeks. I could give her the details later after Lily went to bed.
“Suit is Momma’s boyfriend now.”
“Lily!” I nearly choked on a bite of lasagna. I coughed and sputtered and beat my chest with my fist before stealing three gulps of my daughter’s chocolate milk.
“Hey,” she said, looking at her now half-full glass.
“I’ll pour you more, bunny. But for the record, Zach and I are not together. We’re just friends. Not even. We’re—associates.”
“Associates?” Lily asked.
I got up and went to the fridge to top off her glass. “Yes. Connected through work and nothing more.”
“Nothing?” Edith asked, cocking her head to the side as I came back to the table and set Lily’s glass down in front of her. She took a few sips and smacked her lips.
I glared daggers at Edith as I sat back down and picked up my utensils. “You heard me.”
“Oh, I heard you all right. But words are a lot different than actions.”
“We can talk about this later,” I said.
“Talk about what later?” Lily asked.
“Grownup stuff,” I said.
“About her association with Suit,” Edith added.
Lily nodded. “About how she likes him but won’t admit it?”
I stared at Lily. So did Edith. My little girl just carried on eating her food like she hadn’t just betrayed her own mother and made a statement that was far too wise for her mere six years.
I was doomed when she hit high school, or maybe junior high. Totally, absolutely, and unequivocally doomed.
Edith cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter. I reached for my wine and took a sip that was far too big to be considered ladylike. I set my glass back down and carried on eating, unwilling to say anything to follow up on Lily’s almost clairvoyant assumption.
Edith broke the silence first. “So, did he try to get you to sign anything or consider selling the store?”
“No,” I said. “He didn’t mention it once. He just brought some food and helped out a little.”
“Hmm, interesting,” Edith said.
We finished eating, and after the meal was done, the three of us cleared the table. I washed the salad bowl while Edith packed up the lasagna and put the kettle on to make tea. Then she and Lily cut up the brownies into perfectly equal squares to appease Edith’s mild OCD.
When the tea was steeped and ready, we all sat curled up in the living room with our mugs and our brownies and talked about all things aside from Zach. Thank God.
The time ticked by, and soon, it was eight o’clock and time for Lily to go to bed. Edith poured the two of us a last glass of wine while Lily and I went through her nightly routine of having a bath, putting her jammies on, brushing her teeth, and braiding her hair. By the time her head hit the pillow, she was already drifting off to sleep, and I sat on the edge of her bed rubbing her back for a few minutes before she dozed off.
I left her bedroom door open a crack, just how she liked, and joined Edith back in the living room.
She watched me with a coy smile. “You may not want to hear it, but last night sure sounds like it was a date to me.”
I picked up my wine glass. “You can call it whatever you want, but it wasn’t a date.”
Edith crossed her legs under herself and leaned in close. “Well, from where I’m standing, it sounds like it
was a date. And I’d bet he feels the same way.”
I sighed. “I never should have—”
“Should have what?”
“Hooked up with him,” I admitted.
Edith managed to play it cool. I was impressed. “Well, it’s been a long time,” she said. “And sometimes, a girl just has to get some, right? And if I were you, I would have definitely wanted to get some from Zach. I mean, damn. That man has all the—”
“Edith, you’re gushing.”
“Sorry.”
We both sipped our wine, and Edith watched me out of the corner of her eye. “Maybe there’s more to Zach than just a suit trying to bulldoze businesses. Maybe he’s the real deal.”
Maybe.
I lifted my chin. “I can’t let my guard down. This is his perfect time to strike.”
Edith fought the smile that threatened to stretch her lips. “Honey, it looks to me like he already did.”
Chapter 23
Zach
Bob managed to eat three whole donuts on the drive from the hotel to Lily Living. A small part of me wanted to steal one from the box of six he had sitting in the passenger seat. Another part screamed it was a bad idea. The last thing I needed was to get cream or jelly filling on my suit.
We arrived at Senna’s shop shortly before noon. The sun had nearly made its way over the top of the mall and was shining on the roof of the boutique. Within the next half hour, it would be streaming in through the front windows to light up the store.
I got out of the car with a nod to Bob, who reached for yet another donut.
Crossing the street, I opened the front door to the shop to the sound of the little bell chiming overhead. The door closed behind me, and I came to a stop when an unfamiliar sight met my eyes.
There was a customer in the store.
That was something new. In all the times I’d popped in, there had never been a customer in sight.
Senna was helping a middle-aged woman at the sales counter. She must have just finished processing the sale because Senna was neatly folding several items and placing them in a bag.
The customer seemed to be wearing some of Senna’s clothing as well. She had on a flowing cream dress with a gold belt around the waist that matched the jewelry flashing on her wrists and neck. Her hair was an artificial shade of red that matched her lips, and her skin had that warm color to it that people only gained from spending hours in a tanning bed.
“I was so happy to find that you were still here, dear,” the customer said. “When I turned down the street and saw all the empty shops, my heart almost stopped.”
Senna shot me a cocky look before saying, “It’s the good people like you who are keeping me in business, Mrs. Morgenstern. I really appreciate your loyalty. You have no idea how much it means to me.”
Mrs. Morgenstern’s bracelets jingled as she took her bag from Senna. “I wouldn’t dream of shopping elsewhere. Your clothes are just my style. And I like what you stand for. You give them heck when they come knocking on your door, sweetie. I know you’ve got fight in you.”
Senna planted a hand on her hip and grinned. “Oh, I sure do. And I have no plans of leaving. None at all.” She stared at me when she said those last words.
I chuckled but didn’t respond.
