Liana
“Noeva, I haven’t touched that money. Stop asking me every day,” I fussed into the phone.
“Bitch, you’re crazy as hell. You said the little game said you were protected.”
“And I should blindly trust that, huh? Do you hear how you sound? Do you want me in prison?”
“You are so damn dramatic. But no, I guess I don’t, shit.” She moved on without ceremony. “You ready for Bloom Day? I got so much to handle. Wren said she needs the best cleats, and I’m too irritated with Beau to ask him about it.”
“Why are you mad at Beau?”
“His overzealous ass showed up at my door with dinner.”
“I’m confusion, bestie. That was sweet.”
“Was it? Luckily, Wren was occupied. I don’t want her getting confused or attached and then hurt. He cannot be popping up on me like that.”
“Sis.” I switched Esme’s leash to my other hand. “I understand that. I respect the mother you are, and I respect that it’s Wren first always. But your happiness helps keep Wren first. You being poured into helps you pour into her. I think you need to give it a sho?—”
Esme jerked the leash clean out of my hand and took off down the alley near the dog park at full speed.
“Esme. Esme!” I took off after her. “Noeva, let me call you back.”
I rounded the corner and stopped when I spotted her on her back showing a shirtless Jaheim her belly.
“Hey Essie, what’s up, girl?”
He glanced up at me. “Hey Trini.”
The easy smirk on his face mixed with that damn twinkle in his eyes sent butterflies loose in my stomach before I could stop them.
“Hey, sorry about this.”
“Sorry for what? You know I live here?”
“No.”
“Aight then. What y’all up to on this beautiful day?”
He turned and tossed the trash bag into the dumpster giving me the perfect view of his back muscles flexing and pulling. I blew out a frustrated breath.
“Like what you see?” he asked with a wicked smile. I hadn’t even realized my lip had slipped between my teeth.
I grabbed Esme’s leash and headed out. It had been a week since I saw him. I needed to stick to my policy. This was supposed to be a tonight thing.
At least that had been the plan before I sampled the dick.
“Wait up. I asked you a question.”
I stopped as he caught up and stood in front of me.
“I was taking her to the dog park to walk around and get some steps in,” I said, flashing my watch.
He nodded. “Can I join?”
“Are you going to put on a shirt?” I asked, eyes roaming over his chiseled chest and abs. “I can’t have you walking around with me looking like a slut.”
He laughed and shook his head. I found nothing funny.
“Yeah, I can do that. Give me a minute. You want dinner tonight? I can cook for you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t have to. You want to eat or not?”
Esme was already sitting at his feet looking up at me with zero patience for my hesitation. Frankly neither did I. I didn't have any plans. I never had plans.
“Okay, I could eat,” I said.
“Cool. Don’t leave me.”
I smiled with a nod. He disappeared inside, leaving Esme and me outside.
“Essie, what the hell?” I fussed, kneeling in front of her.
She refused to look me in the eye.
“Oh, it’s like that, you little traitor? Maybe your new friend can take you in, feed you, get your treats and toys from Chewy. On auto ship, might I add.”
She whined and covered her face with her paw.
“That’s what I thought.”
“I can help co-parent Essie, it ain’t nothing,” he said, emerging from inside in under three minutes in a white tee and sweats, keys in hand. I wanted to wipe the smirk off his handsome face.
I rolled my eyes and kept walking. He fell into step beside me like it was the most natural thing in the world. And that was exactly the problem.
I didn’t want easy. Easy didn’t give me a reason to keep my distance. I had been waiting for some kind of static, one moment that made the policy make sense again, and it hadn’t shown up yet.
Jaheim Harrison kept being exactly who he appeared to be.
I didn’t know what to do with a man like that.
The dog park was new, one of those little changes that kept popping up around Bloomington lately.
Fresh turf, agility equipment, and a few benches along the perimeter.
A couple of other dogs were already running around the space when we got there.
Esme looked back at me once for permission.
I unclipped her leash, and she was gone.
We sat on the bench and watched her work the park.
“You been good?” he asked.
“Busy. Bloom Day is coming up, so I’ve been planning.”
“Beau told me about it. Am I invited?”
“The whole town is invited. Or were you looking for one from me personally?”
“Hell yeah, I want a personal invite.”
