Chapter 5
Every time I ask the universe to send me a sign, and it does, I always wait for a better, more signier sign.
— Maven to Athena
MAVEN
I’d done it.
I’d grown a pair of really big lady balls, and I’d asked the man out.
I couldn’t believe he’d said yes.
I couldn’t believe he was in my house, staring at my cat like it was an alien from another planet.
“ It looks like a rat.” He paused. “ That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen.”
I barely contained my laughter as I gestured to her. “ She was actually a rescue. I found her out on the side of the highway. I -635 no less. I was driving, and I saw a flash of pink on the side of the road. It was so surprising that I pulled over and went back to look. I found her there, huddled against one of the concrete barriers separating traffic.”
“ Jesus ,” he shook his head. “ I hate stopping on 635. You’re lucky she wasn’t dead.”
“ I agree,” I said. “ I can’t say that I would’ve chosen her on my own, if given the chance. She’s a lot of work.”
“ How ?” he asked, still staring at the cat.
“ Well , they can get sunburns easily,” I said. “ And their skin gets really oily, so they need baths a lot. And without any fur, they’re more susceptible to abrasions. Not to mention I have to wipe her butt for her at least twice a week.”
His eyes went wide.
“ I love her, though,” I admitted. “ She’s like a tiny little toddler.”
“ Sounds fascinating,” he lied.
I flashed him a grin.
“ Go ahead and touch her,” I said. “ You know you want to.”
He didn’t look too sure, and I had to laugh at that.
The first time Athena’s mom touched her, she’d been disgusted.
“ Why are you laughing like Dr . Evil ?” he asked, pausing halfway to touching the cat.
“ Athena’s mom is really religious,” I said as I started to explain my giggling. “ So the first time she met Linda , she looked at her curiously and asked, ‘ What does she feel like?’”
“ And you said like a pair of balls?” he asked, sounding amused.
I flushed dark red as I said, “ Well , not quite. I mean, I was thinking it, but I didn’t say it. Athena could tell I was trying hard not to blurt it out, so she helped change the subject to picking a name.”
“ And how did you come up with the name Linda ?” he wondered. “ That seems really random for a cat.”
“ I kept saying ‘listen’ to her when she was searching for her food bowl. And you know that saying ‘ Listen , Linda ?’” I asked.
He nodded. “ Well , it just kind of stuck. I started using it more and more, and now she’s an overweight Sphynx cat with an attitude problem. It fits really well, actually.”
“ I can see that.” He narrowed her eyes. “ Does she always climb in between the couch cushions like that?”
“ Yes ,” I answered as I pulled the cushions of the couch up to show him her nook. “ It’s warm there. When we go to bed, she likes to burrow under the blankets.”
He reached toward the cat and ran his fingers over her back.
He paused. “ Usually , when you pet a cat, it’s like something easy, soft. This feels like I’m petting a goddamn foot.”
I burst out laughing. “ She’s definitely not easy to pet, that’s for sure.”
The doorbell rang, and I started to stand up to go answer it, but he waved me off. “ I’ll get it.”
He came back moments later with two pizza boxes, which he placed on the coffee table next to me.
Linda perked up, and I caught her up before she could make a mad dash for it.
“ Be right back,” I said as I disappeared into the hallway to contain Linda so she didn’t try to share our meal with us.
When I got back, the pizza boxes were open, there were two fresh beers on the coffee table next to those boxes, and a couple of paper towels.
I smiled as I took the seat in front of my box and reached for a slice.
I dug into it, groaning the entire time.
“ I had no clue how hungry I was,” I admitted. “ This is really good. Like always.”
He reached for his own slice and took a bite.
I glanced over at him, waiting for his reaction.
“ It’s good,” he confirmed. “ There’s a place near where I just built my house. It’s called Pizza . That’s it. But it’s the best food you’ll ever put in your mouth. Maybe if you have time next week, we can check it out.”
My heart soared. “ Where is it that you live?”
Saying you lived in ‘ Dallas ’ was a joke. There was Dallas itself, and then there was all the metroplex. Saying you lived in Dallas could mean you lived in Los Colinas , Plano , Ft . Worth , Grapevine , The Colony .
“ Actually , I’m pretty far away from Dallas now. Sunnyvale . It’s about thirty-eight minutes away,” he admitted. “ Farther than we’re technically allowed to be, since we’re on SWAT . But when we’re on call, all of us brothers just stay in the city at the apartment we rent not too far from the station for just such occasions.”
“ Sunnyvale is a nice place,” I said. “ Why did you move all the way out there, though?”
“ Wanted to get the hell out of the city,” he said. “ All of the brothers went in and purchased a block of land there. We built a family compound of sorts. I was the last house to get built out there.”
“ You all built houses? Recently ?” I gasped.
With the housing market the way it was, the prices of materials sky rocketing, and the quality of workers… that had to have been a nightmare.
“ Yep ,” he said. “ My house cost about 100K more than Quincy’s house, which is the same size as mine. Lesson learned on waiting, I guess.”
My stomach knotted.
One hundred thousand dollars?
That was a racket!
“ Trust me, I raised holy hell. I mean, my house might as well be a shoe-in for a combination between Quincy’s place and Garrett’s . The only thing I didn’t put in mine that they put in theirs was a dog washing station,” he grumbled darkly. “ When the builder gave me the price of the full build, I laughed because I thought he was joking.”
“ But obviously you went through with it,” I pointed out.
