Chapter 21
Jill handed me a beer, then poured herself a tall glass of chilled white wine. She sat on the sofa, but I stayed on the floor with Chloe, who was now settling onto one of the plush beds we bought her. I couldn’t believe how well she’d adjusted to us. She was just the sweetest little thing.
“I don’t have the history you do,” Jill said, “not that I’m knocking it. You have lived the life you wanted, and there is nothing wrong with that. I haven’t exactly had a slew of boyfriends.”
“I don’t know why. You’re funny, gorgeous?—”
“And a tough broad. A lot of guys can’t handle that.”
She wasn’t wrong. For the longest time, I was one of those guys. I’d wanted nothing to do with her, but now I looked forward to her company. Once I’d gotten past her tough-broad persona, she was smart, made me laugh, was fiercely loyal, and still tough as nails, but I loved that about her, and I should have given her a chance sooner. “You’re right. A lot of guys can’t handle that. They’re wimps.” Like me.
“Yeah, so in college I dated a few guys, but nothing serious. Not even serious enough to tell my friends about. But there was one man, and I dated him for over a year.” She paused and looked me in the eye. “If I tell you about this, you have to swear you won’t tell anyone. I haven’t even told my best friends about him.”
“I swear,” I said, wondering what kind of badass this guy must have been since it seemed liked Jill, Tangi, and her friend Wolseley were super close.
“Not even Ethan.”
“I promise.”
She set her glass down on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa, massaging both her temples. “I started dating my boss at Richardson’s about six months after getting the job. We dated for over a year, and I liked him a lot, but he didn’t want to get serious. He’d just gotten out of a shitty marriage and didn’t want to be tied down again. He was also fourteen years older than me with two teenaged kids. And before you say or think it, yes, I probably have some underlying daddy issues.”
“I wasn’t going to say a thing.” Although that was exactly what I was thinking.
“I wanted something more from him, and he was just looking for a good time, and that made for a dangerous working situation for me. We broke up, and I think people had started to figure out that something wasn’t right. At the time, Richardson’s was making this big expansion into Canada, but it was a disaster. They completely underestimated the Canadian market and landscape. Shipping goods over longer distances didn’t compete with them. It’s like they didn’t understand the Canadian geography at all. They also had supply issues, but they were still trying to make a go of it.”
She ran her finger around the rim of her glass, and I thought she may change her mind and clam up, but she continued.
“Anyway, the head of PR for our Canadian expansion quit. I’m pretty sure he saw the writing on the wall and decided to bolt. How could I blame him? Eli suggested I take the job, and wouldn’t you know it, suddenly it was offered to me. The pay raise was good, and getting away from Minneapolis had its advantages. I took the job without knowing just how bad it was. So not only was I alone in a new country, the job was impossible to succeed at, and within ten months I was laid off. I’m pretty sure Eli knew all along that the job was doomed.”
“He’s an asshole.”
“He was a lot of things. He was also the longest relationship I’ve ever had.”
I sat next to her on the sofa closer than I normally would, but in more of a friendly way. I gave her a little hug and patted her knee. I also noticed how nice she smelled, and how many times had I thought of running my hands through her hair … but I pushed that dangerous thought away.
“Since it’s confession time, the last time I had a long-term girlfriend, I was in high school. Since then, I haven’t dated anyone longer than maybe six months.”
She narrowed her gaze at me. “Seriously?”
“Yup. I haven’t found the right person, and honestly, I’m not sure I’ve even looked. I liked the idea of not being tied down.”
“Since it’s confession time, what about Orla? Did you, or didn’t you?”
I felt my breath drain away. I thought of my two conversations with Orla since the video had come out. Then I thought of Lex in rehab somewhere. “I didn’t,” I said, hating the lie. “We fooled around a bit, nothing more. And he had a gambling problem long before that video came out.”
“You’ve got to stay away from her when she moves back.”
“Trust me, I don’t want to be in the same room with her.”
Chloe got a bit fussy, so it was time to take her for a walk. Jill got Chloe into her raincoat while I got her harness and leash. I was surprised when Jill got her jacket on too.
“You’re coming with me?” I asked.
“I could use the exercise,” she said with a smile.
We got outside into Vancouver’s misty rain. I put up my hoodie, and Chloe got straight to sniffing. A few people were milling around, which was usual for the neighborhood. Before I knew what I was doing, I grasped onto Jill’s hand. It felt natural, and when she didn’t pull away, we walked along her street, laughing each time Chloe stopped and looked miffed when people passing us didn’t stop to pet her.
