Chapter 4
INEZ
4
I’m aware of Nolan’s scent before I even open my eyes. It’s the mild freshness of his laundry detergent mixed with the clean woodland fragrance of his deodorant.
This scent has always been a turn-on for me. It was such a distinct smell to me, something I could separate from all the other odors of the bar. My coworkers would go home complaining about the smell of beer and grease. But me? I swear my work shirts only clung to Nolan’s delicious scent.
I turn my face into the pillow and inhale deeply, engulfing myself in all that masculine goodness.
My thighs clench together.
Funny how I’m sniffing the linens of my ex-boss when I was about to marry another man just yesterday.This is a new low for me.
And is it bad that I don’t even remember what Vance smelled like?I try to force my memory back to the reality show set. But the only scents I can recall are the chlorine from the backyard pool and the noxious fragrance of twelve other women’s perfumes.
As handsome as he is, Vance never gave me that ‘spark’. He didn’t provoke fireworks in my belly. And most unsettling of all, I just didn’t trust the man.
In the days leading up to our wedding, I couldn’t help the feeling—the knowing—that his intentions for me weren’t pure. Definitely not love.
My god. I walked away from the ‘perfect man’ on a hunch. Everybody’s going to think I’m crazy.
There was just something about the way he constantly treated me like an object. The way he would imply that having me on his arm would raise his status somehow.
I guess some women might interpret that as a compliment. But the fact that he didn’t know my favorite color or that he would always forget my middle name or that he refused to memorize the name of my hometown? Red flags in abundance.
Eventually, that icky feeling Vance gave me was too much to ignore.
I couldn’t shake the warnings from my intuition, telling me that this guy didn’t really want to spend his life with me. His plan was to lock me away in a gilded cage. To only take me out and parade me for status on special occasions.
Trophy wife to a man who clearly doesn’t even care to know me? I couldn’t, in good faith, sign up for a life like that. I couldn’t marry the guy, no matter how good he looks on paper.
So I walked away with my integrity and not much else. And now, I’m anxiously bracing myself for the consequences of that decision.
I’m not too sure what’s the next step on this new life path of mine. But I’m not opposed to laying here in Nolan’s home office all day while I try to figure it out. There’s just something about being here that gives me a strong sense of comfort and familiarity, one I didn’t even realize I needed after what I’ve been through over the past few months.
Comfort. Familiarity. Yeah—that’s all this is.
Look, Nolan Brighton is hot. But let’s be realistic here. I’m looking for a husband and Nolan is the last candidate who’d ever apply for the job.
As many women around Starlight Falls have learned the hard way over the years, his daughter is the only girl he makes room for inside his heart. Calling that man emotionally distant is an understatement. That’s not what I’m looking for at this point in my life.
The grumpy single dad is decidedly not on my romantic radar.
But I’m totally gonna let myself enjoy the experience of being wrapped up in his linens this morning. I roll over on the lumpy couch, moaning quietly into the cushions, just enjoying Nolan’s scent.
The sound of tiny giggles jolts me. I blink awake, turning my head and coming eye-to-eye with the most adorable blond pigtails and a toothless smile.
The moment I show signs of life, the little girl drops her one-eyed rag doll to the floor and leaps on me, throwing her arms around my neck. “Inez! You’re awake!”
I laugh despite the pain of a bony knee poking me in the ribs. “My sweet Stella!” I grin at her. I squeeze her tight.
Then I brace my hands on the cushions and sit up on Nolan’s groovy 1970s grandma chic couch. That’s when I notice the holes and tears in the fabric. I didn’t notice them last night. Probably because as soon as Nolan walked out of here, I changed into his T-shirt, flipped off the lights, collapsed into the scratchy velour cushions and fell dead-asleep.
Stella starts hitting me with a hundred questions in quick succession. “Why are you sleeping in my house? You don’t have a house you can sleep in? What happened to your house? Do you live here in my house now? With my Daddy and me?”
I chuckle softly as my brain struggles to keep up with the rapid fire interrogation. “I just needed somewhere to stay for the night,” I tell the little girl when she finally stops for a breath.
She crawls further into my lap and starts playing with my hair. “You could have slept in my bed. Because I slept at my Gaga’s house across the yard last night. I stay with my Gaga when my Daddy’s at work, you know? And then he picks me up for school in the morning. But I don’t have to go to school today. Because it’s Saturday-y-y-y-y!” She throws her tiny arms up and hollers at the ceiling. “On Saturdays, I have my extracurricular.”
Except she pronounces the word more like, ‘extra-coo-li-cooler’ and my chest almost explodes at all the cuteness.
As she speaks, Stella bounces excitedly, and I hang onto every word, wondering how Nolan keeps up with all this energy, especially after a long night working at the bar. Poor guy.
This adorable child is her father’s polar opposite. She’s charming and outgoing and the life of the party. Well, at least that’s how she’s always been with me.
