I glare at him. “Bite me, Tone.”
He looks at Jude with a grin. “Can you believe her? I gave up my Saturday morning basketball game for this shit.” Then Tony goes on to slap Jude on the shoulder as he starts to walk out of the room. “See ya tonight at six.”
Jude gives him a lift of the head, as if he’s agreeing that yes, he will indeed see Tony tonight at six.
What?
“What?”
“Vic’s co-worker dropped out of the draft, Jude’s taking his place.”
“What?” I repeat.
Tony ignores me and turns to walk out of the room yelling back, “If all you’re bringing is salad, it’d be nice if you brought something sweet.” Then he disappears into thin air.
I look to Jude and repeat yet again, “What?”
“I told Tony I’d come with you. I’ll pick you up at five-thirty,” he informs.
“Five-thirty?”
“Gabby, you ask a lot of questions. Yeah, I’ll be here at five-thirty. Size of this town, you can get anywhere in thirty minutes, even though Tony said it wasn’t far. I’ve talked to the crew—they’ll be done soon. I made sure they’ll contact your insurance Monday morning and get with you about the details. The fans need to run through Monday night. Good luck with that, sugar, I think they’re freaking out the dog.” He throws a glance over at Mia tucked into a tight ball in her bed, not liking the buzz of the fans.
Not hearing anything past “sugar” and not getting my wits about me, the only thing I can come up with is, “You play Fantasy Football?”
“Not for quite a few years, but I used to.” He leans into the door jamb of my office. “I gotta get to work and get some shit done this afternoon, you good here?”
“Uh…yeah, I’m good.” I’m still trying to catch up with his latest plans. “You really don’t need to come and get me. I’ll get you the address, you can go straight there.”
“Not a big deal, we’re both goin’,” he answers with finality. Looking at me intensely, he says with authority but it comes out more like a demand before he turns and walks out of the room. “Five thirty.”
Finally pulling myself together, I remember my manners and hurry out to follow him up the stairs and to the front door that he is already opening. “Jude?”
He turns. “Yeah?”
“Um...” I look down and then slowly back to him. “Thanks for today. All your help, you know, moving furniture and stuff.”
“Do you have an alarm?” he asks out of the blue.
“Uh, yeah?” I sort of answer, trying to get used to his bizarre conversation tactics.
“Set it when the crew leaves. Keep it set while you’re in the house and lock your doors.” Then his arm reaches out low, pointing down and to the side. “And look out your window before you answer the door.”
I feel myself frowning. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I’ve got to get to the office, we’ll talk more tonight. Just do as I say, all right?”
I sigh, thinking locking my doors and setting my alarm isn’t that big of a deal. Does he think I’m an idiot?
“Okay, fine,” I answer with a hint of attitude.
“Good. See ya at five-thirty.” He gives me a head lift as I stand watching him turn to jog down my front steps to a silver truck. He opens the door to his truck, turns to look at me and repeats loudly this time, “Lock the door.”
I glare at him for a bit before I realize we’re in a stare down and he’s not going to leave until I lock my door. Fine, whatever. I move out of the way, swing my door shut and lock it. I stand here and glance down at Mia, who’s sitting at my feet. She doesn’t look as confused like I feel, she’s complaining about her morning nap being interrupted by all the activity.
“Let’s go outside, baby,” I say, thinking I could use a nap as well.
I let my sweet girl outside and head to my pantry to see if I have ingredients to make something sweet for Tony. I find the fixings for almond vanilla bars. Tony deserves almond vanilla bars after answering my every whim for the last two days. I get the first layer spread, start mixing up the cream cheese and powdered sugar topping when I realize Jude never told me why he came by this morning. I didn’t think of it when we were moving furniture and lifting carpet, I was so focused on the task at hand. He said we’ll talk tonight, so apparently, I’ll find out soon enough.
Putting my bars in the oven, I set about making the raspberry vinaigrette for my spinach salad as I hear the restoration crew coming up the stairs. They confirm everything Jude told me about their plans, I find out they will be back late on Monday to check the moisture levels in the basement, and I see them out. I let Mia back in, finish my dressing, pull out my bars to cool and head to my bathroom to take a shower. Lifting Mia onto the bed, she curls up immediately to catch up on her beauty sleep as I look at her enviously.
Thankful I have two hot water heaters so I can still take a shower, I turn on the water to warm up, but hesitate. Turning, I walk back to my front and back doors, lock them both and arm my security system. Frowning at myself, I’m not sure if I’m conflicted about following Jude’s commands or why Jude commanded it, I head back to my shower.
Soaking up the hot water in my new walk-in shower, I try to ignore the happy little spark I feel down deep that’s seriously scaring me more than any of the crazy stuff swirling around me the last two days. Not really wanting to admit it, I’m pretty sure that itty bitty spark might be having Jude Ortiz in my house. Or maybe it could be Jude Ortiz being bossy, demanding I lock my doors and set my alarm.
Scaring me even more is the possibly it could just be both.
Chapter Four
Making A Decision
For the second time today, I’m standing on Gabby’s porch pressing the bell. If she doesn’t look out the fucking window before opening the door, I might have to turn her over my knee. At the same time, I’m trying to think about how I’m going to talk to her about Trevor Harper and how she needs to take extra precautions until we find him. I need to get that done before we go to the draft.
I only said yes to the draft so I could see Gabby again. I haven’t been in a Fantasy Football League since I was deployed. But her cousin seems to be a decent guy, clearly having Gabby’s back, so when he asked if I’d draft a team at the last minute, I took my opportunity. I thought about filling him in on what’s going on with Trevor Harper but decided to talk to Gabby about it first since she at least has a security system in place and if she used it, she’d be okay for today.
I hear the dog again and a moment later I see Gabby peek out the window. I have to say, I’m relieved she’s capable of following directions. I lift my head to greet her and she disappears out of the window before she throws the lock and swings the door open.
“Hey,” she says softly.
Shit, she’s beautiful. She’s wearing makeup but not too much, and her dark blonde hair has been smoothed into long waves down her shoulders to the middle of her back. The front of her hair, hitting below her cheekbone, has fallen slightly over her forehead and I see her hand come up to tuck it behind her ear. She’s wearing a black New Orleans Saints faded but definitely girlie t-shirt because it hugs her tits and torso perfectly. She’s got on a tight faded jean skirt, not too short, but hits her above the knees. She’s even barefoot again. As my eyes make the slow trek back up to her face, I notice her attention is on the dog who’s again circling my feet wanting my attention.