Chapter Eleven
AFTER DINNER, SHAUNA insisted on helping Zander with the dishes.
She stood beside him by the sink humming softly as he washed and she dried.
She’d been through so much, Zander hadn’t been sure if having her crash at his place would be uncomfortable for her or make him edgy, but this was nice and enjoyable, and she was clearly more relaxed.
He was glad to hear her humming, but he’d heard the guilt in her voice when she’d told him about the inheritance, and he knew she was struggling over the situation with Brian.
She was loyal to the point of putting herself in danger, and if there was one thing Zander respected above all else, it was loyalty.
He didn’t think she had a chance in hell of coming up with enough money for rehab, and there was no way he’d let her sit by Brian’s side again as he tried to detox.
Not after he’d put his hands on her. She might believe in Brian, but Zander had worked with enough people in recovery through the club to know how drugs could turn a normally mild-mannered person into a monster.
He wouldn’t be standing there right now if it weren’t for Shauna’s selfless act of bravery. He wanted to help in return, and he wanted her to know she was not alone in this.
As he handed her a plate, he said, “Hey, Flores, can I ask you something personal?”
“You say that like I haven’t been spilling my guts to you all evening.”
“I’m just wondering, with everything going on, are you going to AA meetings, or should you be going to them? I’m not trying to say you should. It’s just…if you need someone to go with you, that’s what friends are for. I’d be happy to tag along.”
She looked at him for a long moment as she finished drying the plate. “That’s really nice of you to offer, but even with all the stress, I haven’t had the urge to drink or smoke.”
“Fair enough.” He began washing a glass. “If that changes, I’m here to help.”
“I appreciate that, and trust me, if I felt even a little bit like I might falter, I’d go to meetings and contact my sponsor.” She set the plate on the counter with the other dishes and flashed those killer dimples. “You know, for a bachelor, you’re not bad at this domestic stuff.”
“I’m a man of many talents.” He handed her the last glass.
“Oh yeah?” she said as she dried it. “Such as?”
“Most of them aren’t appropriate for a new best friend.”
“That’s weird,” she said sarcastically. “I heard you only use your talents on new friends, which makes sense.” She glanced around the unfinished kitchen and said, “Clearly you’re not very good at finishing what you start.
” She lowered her voice. “Women aren’t big on that kind of repeat performance. ”
He laughed and shook his head. “Trust me, they beg for more.”
“Exactly,” she said snarkily, as if he’d proven her point. “But I don’t want to know about your dirty deeds. I want to know what’s going on with your cottage. You said you’ve lived here for a while?”
“Yeah. I bought this place to flip it, but I was having too much fun living my life to give it up and spend my free time renovating. But that changed after the accident. A lot of things changed, actually. I wanted to take control of my life, and this was as good a place to start as any.”
“Life-threatening accidents tend to have that effect on people. But the accident wasn’t your fault. Was your life that out of control?”
“Not out of control in the sense of drinking too much or anything like that, but I definitely like to have a good time. It’s just that my drug of choice is women.
I might not have caused that accident, but the accident caused my family, my club brothers, and my friends a shitload of worry, and if I hadn’t gone home with a couple of girls the night before, I wouldn’t have been late for work or been at that intersection for the accident to happen.
That’s on me. It was my choice to go home with them.
I’ve always been the good-time guy who acts when an impulse hits and worries about it later.
” He realized that was what he was doing now.
“Shit. Sorry. You’re going through hell, and I’m doing it again, putting myself first and laying my crap on you. ”
“I don’t mind. I like getting to know you. It makes me feel less like I’m the only one juggling excess baggage.”
“Are you taking pleasure in my heartache, Flores?” he teased.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” She laughed softly. “But kind of, yeah.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be alone in that, and you’re not alone in carrying that excess baggage, either.
Every person on this earth is struggling with something, and if they tell you otherwise, they’re lying.
The bottom line is, I don’t want to be the guy who causes my family and friends to worry anymore. You know what I just realized?”
“That you’re done trying to change your ways and want to get the heck out of here and pick up a woman or two?”
He laughed. “Why would I do that when I’m having such a great time with you?”
“Because I won’t sleep with you, obviously.”
