Chapter 17 #2
Russ rolled his eyes. “Dude, you forget I met one of your best buds from work. He’s got kids, and he's doing the same damn thing. Might be good for you not to have your whole life be your work. I'm just saying.”
I knew he had a point, yet considering that brought me face to face with an uncomfortable truth. There was only one woman I could imagine settling down with. Audrey. I simply didn’t know if I could be the man she deserved.
I ran a hand through my hair with a sigh. “Maybe, maybe not. We'll see.
“You wanna know what I think?” he asked with a sly grin.
“Not really, but that never stopped you before.”
He chuckled. “You used to have a thing for Audrey.
That last summer you were both here, I thought you were gonna have a meltdown every time you saw her.
I figured maybe you two would eventually find your way to each other, but then she got engaged.
Now she's free again, maybe something will come of it.”
My heart gave a swift kick. I couldn't fucking believe he’d zeroed in that fast on Audrey.
“Dude, she just broke up with her fiancé,” I said.
“Dude, he was screwing around on her.”
I managed to laugh off Russ’ comment and departed Emile’s not much later.
Snow had started to fall softly. With the way the wind was blowing, I sensed a nor’easter was on its way.
I swung by the grocery store to pick up some beer and wine.
After I turned onto the coastal road leading toward Audrey's family home, I slowed as I drove past my childhood home.
It was sitting vacant. I hadn't even been able to bring myself to stop by yet.
Perhaps I should've worried about a break-in, although there was nothing to steal.
The house was emptied except for the furniture.
I still hadn't decided what to do about the home.
Technically, it was mine, but it didn't feel right.
My heart gave another kick. Thinking back to my conversation with Russ, he hit on something uncomfortable.
Despite what my father had done, my family had been close before.
Though our father had always been distant and cold, he’d loved our mother.
She’d been his one and only soft spot. Our mother had been the center that held our family together.
Her death knocked away the anchor in his life.
I shook my head as I paused in the road, looking down the winding driveway.
I had so many reasons why I’d figured living a bachelor's life as an FBI agent was going to be my life forever.
Audrey whirling into my life like this was making me question a lot of things, all of them making me uncomfortable.
After a last glance at the stark tree branches standing tall against the sky, I kept driving.
The clouds were thickening out over the ocean.
Snow was spitting here and there with the wind picking up.
I grinned when Molly met me at the door.
After petting her, kicking off my boots and hanging my jacket, I headed straight for the kitchen, not wanting to ponder that I was damn happy to be here.
Because Audrey was here. Whatever she was cooking smelled amazing.
I stepped through the archway into the kitchen.
“Damn, smells good in here. What are you cooking?”
Audrey spun around. Her hair was up in a messy knot, loose tendrils falling around her face. Her cheeks were flushed, and she had a streak of something on her face. I grinned because she was so damn cute. Turning away, she quickly rinsed her hands in the sink.
“I’m making lasagna. I haven't made it in a while because Matthew was a health freak and wouldn’t eat it. I decided I’ll cook all of my favorite stuff while I'm here,” she said over her shoulder.
I refrained from pointing out any guy who didn't like lasagna was surely an asshole. In his case, Matthew was turning out to be more of an idiot than I’d originally thought.
Audrey loved to cook and was crazy good at it.
Whenever she’d be at our house with Thea years back, she often cooked.
I was already half falling for her back then.
The whole time I kept telling myself I couldn't, but it was near impossible once she was old enough for me to stop making that excuse.
She took the beer from my hand and put it in the fridge as I set the wine bottle on the counter.
“Be right back,” she said.
I heard the bathroom door open and close in the hallway. When she returned, she looked over with a sheepish smile. “You could've told me I had sauce on my face,” she said with a low laugh as she returned to assembling the lasagna at the counter.
I chuckled. “It looked good on you.”
I sat down at the kitchen table, only to have Molly come over and rest her chin on my knee. “How did it go at the vet?”
Audrey’s gaze flicked down to Molly with a soft smile.
“The vet said she's in okay health, but she's underweight. As if we couldn’t see that. The vet thinks she’s about nine months old.
She figures the police might be right, that somebody probably got her as a puppy this summer and then left her here.
I can't believe somebody would do that,” she said with a huff.
“It might not be as nefarious as you think. It could be that she ran off. I'm not saying that's okay,” I offered.
Audrey glanced over at me and shrugged. “Maybe so. Anyway, she’s had her first round of shots now.
The vet gave me a special diet to give her to help her put the weight on gradually.
She said it'll take four to six weeks before Molly gets to a normal weight and told me to be careful and not overfeed her.”
“Are you planning to take Molly with you to New York?”
Audrey lifted the pan of lasagna and slid it into the oven. Turning, she met my gaze, her hazel eyes flashing. “I'm keeping her, so I'll figure it out,” she said firmly.
“Let me know if you need any help,” I said. “Speaking of help, if you need help moving out of your apartment with Matthew, just say so. We could go down whenever you want.”
Her eyes widened. “You’d do that?”
“Of course. I figure he's not going to make it pleasant for you.”
She stroked Molly’s head when Molly padded over to her side.
“No, he probably won’t. It looks like it might snow tonight, so maybe once we have a few clear days.
I’d rather take care of it before Christmas.
By the way, Thea called. She’s got Ian and Noah coming up for Christmas.
She offered to help me move too. It was Matthew’s apartment originally, so I don't have any furniture.”
I nodded, my chest tightening again. I didn’t like thinking about how Matthew had treated her. No matter how relieved I was on her behalf that she’d dumped him on his ass, just as he should’ve been, it pissed me off he’d screwed around on her.
Audrey brushed a loose lock of hair away from her face and curled her hands on the edge of the counter.
She wore a fitted denim button-down shirt, the buttons pulled tight across her breasts.
My cock was already hard and had been since the moment I’d seen her.
She had this crazy effect on me. It was a wild mix of emotion and lust, the two feeding into each other and making me feel more out-of-control than I ever had in my life.
Molly meandered out of the kitchen, and I heard her feet padding up the stairs. I caught Audrey’s gaze.
“Where do you think she's going?”
Audrey grinned. “Oh she’s already decided her favorite place to nap is on the foot of my bed. I don't mind. I bet she hasn't had anywhere warm to be for months, so she can sleep wherever she wants as far as I'm concerned.”
She turned and set the timer on the oven and then pulled two wineglasses from the cabinet. Picking up the bottle of wine, she waved in the direction of the dining room. “Let's go in here.”
This was an older home and had fireplaces in the dining room and the living room.
I’d noticed she had a fire going in the dining room on my way to the kitchen.
I slipped into a chair at the corner of the table.
As she stepped to my side to pour the wine, her presence was so close I wanted to touch her.
Next thing I knew, I was curling my arm around her waist and pulling her against me. Thought hadn’t entered the equation.
She looked down, her eyes darkening. The soft thump when she set the wine bottle on the table should have nudged me out of this insanity.
Yet, all I knew was I was tired, I was weary, I was tied up with need for her, and my emotions were a tornado inside.
The only relief I could find would be with her.