Chapter 27
Tyler
My eyes cut to the rearview mirror. There’s something off with Joe. From the moment I walked into his house this morning, the energy was off. He seems more agitated than usual.
With teeth clenched, all I want to do is get back to the house and check on Audrey.
She spent the day with her mom. I don’t care if she works for Joe.
He has no right to demand she come into work on her day off, forcing her to sacrifice time with her mom.
I know how much her mom means to her and how important their time is with her being sick.
But I can’t be with her yet. I have to do my job and drive Joe to some random meeting on a Sunday afternoon.
Letting go of my indignation, I pull up to what looks to be a half-demolished building of some sort. As I slow to a stop, I ask, “I’m not sure if I put the wrong address into the GPS or…”
“This is it,” is Joe’s clipped response.
“Alright.” I shift the gear into park. “Do you want me to wait here?”
“Yes, this shouldn’t take long. Just doing a quick walk-through.”
I eye the destruction we’re parked in front of. Not sure what they need to walk through to see, but what do I know? I’ve never been involved in real estate development.
“Okay, sounds good,” I tell him, just as a newer model Mercedes AMG pulls in behind me.
Joe climbs out and walks back to greet the man climbing out of the car.
I instantly recognize him as the man who met with Joe at his house a couple of weeks ago.
The one who gave me a bad feeling the second I saw him.
My eyes follow them as they walk into the rubble and disappear behind half a wall.
I sigh and pull out my phone. As much as I want this job to be over, I still have very strong feelings about not leaving Audrey alone with Joe. I don’t know what I’d do if Jack called me today and told me that I was getting put on a different job.
That’s a lie. I know what I would do.
I’d do everything I could to convince Audrey to find another job. Hell, I’d see if the guys would hire her at Nash. Maybe she could help Ella.
I unlock my phone and find my texts with Audrey.
Me: Can I see you tonight, mama?
After last night, I think I might be addicted to having Audrey in my space. Everything about her feels so right. She makes me laugh. She makes me want to help her and protect her. She makes me happy and hopeful.
She just makes me feel like it’s okay to be me. Like I’m enough.
My phone buzzes, and anticipation makes my nerves electric.
Audrey: I think that can be arranged…if I can borrow some pajamas again.
Me: I would prefer you naked, but you can wear my clothes leading up to the nakedness, I suppose.
Audrey: Then I guess I’m coming over to wear your clothes.
It’s crazy how just a few texts with Audrey can turn my whole mood around. It’d be even better if I were with her in person, but at least I can be with her tonight.
While I continue to wait, I pull up another text string and type out a message.
Me: How’s Tim’s nose?
Mom: He has two black eyes and has made me pinky promise never to throw him another birthday party ever again.
I chuckle at that. To be honest, if he thought it would’ve gotten him out of her throwing that huge party to begin with, he would’ve had someone punch him in the face a while ago.
Guilt bleeds into the amusement, and my face falls. If there’s one person in my life who deserves to have to deal with my father the least, it’s Tim. That man doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, until it comes to my mom and me.
Me: I’ll call him tomorrow to apologize. I hate that Rob did that.
I refuse to refer to Rob as my dad anymore. He’s so far from that.
Mom: Tim doesn’t blame you, honey. He blames Rob. Completely. We pressed charges. The cops are looking for him now.
Me: Good. He deserves to go back to jail for that. I can’t imagine his parole officer will be very happy to hear about it.
Mom: We love you. So much.
Some almost thirty-year-olds would be embarrassed by their mom being so affectionate, even via text, but after yesterday, it makes me even more grateful that I have a parent like her.
One of the reasons I wasn’t sure if I wanted kids was because I was afraid I’d be a terrible father, just like Rob. I was worried that the influence of Tim wasn’t enough to overcome the inevitability of my genetics to be an awful father. The nature versus nurture argument.
But I’m beginning to wonder if I never gave my mom enough credit. She’s an amazing mother. Maybe I have enough of her parental genetics not to be a complete deadbeat.
These thoughts make me think of Audrey. Specifically, her pregnant with my child. I’m shocked at the bolt of arousal that goes straight to my groin. I adjust my slacks as I pick up my phone one more time.
Me: Do you want kids?
Dots appear. Then disappear. And appear again.
Audrey: I feel like this isn’t a conversation to have over text…but I have mixed feelings.
