“I didn’t say my cash was hard-earned. I dig my job. It isn’t like every day’s a trip to Disneyland, but I love what I do.”
“You still earned that cash and gave it to her to be a decent guy, not for her to use you and blow money you could be using to buy more motorcycle boots with.”
He grinned down at her.
She grinned up at him.
And she asked, “So, we on?”
He stopped grinning and asked back, “Are you serious?”
She shrugged. “Why not?”
“Maybe I should take you out on a proper date before I take you to my brother’s house for dinner.”
“Why?”
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
But he said nothing.
Archie spoke. “In case you didn’t get it, I’m over my snit of you being a big baby about our tiff a few years ago.”
Uh…
Hang on a second.
“Me being a baby?” he asked.
“And we’ll need to work on your apparent addiction to the word ‘babe’—”
“Archie—”
“But I wanna know you too. I’ve been waiting a long time. So we’re doing this. And I’ll warn you, I’m not conventional.”
He was getting that.
“I’m not either,” he pointed out the obvious.
“So who cares if our first date is at your brother’s?”
“With his woman and my ex,” he reminded her.
“With his woman and your ex.”
It was then, Jagger got serious.
Very.
“Honey, that might be a lot and you gotta know you’re ready for it.”
“Jagger, I wouldn’t tell you I’m good to go if I wasn’t good to go. Something to know about me, I don’t bullshit. I don’t lie. I don’t play games. I don’t have time for any of that. I became a mom and a wife when I was fourteen. It sucked but I learned a lot. And that’s part of what I learned.”
There was a lot to unpack there, but now was not when they should get into it.
Now was for him to say, “We’ve waited a long time to be here, and I’d like our first date to be something special.”
The area around her mouth got soft, which brought his attention to it, and how gorgeous it was, and she used it to say, “So he can be sweet.”
He tore his focus from her mouth and said, “I’m a lot of things.”
Another light hit her eyes as she started, “If you don’t want me to go—”
He cut her off, fast. “I do.”
“I have a feeling, whatever happens, dinner at your brother’s might not be special, but it’ll be memorable.”
He couldn’t argue that.
“Come pick me up before. We can talk on the way. And we can talk on the way home. That’ll be our special,” she offered.
“Right, I’ll need your address,” he told her.
She pointed up.
He looked up.
Then he looked at her. “You live over your shop?”
She nodded. “I semi, kinda own the building.”
“What’s the ‘semi, kinda’ part of that?”
“My mom’s folks owned it. When they passed, they left it to us. So my brother owns half.”
He wasn’t loving the look on her face.
“I see this is a story,” he noted.
“Yeah,” she muttered.
“You gotta get back to work?”
She nodded.
He needed to let her get to it.
“I’m not leaving here without your number,” he stated.
“Phone trade.”
He dug his out, engaged it, handed it to her, and took hers.
He entered his info, then took his phone back.
He called her immediately and her phone rang.
She smirked at him. “So you’re a tester.”
“Never did before.”
“Right.” She was unconvinced.
“Only had one girl put in the wrong digits. Her loss,” Jagger shared.
“Right.” Still unconvinced.
“But you’re different and you know it, so quit fishing.”
She stopped smirking, held his gaze, and whispered, “Right.”
She knew what he was saying.
“I’m glad you could quit being a big baby and give us a shot,” he teased.
“Jagger?”
“Right here,” he noted.
“Be good or I’m not going to make our first date special by laying a really hot kiss on you when it’s over,” she warned.
Immediately, Jag held up three fingers.
Her gaze slid to his hand then to him.
“You ever a scout?” she asked.
“Hell no,” he answered, lowering his hand.
She did another head tip that wasn’t cute, it was just sexy, and drawled, “See, baby, I knew it. I like you more the more I get to know you.”
“You got a problem with scouts?”
“Not at all. But I’m not a joiner. And I always had the feeling you weren’t one either. And it’s good to know I was right.”
“I always had a feeling we had a lot in common, and not just what we know we got in common,” he replied.
“Is dinner gonna be caj?” she asked.
Annnnnnnd she could be a dork, calling “casual,” “caj.”
“Georgie knows how to turn herself out, but it’s at their place and neither of them are up themselves, so you do you and they’ll be cool.”
“Your ex, is she gonna be gunning for your attention?”
He shrugged but said, “Probably.”
“Hmm…”
Through all this, she had a semi-flirty look on her face.
And then suddenly, she didn’t have a flirty look on her face.
“Notwithstanding you cursing at and threatening children, I’m really glad you showed at my shop, Jagger.”
And with the expression on her face, the tone of her voice, he knew she really meant that.
“I am too, honey,” he replied.
And he really meant it too.
Chapter Four
The Sopranos
Jagger
Jag could have called it.
That “it” being that he got two competing responses to his text to Dutch and Georgie that he was bringing someone to dinner.
Georgie: Awesome! Can’t wait to meet her!
Dutch: no text. He phoned.
Jagger considered letting it go to voicemail but decided if there was going to be any awkward with Dutch about Archie, he wanted it out before Archie was in the mix.
So he picked up.
“Yo,” he greeted.
“C’mon, man, you cannot be that petty.”
Oh shit.
Dutch was not a big brother who was constantly riding your ass.
But that didn’t mean Dutch hadn’t ridden Jagger’s ass.
Even rare, Jagger fucking hated it.
“Wanna say that again?” Jag invited.
“Listen, Carolyn isn’t my favorite person either, but she’s trying and we both know it isn’t cool you bring some rando chick in order to—”
Okay, there we go.
That was precisely why he hated it when Dutch started riding his ass.