Chapter 33
“You really have to leave?” I reached over him, feeling along the side of his seat for the button. “You sure you can’t come in and meet everyone?”
“I have so much work to catch up on. What are you doing?” he asked as the driver’s seat moved slowly backward.
We’d woken up that morning in the hotel room tangled up in each other, warm and happy and rested. “Thanks for taking care of me last night,” he’d said, his memory surprisingly intact for someone who had been so drunk.
“How’s your head?” I’d asked.
“Not bad, actually. Just a little stabby.”
I’d kissed him and he’d held me close.
“Oliver?” I’d asked as we lay there in each other’s arms.
“Yes?”
“Yesterday you said you’d only been drunk twice before.”
“Yes.”
“Was it the two times you found out you were being…” I didn’t want to finish the sentence, bring down the mood. But it hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that being cheated on might’ve been the motivating factor for him drinking in the past.
“Yes,” he’d said, his muscles tight.
“I’m sorry. Maybe that’s why you said you were a quiet drunk. Because I hate to break it to you, but you’re not a quiet drunk.”
He gave me his throaty chuckle, holding me there against his chest. “It’s nice to have a better association with the whole thing.”
“It’s kind of annoying that you remember last night so well. I want a drunken voicemail of you.”
He laughed again.
“I don’t want this weekend to end, but I have to get home for a barbecue at my sister’s today. You think you can drop me off there on your way home?”
“At your sister’s,” he’d said. “You’re bringing the fruit tray.”
“Exactly.”
He took two breaths before he finally said, “Sure, I can take you there.”
Now we were here, in front of my sister’s house, ten minutes before the four-o’clock start time for her barbecue. “I’m making out with you,” I said. “That’s what I’m doing. I have ten minutes.”
His seat finally stopped its slow progress backward and I climbed onto his lap, straddling him. He smiled, both his hands grabbing hold of my ass.
“I’m on the clock again?” he asked.
“Yes, this time will you make better use of it?”
He laughed. “Did you call me babe last night, by the way?”
“I did,” I said, smoothing my hand down one side of his hair and then the other. “It felt right.”
He pulled me down for a kiss. One weekend with him and his mouth already felt like home on mine.
His lips were soft and firm all at once, his tongue traveling along my bottom lip before exploring my mouth.
I wiggled on his lap as I felt the evidence of his arousal against me.
His fingers gripped my hips and he moaned.
I tried to adjust my legs when my back hit the steering wheel, causing a loud honk to ring out.
He startled and lifted me off his lap and back into my own seat in a surprisingly fluid motion. My back bumped the passenger-side door, not hard, but it made a sound. My feet were now in his lap.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It didn’t hurt,” I assured him. “You’re so jumpy.” I nudged him with my foot.
He looked over my shoulder out the window and toward the house as if my whole family would come pouring out at the sound of the horn.
“They’re probably in the backyard,” I said. “And with kids screaming and the music playing, they won’t have heard it.” Extra cars lined the street and I’d realized right when I’d seen them that this wasn’t just a family party. “Are you scared of my parents catching us? We’re not teenagers.”
“Then we probably shouldn’t be making out in a car,” he said.
“But cars are kind of our thing.”
“They shouldn’t be,” he said stiffly.
My mouth snapped shut in surprise. “Right. Okay. That’s my cue.” I pulled my feet off his lap.
“I’m sorry, Margot, I’m a little stressed.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “The weekend is over. Back to reality, I guess.” A heaviness settled on my chest with the thought that maybe Oliver had just thought of this as a weekend fling. An in-the-moment thing. Like Rob always did , came the unwanted thought.
“No, come here.” He put a hand on either side of my face and brought me in for a slow kiss. “I didn’t mean to be short with you. My head is hurting and I’m worrying about… things at work and…”
“I could’ve helped you talk it out on the drive.”
He smiled. “You’re right. You could’ve.” His eyes darted to the house over my shoulder before they were back on me. “I’m also worried about things here.”
“Things here? With us?”
He nodded out the window. “Things with you and your sister.”
“You’re sweet. We’ll get over it. We’ve fought before. I think we’re to the smoothing-it-over portion.”
He drew in a long breath.
“Wait, is this why you don’t want to come in and eat before you leave? Because me and my sister are fighting?”
His hands were still on my cheeks and he brought my mouth to his, letting our lips meet.
“I want to meet your family,” he said between kisses. “But today isn’t the right time. I want to give you and your sister space to talk. Work things out.”
He was right. I hadn’t seen Audrey since I’d made a mess of sharing my agency news.
And even though I really did feel like we were in the smoothing-it-over portion of making up, bringing an unexpected guest wouldn’t help.
Audrey didn’t like the unexpected. Plus, Oliver and I were brand-new.
We didn’t need to involve families yet. We needed to figure out how to navigate what we were first.
“We always make up. It’s what sisters do,” I said. “But you’re right. We should save meeting families for later.”
He gave a slow nod. “Call me later? Tell me how it all went?”
“Yes, I will.” I reached for the door handle.
“Margot.”
I looked over at him. He leaned closer and pulled me in for a passionate kiss that left me aching all over again. Even after he backed away, I kept my eyes closed, a smile on my face.
“You’re everything,” he said.
