“I wanted you to meet Lola,” I manage to sift through clenched teeth, biting back a groan of pain.
“I’ll meet her tomorrow,” Phoebe replies in her no-nonsense tone, pushing me out of the booth, signaling conversation over.
“I was going to walk you home.” I grasp her hand in mine when she stands.
“Well, I’m walking you home instead.” She nudges me toward the exit, Jonah silently following.
My mom’s house isn’t far from the town square, and we make it within ten minutes, not exchanging a word as we go. The night air relieves the nausea caused by the migraine, but by the time we get to my Mom’s, my head is pounding so hard I can barely see straight. I sit on the steps with a resounding thud, pressing the heels of my palms to my eyes with a groan.
“I’ll get the pills.” Jonah pats me on the back and walks into the house.
“He seems comfortable around your mom’s place,” Phoebe observes.
“Yeah, my mom would visit him at the hospital a lot after Sawyer and I had to get back on deployment,” I explain. “She actually became really good friends with Jonah’s mom. It’s kind of nice, and since it’s only a thirty-minute drive, we spend a lot of weekends hanging out, here or in the city.”
“Would you take me to the city someday?” Phoebe asks, and I lift my head to smile at her weakly.
“I’ll take you anywhere you want, Curls,” I promise, and Phoebe takes hold of my hand.
“You’re going to be okay, right?”
“He’ll be fine once the meds kick in,” Jonah replies in an attempt to calm her and hands me a pill and a glass of water. I catch my mom glancing with worry through the curtain. “Thirty minutes, and he’ll be out like a log.”
“You’ll look out for him?” Phoebe implores, and Jonah crouches, so he’s at our level, his serious gaze fixed on Phoebe.
“I promise he’ll be fine and ready to get you coffee for your first day in the office tomorrow, bright and early.”
“And a BLT?” she asks hopefully.
“I don’t see how he thinks he could ever win you back without one.” Jonah winks and stands, offering Phoebe his hand and helping her up. “You need me to escort you home, or do four black belts and then some qualify you to walk yourself?”
“Sleepy small town. I can walk myself,” Phoebe declares with a toss of her hair, bending down to kiss the top of my head. “See you tomorrow, Surfer Boy.”
“Night, Curls.”
“Come on.” Jonah indicates the door. “You need a hot shower and some sleep.”
“Thanks.” I grab his forearm, and he helps me stand. When I turn, I see my mom already waiting with the door wide open. “Do you mind…?”
“Just giving her a head start,” Jonah assures me.
“Thank you, brother.” I turn into the house, speaking as I go. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to rest so I can deliver that BLT first thing in the morning.”
Chapter Fifteen
Andy
“Holy crap!” Phoebe exclaims with her mouth full of food.
“Your vocabulary seriously needs an upgrade.” I laugh, sipping my coffee as we make our way to Gabe’s office where Phoebe set up a workspace in his spare room, enjoying what is now our morning routine of sandwich in one hand and a reusable to-go cup of coffee in the other. “But, yeah, Brenda’s homemade raspberry jam and ham is heaven on a slice of rye.”
“Hi, Phyliss, Bill.” Phoebe waves at the couple opening their bookstore, and they stop to smile broadly and wave back.
“If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed you were a local, not a city girl who’s been here for all of two-and-a-half weeks,” I observe with a smile, and Phoebe just pulls her shoulders and sips her coffee.
“I like it here,” she admits. “It’s different from the city, no crazy hustle and bustle.”
“I do miss the city, though.”
“Would you move back to the East Coast?” Phoebe wonders, and I shrug.
“My mom needs me, and having Jonah so close…” I trail off, and Phoebe tenderly rubs my arm with her knuckles.
“I can tell it helps. I assume Sawyer won’t stray too far either when he comes back.”
“He’ll probably jump on Jonah’s offer to join Peak Securities,” I agree. “What about you? Could you replace city life with a sleepy small town?”
“It’s nice. People here are nice,” she answers without really answering, and I decide now is not the time to push the matter.
“To you. I’ve been getting the stink eye from some of your admirers lately.” I lift two fingers to greet Berny, the school bus driver, and he just shakes his head in dismay. “See?”
“I have nothing to do with that.” Phoebe examines her coffee with thought. “It’s my private life, too.”
“Yeah, I have a feeling my mom wants you to feel welcome.” I chuckle. “I don’t mind.”
“I do.” She looks up at me with stormy eyes, stopping me dead in my tracks, and before I know what I’m doing, I catch her hand and pull her to me.
“Screw them all, Phoebe,” I announce and take a step closer, our chests almost touching. “I only care what you think about me.”
“I think you have arugula in your teeth.” She says it so seriously it takes a second to register. But when it does, I feel heat blooming up my neck, and I press my lips together, attempting to remove the stupid leaf that ruined a perfect moment with my tongue.
Phoebe giggles and pulls away, continuing toward the office.
“Don’t forget the flooring guys are at the inn fourteen hundred hours sharp, Surfer Boy,” she calls over her shoulder. “Thanks for breakfast.”
I finally manage to get the offender out from where it was stuck and jog to catch up with Phoebe, only to watch her disappear into the office.
Damn it! I think to myself, then upon further thought, I correct to, Screw it, and walk in after her.
“Morning, Mr. Atkins,” June chirps from her seat at reception with a knowing smile.
“Morning, June,” I reply in the same sing-song voice she used without stopping my determined stomp to Phoebe’s office, lest I lose my nerve.
I enter and shut the door behind me. Phoebe had just placed her laptop on the desk, and she looks up at me.
“Andy?” she startles. “Is everything okay?”
I march over and pull her to me without a word, cupping the back of her head and tilting her face up to mine.
It’s now or never, hotshot.
Phoebe
Andy caught me by surprise, marching into my office like that, the determined look in his eyes making my pulse race and my breath catch.
“Andy…” I’m rendered helpless by those deep turquoise eyes. I know what’s about to come, and God, do I want it.
Caressing my cheek with the back of his fingers before trailing his hand down my neck Andy finally speaks. “If I kiss you, will you stop me?”
No. “I don’t know.”
“Guess I’ll just have to try then.” He leans down, his lips brushing over my cheek. I barely bite back a moan of anticipation, and it takes every ounce of hard-earned self-control not to tilt my head and offer him my lips for the taking.