“I didn’t offer for you to crash at my place so I could sleep with you.” He couldn’t resist teasing her back and said, “I mean, you’ll probably want to sleep with me after a while, and normally I’d be into that, but I’m changing my ways.”
Now she was laughing. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I’m just sayin’, it wouldn’t surprise me.
” He schooled his expression. “Seriously, though. I’m not going to be that guy anymore.
Not that I was ever an asshole. I never pretended to want more than a good time, and I have nothing but respect for the women I spend time with.
That said, random hookups were fun.” He smacked against his chest. “But it’s time to treat the old bod like a castle instead of a nightclub, and hanging out with you inspires me to stay on track. ”
“Why? Because I don’t want to sleep with you?” she said with attitude.
He took the towel from her and dried his hands. “No. Like I said, that’ll change.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’m only kidding.” He draped the towel over the edge of the sink. “You inspire me because you made the effort to grow up at twenty, and you thought you’d been living off the rails for too long. Meanwhile, here I am at thirty, just starting to find my way onto the right track.”
“Then I’m even happier that I gave you my good-luck charm, because from what I hear, you’re going to disappoint a lot of women.
Not that I know anything about being a playboy, but I imagine that’ll bring some of that begging you mentioned, and you may need to stay strong and ward it off.
” She punctuated stay strong with a punch to the air.
“You know what? That’s another good reason we should get married.”
“No, it’s not!” she said with a laugh.
“Hear me out, because it’ll help me as much as it’ll help you. If you were my wife, it would get women off my back, which would make it easier for me to change my ways. Then you’d let me lend you the money, knowing you’d be able to pay it back in a couple of months.”
She pointed at him. “You’re insane, and the last thing I need is a crazy-ass fake husband.”
“I can’t fix my crazy, but I’d be your real husband during that time, legal and everything, and you’d totally have bragging rights to the hottest guy in Bayside.”
“Ohmygod.” She leveled Zander with a serious stare. “I think you mean the hottest player, and what makes you think I’d want half the town’s sloppy seconds?”
“Ouch.” He put his hand over his heart. “That stung.”
“You just got done telling me that you’re a player who goes home with more than one woman at a time.”
He cocked a grin. “That wasn’t the part that hurt. You called me sloppy.”
Laughter burst from her lungs, which made him crack up, too.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re the coolest chick around?”
She waved her hand dismissively. “Only everyone.”
“A’right, bestie. I can’t stand around letting you harass me all night. I need to get to work on the backsplash.”
“Yeah, you do,” she teased. “That thing’s an eyesore.”
“Is that right, smart-ass? Now you have to help me with it.”
She looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “I don’t know how to put up a backsplash.”
“Then it’s about time you learned.”
SHAUNA SET ANOTHER tile in place. They’d been at it for a while, working side by side, applying thinset, measuring, leveling, cutting, and placing tiles.
She was perched on the counter, and Zander was standing in front of it.
Music played through a Bluetooth speaker, the two of them singing as they created a beautiful backsplash of white vintage subway tiles with distressed hints of grays and blues, giving them a rustic beachy vibe.
Zander glanced over as she reached for another tile. “Looking good over there, Flores.”
“Thanks.” He clearly meant the tiles and not her.
While he had only a smidgen of dust on his cheek, she was a mess.
She had dust on her clothes and thinset in her hair.
She was glad she’d changed into shorts, since she’d only brought one pair of jeans, and Zander had lent her one of his T-shirts to wear so she wouldn’t get the one she brought dirty.
“I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I am. ”
“You like the power of wielding a…” He looked at the trowel, and his brows knitted. “A handheld weapon?”
She laughed.
He placed another tile. “Have you done any kind of home projects?”
“Yes, plenty of them, but not like this. Mine were out of necessity. If a sink was clogged or a toilet lever broke, Brian or I would fix it instead of bothering our landlord. But this is different. It’s messy and physical, but it’s also transforming.
It’s like we’re giving your kitchen a whole new beginning. ”
She liked working with Zander, too. He was patient, appreciative, and funny. They teased each other about songs they liked and songs they didn’t, and they fell into an easy rhythm, like they were a team and had worked together a hundred times before.