Finally, I blinked my eyes open. “I miss you already.”
“Same,” he said.
I stepped out of the car and it wasn’t until he was driving away and I was walking up the pathway, dragging my suitcase in one hand and my purse and backpack in the other, that I remembered the stupid fruit tray. How could I have forgotten? “Because you’re irresponsible,” I muttered.
I pulled up a delivery app on my phone and found the closest grocery store. Between having to buy the already cut tray of fruit, having to order a few more items to meet the minimum requirement, and adding a tip, I spent way too much for someone who was watching her money.
I knocked on the door and waited. The process of ordering the fruit had made me go from on time to ten minutes late.
I tried the door handle. It was locked. Like I’d told Oliver, they were probably all in the backyard.
I left my suitcase on the porch and headed for the side gate when my phone started buzzing in my pocket.
I pulled it out, thinking it might be Oliver. Maybe he’d changed his mind about wanting to stay. It wasn’t Oliver. It was Rob. I hadn’t answered his phone calls all weekend and I didn’t want to now, but something came over me.
“Rob,” I answered. “Stop calling me.”
“You got a copy of the contract,” was how he responded.
“Is that what this harassment is about? Yes, I got it.”
“Then why the hell do you think you can poach Kari Cross from me?”
I was stunned silent. He caught me off guard and I stuttered out a defensive “I-I, that’s not what I’m trying to do.
I have to go. I’m at my sister’s.” I hung up the phone, my hands shaking.
Shit. It probably did look a lot like I was trying to steal her, with her calling me on my cell and sending me on research trips.
Was that why he sent me a copy of the contract?
I sighed out a frustrated breath of air.
I’d deal with him later. Tell him that she’d only hired me in an assistant capacity. I’d done nothing wrong.
I climbed up on the stone border of the flower bed and reached over the gate to unlatch and open it. I could hear the boys splashing in the pool as I made my way around the house. My mind was still spinning with the phone call.
I plastered a smile on my face because the only thing worse than being late to a party was being late and pissy.
My sister’s yard was just as gorgeous as her house.
A big pool surrounded by stamped concrete and a built-in bar and barbecue under a large gazebo took up half the yard.
Lush green grass framed the pool, and flowers and trees lined the cedar fence.
Her yard had been featured in some home-and-garden magazine last year, the cover of which was framed in her house.
Mom saw me first from where she was sitting in a lounge chair under a patio umbrella. She held a frozen drink and waved. “Margot!”
“Hi, everyone.”
Like the cars out front indicated, there were more people in and around the pool than just my family—several couples I didn’t recognize. Obviously, some friends had been invited, their kids playing alongside the twins, pool noodles flying.
My sister glanced over from where she was arranging food on a wooden table. Her eyes took me in and I knew exactly what she was looking for. “It’s coming,” I said when I was within talking range.
“What’s coming?” she asked just as I noticed a gorgeous tray of fruit already on the table.
I pointed at it. “I was bringing the fruit.”
“It was getting late so I just whipped something together. No big deal.”
It was too late to cancel my order. I knew that much. It had already been claimed by someone named Denise and had an estimated delivery time and everything. “I was bringing it,” I said.
“Should I put this away?” she asked in a perfectly innocent voice.
Mom had joined us now and she kissed my cheek. “You look like you got some sun this weekend.”
It was probably just frustration that had turned my cheeks pink, but Oliver and I had been outside more than I typically was, so I could’ve been a little burned.
“Hi, Mom.” I gave her a hug. Then, realizing I was just frustrated about the fruit because I was trying to save money, I gave my sister a hug too. “Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Glad you made it.”
I went and greeted my dad and Chase, who were by the grill.
“Are you going to swim with us, Aunt Margot?” Samuel yelled from the pool.
Most of the other adults wore swimsuits even though none of them was actually in the pool.
“Yes,” I said.
“Yay!” he cheered.
“I left my suitcase on the porch,” I said to my dad. “I’ll go change and be right back.”
“Okay, sweetie,” he said.
I stepped into the house. The AC was on, and compared to the warmth outside it was freezing.
Goose bumps instantly formed down my body.
I walked through the oversized kitchen adorned with every upgrade available, through the neutral-colored living room with pops of burnt orange, and opened the front door.
My suitcase looked small on the wide porch.
I wheeled it inside and changed into my swimsuit in the guest bathroom.
I’d forgotten to pack a cover-up, so I just pulled my T-shirt over the top of it and deposited my suitcase back by the front door.
The delivery app showed me my subpar fruit tray was en route. There was also a notification informing me of another missed call from Rob. I ignored that one, but did not ignore the little red number one on my email. Thinking it might be another query, I opened it as I walked toward the back door.
It was from Marissa and my heart stuttered. This was too early. She said she wanted a week. I stopped on the middle of a fluffy beige area rug. Maybe it was good news. Maybe all the agents had gotten back to her fast and she was accepting my offer. That would be the boost I needed right now.
I opened the email.
Dear Ms. Hart,
Thank you so much for your interest in Over the Moon .
It means the world to me that you were the first to believe in it.
I reached out to the agents that still had my manuscript and informed them of a pending offer.
I heard back from my dream agent at Mesner & Lloyd Lit.
I accepted her offer this morning. Thanks again and good luck with your agency!
—Marissa