Mrs. Morgenstern turned and looked me up and down. Her eyes narrowed, and she made an unimpressed sound in the back of her throat as she skirted around me to the door. She paused. “Have a good day.”
“You too,” Senna called after her.
And then we were left in privacy.
I nodded after Mrs. Morgenstern. “You have a fan.”
“I have many of them. Good people want to shop at places like this.”
“They also want to shop at other places with more options. But hey, there’s something for everyone, right?”
She scowled at me, but the stern expression was soon overcome with a grin, and she dropped her head as her cheeks turned pink.
Damn, she was cute.
The fact that we’d had sex and I knew in acute detail what was beneath her clothes wasn’t helping things. Thoughts of our steamy night together on Saturday had been rolling around in my brain since I’d left her house. I couldn’t find any damn peace from it all. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her naked and beneath me, lips parted in a breathless sigh as I—
“What are you doing here?” Senna asked.
“I wanted to run something by you.”
“If it’s anything to do with selling, the answer is no.”
“It’s not business related,” I said, lifting my eyebrows to adjust my glasses a little farther down my nose.
She eyed me suspiciously. “Nothing ever seems to be business related with you. Which makes me wonder how you have all this money to throw around on expensive clothes and a private driver. Do you ever close any deals with this whole charming persona you wear like a second skin?”
I considered lying but decided against it. “I’ve closed every casefile my employer has assigned me.”
“Oh.”
“But that’s not what I’m here to talk to you about. I wanted to ask what you and Lily had planned for next week.”
“Which day next week?”
“All of it.”
Her suspicious look darkened. “I’ll be working. And Lily will be here. My caretaker is still away for a family emergency.”
“What would you say if I told you I wanted to take you and Lily somewhere?”
She frowned. “I’d say that’s weird. And vague. And it doesn’t matter because I can’t afford to take any time off work. Invite someone else.”
“I don’t want to invite someone else.”
“Look, if this has to do with the other night, I’m sorry. I never should have—this is so embarrassing. I never should have brought you into my house. I should have left it alone. I didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea. I was just…”
“Just what?”
She licked her lips. “Lonely I guess.”
Me too.
Senna ran her fingers through her short black hair. I moved forward to rest my elbows on the sales counter. She watched me cautiously, and I rubbed my chin. “I understand that you can’t just up and leave your business at the drop of a hat, simply because some guy invites you to go on vacation with him.”
“Vacation?”
“Yes, but surely, there is an agreement we can come to that protects you from any losses?”
“You’re talking nonsense,” she said.
I laughed. “No, I’m not. How much money do you expect to make over the week?”
She blinked at me. “You can’t just out and ask me that. That’s private business information.”
“Five grand?”
Her expression went from confusion to shock. “What?”
“Is that where you’d ballpark it? Around five grand? Ten? Am I close?”
She shook her head. “No, I mean, that’s what I was making back in the day, but now I’m lucky to clear fifteen hundred.”
“In a week?” I asked, unable to keep the sharp, incredulous tone out of my voice.
She hung her head and nodded.
Fifteen hundred dollars a week was a lot less than I’d been expecting—and I hadn’t been expecting much. That meant she pulled in about six thousand over the course of a month. From that, she had to take her overhead costs, rent, utilities, taxes, purchasing, and employee paychecks. That couldn’t leave much room for her other expenses, like groceries, gas, and mortgage payments.
How the hell was she keeping everything together?
I swallowed. “I’m sorry. That was rude.”
She didn’t say anything.
“I’ll double your weekly revenue if you and Lily go away with me next week. You deserve a vacation, Senna. I know you’ve been busting your ass for a long time with no reward. Hell, with the opposite of a reward.” I gestured out the window at the mall across the street. “This is the thanks you get after building your business
from the ground up. I’m sorry about that. Let me try to make things better for you. Just for a week. That’s all I’m asking.”
She lifted her face toward me. Her baby blue eyes flicked back and forth between mine, and I hoped she didn’t hear me inhale a sharp breath. Looking into her eyes was like looking into her soul, and what I saw there was warmth and peace. But I also saw fire, passion, and sensuality.
And strength.
“Where would we be going?” she asked. I detected a note of curiosity in her voice. That was a step in the right direction.
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”
She rolled her eyes.
I backtracked. “That was lame. I’m sorry. It’s a surprise. Come on. Live a little. Surprises are a good thing.”
“Not always.”
“This will be a good thing. Trust me. Take a break. Take Lily on a trip. You’ll make money. What reason do you have to say no?”
Senna studied me. Hard. Then her shoulders relaxed, and I knew I’d come out victorious. “All right,” she said.
I resisted the urge to throw my fist in the air in celebration. Instead, I straightened up and fixed my suit jacket. “Very good. Pack your bags. I’ll pick you up at your place tomorrow.”
“Don’t you think you should tell me where we’re going so that I can pack accordingly?”
I moved toward the door. “Pack for the same weather we’re having here, and you’ll be fine.”
“That’s not a hint at all.”
“You didn’t ask for a hint. You asked how you should pack. And I told you. Now I’m going to leave before you try to trick me into revealing any more information.” I put a hand on the door and pushed. Warm summer air filtered in. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Senna.”
She let me leave without throwing a snappy retort in my direction.
I hurried out to the car and got in the back seat. Bob had eaten his way through the remaining donuts in the box, and he looked back at me as I put my seatbelt on. “How’d it go, boss?”
“Good. Great, actually. She’s in.”
“Huh.”
“You didn’t think I’d persuade her, did you?”
Good Luck Charm: A Single Mother Romance Page 14