“ I did,” he agreed. “ But only because my parents encouraged me to go ahead and do it. Truthfully , none of us would’ve built houses like we did had we not gotten a big chunk of it paid for thanks to our grandparents’ investments. Each year, both sets of our grandparents, and our parents, would put a thousand dollars into an investment account for us. It’s grown significantly over the years. And ,” he swallowed hard, “when our sister died, all of her assets went to us. We split it all evenly, and that was a big chunk of change as well. The military had provided a lot for her death, as had the insurance policy she’d gotten on herself and listed us as beneficiaries for.”
I looked over at him.
I’d heard a little about Addison Carter —the senior Addison , not the daughter of Keene and Ande —and what I knew was heartbreaking.
A few years ago, Addison had gotten into an abusive relationship that she couldn’t find her way out of. In desperation, she’d tried and failed to find ways out until she’d taken the last step she thought she could—taking her own life.
Though , all of this I’d heard secondhand by Ande , Addison’s twin.
In an attempt to get that look off his face—the one where he looked like he was getting lost in his own head and he didn’t like it there— I said, “ What was the worst part about building a house?”
“ Dealing with the contractors,” he admitted. “ They like you to think that building a house is this great experience but honestly, it’s like herding a bunch of cats. And I’d obviously known that building was hard, first my parents, then all of my siblings built. They each had their share of problems come up. But me?”
My brows rose. “ What happened?”
“ What didn’t happen?” He chuckled as he leaned forward and took another bite of his pizza. “ First , the framers started building a whole different house. They were using some plans from their previous job, which was literally three thousand square feet more than mine. I was supposed to have this fairly large wraparound porch, as well as a sizeable carport and back porch area, and they built this house, making it fit onto a concrete pad that wasn’t made for it. Then , when they realized they’d fucked up, they got mad at me because I didn’t correct them.”
“ You are a house builder now?” I wondered, watching as he caught another slice of pizza and devoured half of it before answering.
“ Well , I knew immediately that the plans they were using weren’t mine when I saw the framing finished. The only problem is I was away in Scottsdale for a SWAT team class and didn’t see it until they were completely through. The builder was pissed as hell because that was 40K he couldn’t get back because the framers left when they realized what had happened. He asked if he poured me a new back porch area and extended the roof line out to cover it, if I would accept the new plans. I accepted, though I told him anything extra that was required—paint, flooring, or anything material wise— I wasn’t covering. Which he accepted. But I think he got me back here and there where he could get away with it.”
“ And do you like the house plan?” I took another slice of pizza myself.
“ I like it a lot,” he admitted. “ I didn’t think I would because it looked a lot like Quincy’s , but I changed the coloring around. The back porch is different, as well as just the extra square footage.”
“ Now you can fill that house with a bunch of kids,” I teased.
He scoffed. “ I only want one.”
“ One ?” I asked. “ Why only one?”
“ Because one means that I can handle them on my own.” He shuddered. “ Have you ever had to deal with multiple kids before?”
I was already shaking my head. “ Truthfully , kids scare me.”
He flashed me a smirk. “ I’ve seen you handle my nephews and nieces quite a few times. You’re good with them.”
“ The three minutes they were in the bakery about to get a sweet doesn’t count,” I giggled.
He winked at me, making my heart stutter in my chest.
This man with his light, curly blond hair, chocolate eyes, tattoos, and ‘fuck everyone’ attitude was captivating. And with all of that attention focused solely on me? It was making my brain misfire.
God , was he really at my house?
I …
His phone made a strange sound, and he groaned.
“ What ?” I asked.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and grimaced.
“ SWAT call,” he grumbled, tossing the phone onto the table and standing up.
He went to grab all the trash, but I stopped him by placing a hand on his forearm, right over the bright green lizard tattoo.
He stilled, his eyes coming up.
“ I got it,” I said softly.
He pulled away but kept his eyes on mine.
“ Raincheck ?” he asked as he started to back toward the front door.
I nodded. “ Definitely .”
He turned and walked to the door. “ Come lock this.”
Not a suggestion.
Definitely not a suggestion when that kind of order came from a man like Auden Carter .
“ Sure ,” I said. “ Despite not getting along with my father, he did teach me basic common sense.”
Auden chuckled. “ The world is a bad place.”
Wasn’t that the truth?
My heart was pounding as I watched him walk down the manicured front walk and stop to take a look at my peonies by the mailbox.
With one last look over his shoulder at me, he walked toward his truck, got in, started it up, and drove away.
I watched him go until I couldn’t anymore, then did that girlish squeal that all girls do when the man they’ve had a crush on for-like-ever kisses them and says something sweet.
I’d just locked the front door when I heard the sound of a motor heading back in my direction.
I peeked out my peephole and felt my heart start to palpate in my chest as I watched Auden park haphazardly in the street and start running my way.
I opened the door to find him running down my walk, hopping over my rose bushes.
He came to a stop directly in front of me before saying, “ Your brother is going to rip me a new asshole for this but…”
Then he kissed me.
My toes curled in my shoes.
His tongue swept into my mouth at my gasp of surprise at finding his lips on mine, and then he was pulling away with a grin.
“ My brother’s an asshole to me, too, if it makes you feel better!” I called out to him as he jogged back to his truck.
He stopped with one foot in the door before turning around and saying, “ No . That actually pisses me off.”
I pulled away with a smile, then closed the door on him.
He sped away, and I had another squeal fest.
Only when my heart stopped pounding did I gain enough control.
When I had it, I called my best friend.
This was something we definitely needed to talk about.
Right . Now .