I’ve seen the shy side of her. It comes out when she’s around people she doesn’t know. But to her, I’ve never been a stranger. I’ve been around since she was a baby. To her, I’m just Inez.
Perched on my lap, Stella continues absently playing with my messy hair as she rambles.
She’s always liked running her little fingers through it, brushing it, or tying it up in knots while she practices her braiding skills. And I’m always game to let her do her thing.
Besides, it feels so nice. I never had anyone to play with my hair as a kid.So every time Stella combs my hair, I feel like she’s the one doing me a favor.
“Today, I have my piano lessons and my French tutoring. I used to do ballet, but I don’t like ballet, so Daddy said that maybe I can do tap dance and CPR classes next. But I really hope I get to—”
“Stella!”
My heart leaps into my windpipe when a sexy devil rushes into the room.
Shirtless.
Nolan is wearing gray sweatpants with a damp bath towel hung around his shoulders and water droplets dripping from his wet, messy hair.
“I told you not to bug Inez. She’s tired.” He gently scolds his daughter.
“Bug me? Are you silly or what?” I scoff as the child ducks behind me, peeking at her dad from over my shoulder with a big, fat grin on her face. “Stella could never bug me. She’s my favorite little human.”
“I’m a favorite little human,” Stella sings, and I rise from the couch, stretching my achy limbs.
She seizes the opportunity to climb onto my back. I wrap my arms around her legs and she clings to my neck.
All the while, I’m expecting an argument out of Nolan. But he just stands there frozen, staring at me.
Why is he staring at me like that? And why is it making me hot? The air is suddenly a thousand degrees.
My chest heaves as his dark blue eyes drag downward over my body. It’s then that I realize that I’m wearing only the old Beatles T-shirt he loaned me last night. Somehow it feels the same as not wearing anything at all.
Time to get out of here. Too damn early for all the half-naked-DILF energy in this room.
“Where to, my lady?” I ask Stella, strolling out the door, right past her father.
We barely make it into the hallway before Nolan scoops the child off my back. He gently places her on her feet.
She whines and he gives her a nudge toward the bathroom door. “Off to brush your teeth, favorite little human.”
Stella sighs. “Fine.”
“You need help with the new toothpaste?” he questions.
“No, Daddy! I’m a big girl. Remember?”
“Right.” Nolan shakes his head, watching Stella run toward the bathroom. “How is she growing up so fast?” he mutters as the door closes in his face.
The both of us somehow manage to turn at the same time. We end up face-to-face in the narrow hallway. I should probably try and answer whatever he just asked, but then I forget what the question even was.
Because water droplets drip onto his collarbone, rolling down onto his bare, muscled chest and my spellbound eyeballs follow the trail. I smell his woodland scent much stronger now. It makes my nipples tingle, growing tight and pebbled.
“You sleep well?”
I snap out of my daze and my eyes bounce up to his.
I swallow guiltily. “Huh?”
Daddy Sex Devil makes an impressive effort to hide his smirk. He fails.
Ugh. He caught me gawking. Whatever.
I’m only human. And this man is a living, breathing thirst trap without even trying to be.
His chin juts in the direction of the couch. “Did…you…sleep…well…?” he asks again, enunciating his words slowly this time. So I can keep up.
“Um, good. Yeah, great. Good. I slept great!” I shake off the remnants of my haze and return my attention fully to the conversation at hand. “Thanks again for letting me stay here,” I say, my voice upbeat and chipper beyond belief.
He frowns at me. “I told you—it’s no big deal. Now, stop thanking me. You’re making shit weird.”
I chuckle. The man can be mercilessly blunt sometimes. “You’re an asshole.”
His thick eyebrow hikes upward and his stormy blue eyes twinkle with blanketed amusement. He strokes a hand over his short, scruffy beard as if to push away his smile.
“Inez Carolina Machado—that’s no way to talk to your boss.”
When he calls me by my full…legal…government name, I clench between the thighs. Oh, shit—why was that so hot?
“Former boss,” I remind him coolly. “Unless you’re hiring…?” I shift my weight, embarrassed to meet his eyes. “Is there any chance you need an extra pair of hands around the bar?”
On the drive last night, I’d been wanting to ask him for my old job back. But I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. After all, I left town with so much flair and fanfare, throwing a whole parade about how I was moving on from my life here in Starlight Falls.
Now look at me, back in my hometown and practically begging for my former gig. I’m swallowing my pride by the bucketful here.
For a second, Nolan just blinks at me. Like what I said to him is too good to be true.
Then he snaps out of it. “You want your job back?” he blurts out, eyes wide.
I nod, quickly flinging out a heap of justifications.“Temporarily. I probably won’t be in town for long. Just for a little while to figure out my next move. But while I’m here I could stand to make a bit of cash.”