“She’s a little social butterfly,” Jill said. “I should look into some dog parks in the area. I think she’d love playing with other dogs.
A couple with a beagle asked if their dog could meet Chloe. We let them know we’d had her just a day, and they agreed to take the risk. Within seconds the two dogs were sniffing and playing. Jill got to talking to the woman, asking her about dog parks and places Chloe could go play. The man looked at me a few times, then it clicked.
“You’re Jeremy Vaughn.”
“Yeah, that’s me,” I said, unsure of how he was going to react to me. Was he going to tell me I was a piece of shit?
“The Kodiaks are doing well this year. Too bad about the shit you went through. Donnelly sounds like he needs to get his life together. I hope you aren’t blaming yourself about that.”
“I try not to. I know no one wants to believe it, but I’ve moved on from this. By the way, this is Jill, my girlfriend, and our dog, Chloe.”
“She’s cute. We got our dog from the humane society.”
“Ours is a rescue too.”
Once Jill had wrapped up the conversation, we said our goodbyes and moved on. Chloe finally did all her business, and we headed back.
“Nadia was sweet,” Jill said.
“Nadia?”
“With the beagle. She told me there is a dog group on Sundays. She lives a few blocks away. I think I might do that. It could be my way of meeting new people.”
“Great idea.”
“And if you’re around, you should come to.”
“I like that idea too.”
We got back to the condo and Jill got to cleaning up. I noticed that about her. She was a neat freak, constantly tidying and cleaning up. I asked her if she needed help, and she shook her head.
“Nope. You can watch TV. I like cleaning. It relaxes me.”
I arched a brow. “It’s relaxing?”
“Trust me, I love it. My mother was a total slob, and it gave me satisfaction to put in my earbuds and clean. I felt like I was accomplishing something. I find cooking relaxing too, but in a different way. It’s like I’m creating something.”
I couldn’t argue with her thought process. While she cleaned, Chloe cuddled with me on the sofa. I watched whatever game was on, and when Jill was finished, she glanced at her watch and yawned.
“I know it’s barely ten, but I’m exhausted. I get up pretty early. You’re welcome to stay up as long as you want.”
She headed off to bed, and Chloe looked at me as if to ask where she was going. When she realized that Jill wasn’t coming back, she hopped off the bed and followed her, leaving me all alone. Chloe had no idea how much I wanted to follow Jill too.
I didn’t get to sleep right away. By now, I should have been able to sleep in any bed, but I kept thinking of Jill in the other room. I tossed and turned, trying to get the thought out of my head. At one point I did fall asleep and got up around six in the morning. I wandered into the bathroom, and when I finished, I stopped at Jill’s open door. I don’t know what possessed me, but I poked my head in. I could see her feet under the covers but nothing more. I took a few more steps in to see her asleep in bed, her blonde hair sprawled over the pillow. Chloe was right up against her, her head resting on Jill’s arm.
I snuck back out and didn’t try to get back to sleep. I snooped through all the drawers until I found the coffee. Ethan had some state-of-the-art maker, and it took me fifteen minutes and a YouTube video to figure it out. I had practice that morning and planned to go to my place for a pregame nap. I was thinking about this and staring at the coffeemaker when Jill padded into the kitchen with Chloe at her heels.
I glanced over and nearly did a double take. Jill had on a simple T-shirt and pajama shorts that showed off her long, toned legs. I tried not to stare at her disheveled hair that made her look sexy.
“Morning,” I said. “I finally figured out the coffee machine. How did you sleep with your new sleeping partner?” The one that wasn’t me.
Her face lit up. “Actually, really good. She cuddled up with me and it was kind of nice. Thanks for making the coffee. You need a degree to work that machine.”
She yawned as she went to grab a mug. I had to stop staring at her.
“While this coffee takes forever to make, I’ll go take Chloe for a quick walk. I can’t stay for breakfast. I have practice and I don’t want to eat before I go. You okay being with Chloe until after I get home from the game?”
“Yeah, but you’re not coming back after practice?”
I explained the whole game-day nap, and she understood. What I really needed was for her to get dressed. Her shorts were short.
“All right. I’m sure Chloe and I can handle it,” she said, leaning over and scratching Chloe behind the ears. I took the quickest of glances down her shirt and had to look away. The crest of her breasts was more than enough to get me going.
“Let’s go, Chloe,” I said quickly. I had to get out of there before she figured out what was going on. More importantly, I needed to figure out what was going on.