I chuckle in the solitude of my car and start to type out a response, when a raised voice pulls my attention away from my phone.
Only being able to see half of Joe, his body vibrates with energy.
I can see an exaggerated gesture every once in a while, but there isn’t much more I can see from my vantage point.
Knowing it’ll piss him off, my hand hesitates on the door handle as I debate whether I should go over and make sure everything’s fine.
Before I can decide, Joe spins and stomps back to where I’m parked.
He whips open the door, and once he’s inside, he slams the door shut and barks out, “Let’s fucking go. ”
Breathing through my irritation at his command, I mutter, “You got it, sir.”
Joe doesn’t say anything else on the way back to his house, and by the time we get back, he seems to have cooled off, at least partially. I would’ve hated him to have come home in an even worse mood, considering how his day started with Audrey.
I trudge behind him to the door as he barrels inside and heads straight to his office.
“No one fucking bothers me. Audrey, go home,” he hollers as he slams his office door behind him.
Audrey isn’t in the dining room where we left her, so I wander into the kitchen.
I breathe a little easier when I find her sitting at the island, reading a book while eating a granola bar from the wide selection of snacks I’ve been keeping stocked at the house, along with the water.
Walking over to her, I wrap an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into me.
Feeling her against me is precisely what I need.
I kiss the top of her head, but then immediately pull back. “I forgot about the barnyard.”
“Tyler,” she whisper-yells at me as she elbows me in the stomach. She whips her head up to look at me as I take a half step back. Then she cuts her eyes over to Matt, who’s watching us with a wide grin on his face from where he’s leaning against the counter, playing on his phone.
I shrug as I pull out the barstool next to her. “I already told him about us.”
Matt nods. “He did. So no worries about me.” He pushes off the counter. “I’m glad you said something about the smell. The girl I’m seeing has horses, and I thought the smell was becoming embedded in my nostrils.”
Audrey groans and covers her face, shaking her head. “Thank god, Joe is sending me home so I can shower.” Sitting up straight, her head swivels between the two of us. “It was goat yoga. I took my mom to goat yoga this morning. And was in a rush to get here after we got done.”
“That’ll do it,” Matt confirms. He ambles to the door and remarks over his shoulder, “If I say peacock, Joe’s coming, so you better quit sucking face.”
Audrey huffs out a laugh as she watches him leave. “We aren’t sucking face.”
I lean forward, resting my elbows on the counter. “Well, not right now, anyway. We have other things to discuss.”
She rolls her eyes as she bites her lip to hide her small smile. “Like what? You knocking me up?”
I grunt at the zing of desire that charges through me. “Fucking hell, Audrey. You can’t talk like that here, or I’m locking us in the pantry. And I won’t care how many times Matt says peacock.”
She covers her mouth to disguise her giggles, and I really take her in.
She doesn’t have much makeup on, but that kind of stuff doesn’t matter to me.
She’s beautiful, no matter what. But what I notice most is the slight puffiness of her eyelids that wasn’t there earlier. At least I don’t remember seeing that.
I frown. “Audrey, were you crying while we were gone?”
Her face sobers, and her smile grows sadder. “I think it’s just a rough day.”
Slipping my arm around her shoulder, I pull her into me again as I cup her jaw and angle her head up.
I press my lips to hers and don’t pull away entirely when I say, “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.
” As I take a moment to stare into her glistening eyes, my heart rips out of my chest at the torment behind them.
“Go home. Take a long, hot shower. I’ll call you when I’m done here. I really want to be with you tonight.”
Audrey licks her lips and nods. “Okay, I will.”
I release her, and we both stand before she goes to gather her belongings, and I follow behind, needing to walk her out.
Once she has everything she needs, with a hand on her back, we walk outside, the warm spring air filling my lungs, with the smell of flowers and fresh-cut grass swirling around us.
“Call or text me if you need anything, okay?”
We stop at her driver’s door. Audrey tilts her head to stare into my eyes, amusement brightening her features. With her voice low and mocking, she replies, “Don’t tell your mama what to do.”
The bark of laughter that leaves me gives us the levity that we both need. I kiss her forehead. “I refuse to let you ruin this for me. So don’t bother trying.”
Her arms encircle my waist and squeeze me tight as she laughs. I return the hug and breathe a sigh of contentment, soaking in the last few seconds with her before I watch her drive away, and I count down the hours until I can see her again.