And in all honesty, I need something to occupy my time, besides lying around, huffing Nolan’s couch cushions and ruminating on every mistake I’ve made in the past six months.
He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t weigh his options. “Can you start tonight?” he all but yells.
I gasp. “Tonight? Really?!” I’m not doing a great job of hiding my excitement either. “Sure. Heck yes!”
“Then, you’re hired!” With zero freaking warning, he grabs my shoulders and yanks me against him, planting a big kiss on my cheek.
But his skin is still wet from the shower. So now my T-shirt is wet, too. Right along with my panties, if we’re being fully transparent here.
In my defense, I’m in shock. Usually, this man is as rigid as a red brick. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a random outburst of emotion from him.
Realizing that he just crossed the line, Nolan drops my shoulders and immediately steps backward. “Shit. Sorry.” He cringes.
Well, I’ll tell you who’s not sorry. My nipples. My nipples are very happy, in fact.
And now, I’m standing here—with no bra on—displaying my very happy nipples to my new employer through my wet T-shirt.
His gaze moves down the front of my shirt again and his pupils dilate. He quickly takes another step back. This time, he bumps into a rickety console table.
Wow. I stand there with my eyebrows touching my hairline, unable to remember a more awkward moment between us.
I fold my arms over my chest and force a tight laugh. “You know? I’m having second thoughts about the work environment. Seems like my boss is kind of touchy-feely.”
A deep wrinkle appears between Nolan’s eyebrows. “You know that saying, I’m so happy I could kiss you? Well, I guess I took it literally for a minute there. Please don’t tell HR.”
Look at you, Nolan Brighton. Cracking jokes and everything.
I shake my head. “Psht. What HR? I’m pretty sure I was HR.”
Nolan chuckles awkwardly. “You were HR. And operations manager. And customer service. And quality control. All of it. Let’s just say I didn’t realize all the roles you were filling until you were gone.” I examine his expression, noting the strain beneath his tight smile.
A tiny part of me puffs up, feeling validated, enjoying that he noticed my absence, delighting in the idea that he might have missed me. At least a little bit.
“Damn. Are the new employees really that bad?” I ask, trying not to sound too smug.
He groans. “They’re so bad, Inez. So bad.”
I laugh, excited for the challenge. “Don’t worry, I’ll set them straight,” I promise with a wink.
Nolan grunts. “I fucking hope you can.”
At that precise moment, Stella pops out of the bathroom. “Daddy!” She gasps. “Did you say the ‘F’ wor—?”
Before she can finish her accusation, Nolan sweeps her off her feet, tossing her over his shoulder. “You didn’t hear anything. Now, what’s for breakfast? Gotta get ready for your piano lesson.”
Stella’s giggles rise into the air as her dad marches her off to the kitchen.
I’m laughing too as I watch the adorable duo disappear around the corner. But my laughter dies quickly as I think about the day that’s about to unfold ahead of me.
I can’t decide what I’m more nervous about—having to face my nosy Starlight Falls neighbors, or having to face the pitchforks waiting in my email inbox. I wonder how many lawsuits are on their way to me right now.
Resolving to rip off the bandaid, I head back into the office and dig through the meager belongings in my suitcase.
Before I left town a few months ago, I used to own a lot of clothes. A lot. But I gave away most of my belongings when I was casted for the reality show. Some of my things went to Daphne who was opening up a vintage clothing store at the time. The rest of it went to the women’s shelter. That leaves me without much to wear these days.
I pluck my phone from the bottom of my suitcase and power it up. I also disconnected my phone plan when I was leaving town. I really had no intention of ever returning to this place.
But all my plans went tits up when I realized I was moments away from marrying the wrong man. Now here I am, starting over from scratch.
Keying in the credentials noted on the yellow sticky note plastered to the wall above Nolan’s desk, I log onto the wifi network.
“Holy crap…” my inbox is a shit show. A knot of anxiety takes root at the base of my spine.
There are so many messages in here, I don’t even know where to start. I’m instantly overwhelmed.
Why did I open Pandora’s box?
Right about now, it feels like a tiny blessing that I don’t have a functioning phone number. It gives me breathing room. At least, I can answer these email messages at my own pace.
Chewing on the edge of my thumbnail, I eyeball the many unopened messages. In my head, I hear the distant echo of Shirley-Marie’s voice. “What’s the easiest way to eat an elephant, Inez…?” One bite at a time.
Stella’s messy pigtails pop into the open doorway. She’s already sporting a milk mustache. “Inez, you coming? Daddy asked what do you want for breakfast.” She stretches a hand out to me.
Tossing my phone into my open suitcase, I rise from the couch, accepting her little hand. “Gimme a bowl of the best cereal you’ve got, kid.”
She giggles, hopping down the hallway alongside me.
One bite at a time. That’s how I’ll eat the big scary elephants in my inbox.
But I should probably eat breakfast first.
I have a feeling I’m gonna need all the strength I can muster today.