She set the tile in place, and he reached over to push the left side of it up higher.
Their fingers brushed, and something warm fluttered in her chest. He smiled as he pulled his hand back.
It wasn’t a cocky or flirty smile. It was the kind of smile friends shared, which made her feel silly for that flutter of warmth she’d felt.
But hey, she was only human. They were working so closely, it was hard not to notice his rugged scent and the way his arms flexed and his jaw muscles bunched when he was concentrating on setting a tile in place.
She picked up another tile and said, “You’re very trusting. I could mess up your whole design.”
“If you were my wife, I’d let you mess up the design.”
And there it was, the playfulness that drew a light laugh. “Zander, you do not need or want a wife, and I will not drag you through my mess.” She climbed off the counter to stretch her legs, and Kitty bounded into the kitchen carrying something black in her mouth.
“What have you got?” Shauna crouched to see what she was holding.
“That’s her cut.”
“You’re kidding.” She held up the tiny black leather vest with Dark Knights patches on the back and eyed Zander with amusement. Kitty tapped Shauna with her paw, and Shauna petted her.
“Don’t give me shit about it,” Zander said. “I get enough of that from the guys.”
“I just think it’s funny that the big, badass biker dresses his kitty-cat.”
“I told you she was skin and bones when I got her. My cousin Baz is a vet, and when he was checking her out for me, she was trembling, and he suggested I get her a sweater.”
“That makes sense.” She held up the vest. “But this is a funny-looking sweater.”
He chuckled. “I know, but every time I took off her sweater, she’d drag it back to me. Then Mads bought her a few dresses, and I was like, no way. My cat’s got to be cool, so I had the vest made for her. And as you can see by the way she’s tapping you, she likes wearing it.”
“Is that why she’s tapping me? I don’t know how to dress a cat.”
“I’ll show you.” He snagged the vest, lowered his big body to the floor, and put Kitty in his lap. The cat sat right there, letting him put her front legs through the armholes and button it up her chest.
Shauna took out her phone to take a picture and saw another text from Brian.
Her stomach knotted up. He’d texted earlier, and she hadn’t responded.
She didn’t have the energy to fight with him or to hear endless apologies and empty promises.
Not tonight. Tonight was hers. She was allowing herself one night to breathe in this happier, safer place, with a guy who didn’t need a damn thing from her and wasn’t screwing up her life.
Was that too much to ask? One frigging night to pretend she was a typical young woman with a new friend and her life wasn’t complicated and Brian wasn’t a fucking mess.
She swiped past the text and took an insanely cute picture of Zander dressing Kitty. “You are unbelievable.”
“Thanks for noticing,” he said with a cocky grin.
“I meant dressing your cat.”
“I said don’t give me shit.” He picked up Kitty and rubbed noses with her. “Who knows what she’s been through all alone out there in the wild. If my baby girl wants to wear clothes, I’ll buy her a whole frigging closetful.”
Why did she find that so endearing? “I wasn’t giving you a hard time. I think it’s adorable.” She looked at the picture. He really was annoyingly attractive, and his love for Kitty only amped that up.
“Like what you see?”
“The cat? Yes.”
He appeared amused. “You can admit you’re checking me out, assessing me as temporary husband material.”
“You’re in the picture?” she teased.
“Best friends are supposed to build each other up,” he said to Kitty as he petted her. “First she calls me sloppy, and now this?” He glanced at Shauna with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I might have to rethink this friendship.”
She could get used to this. Their friendship might be new, but their easy camaraderie and teasing made it feel like they were old friends who had history together and had earned the right to give each other a hard time.
“Although,” he said in Kitty’s ear, “she’s pretty good at tiling. Maybe we should keep her around. Think about how much work we could get out of her. What’s that?” He put Kitty up to his ear, pretending to listen. “She could be your temporary stepmom if she’d only let me help her with her friend?”
God, he was too much. She laughed. “Don’t bring your cat into this.”
The last thing a happy-go-lucky guy like Zander needed was her and Brian’s drama, but as they continued teasing each other and she took pictures of Kitty in her cut and Zander loving her up like she was the most precious cat that had ever lived, she kind of wished he did.