My eyes cut to him. “What did Beau tell you?”
“That your family built this town.” He said it simply. “Every last brick.”
I looked back out at Esme. “Every last brick is right. It’s a legacy I’m proud of. It took heartbreak to appreciate it, but here we are.”
“That explains a lot about you.”
“Does it?”
“How you carry yourself in that bar. How this town moves around you and respects you.” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “You’re not just the bartender. You’re the whole thing. You’re what your ancestors built this town for.”
I didn’t have anything to say to that, so I didn’t say anything. Instead, I let the sounds of the park speak for us as we sat in the late afternoon silence.
An hour later, we were back at his building. Jaheim held the door open for me. I followed him in and stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
The lair was exactly what I expected and nothing like what I expected. Screens everywhere, equipment I didn’t have names for. It smelled like a man lived here, but not a sloppy one. Everything had a place. The lock box on the desk caught my eye. I filed it away without commenting.
“Up here,” he said, already on the stairs.
I followed him up. The whole building opened up to exposed brick, the color of rust and clay.
Hardwood floors caught the evening light coming through floor to ceiling windows on the far wall.
High ceilings, modern furniture, a kitchen that looked like somebody actually used it.
Esme went straight to the rug in front of the couch, turned three circles, and then lay down like she had been doing it for years.
“She likes this place.”
“Esme is good with me. I’m serious about co-parenting. I’ll be a good pup pop.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Cowboy.”
“Make yourself comfortable,” he said, moving to the kitchen. “I’m going to order the groceries. Should be here in twenty.”
I sat at his kitchen island and looked around at the life he had built in this building in six months. “You did all this in six months?” I asked.
“I knew when I came here, I’d be sticking around. I stayed at the inn for a little while and then I decided it was time to find a forever home. So I spent the money to get it how I wanted. Money talks, baby.”
“As the unofficial mayor, I’ve only been nice to you as a courtesy. A duty if you will.”
“Oh, is that so?” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “Well, thank you for all your southern hospitality. Do you welcome all cowboys by riding them? Or was that a me thing? Tell me something good.”
“No. Only that one time. Special circumstances.”
“Mhhm.” He kept his arm where it was and went back to the grocery app. “So what made it special?”
From the corner of my eye he was unbothered, scrolling like he hadn't just asked me something I didn’t have a clean answer to.
“I told you I don’t know what it is about you,” I said.
“You’ll tell me when you figure it out?”
“Scout’s honor. So this is the Bat Lair.” I looked around. “Do you work for the government?”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes, hmm. So like banks and stuff too?”
He scoffed and tilted his head, “What you tryna ask me, Trini?”
“Just trying to get to know my new friend,” I said, chickening out completely.
The buzzer saved me. Groceries arrived, and he got up to get them, allowing me to exhale and recenter.
He turned on People Everyday by Arrested Development and led me back to the island.
“Sit. You want wine or water?”
“Wine. Thank you.”
He poured and got to work.
I sat there with my wine, watching Jaheim move around the kitchen effortlessly while the music played through the speakers. The inconvenience I expected to feel slowly disappeared, replaced by the creeping realization that I was exactly where I wanted to be.
I wasn’t even mad about it anymore.
“I really love your place, Jah. Modern, chic, strong. It’s you. And it’s massive.”
“Besides, Beau, you’re the only person I’ve allowed in my space. Here, but also in general. In a long time.”
“What about Camille?” I asked, keeping my voice easy.
“What about her, Bloom? She ain’t here with us.”
I let that go and filed it away. He was right.
I knew it. But I also knew that Camille existed for a reason.
She was his age. Probably came without the divorce paperwork and three years of carefully constructed distance.
I wasn't insecure about it. I was just honest enough to know that sometimes men went looking for what was familiar and uncomplicated. I was neither of those things.
What I was, was right here. In his home, as he cooked dinner for me. I was choosing to focus on that.
“You like cooking?”
“I see it as a necessity. But I take pride in eating well, so I guess I like it a little.”
“Did your mom teach you?”
“Not really,” he said, looking off somewhere past the stove.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool. I lost her when I was twelve.”
I came around the island and hugged him from behind without thinking about it. Affection came easy with him in ways that still surprised me. He stilled for a second before settling into it. His hand came up and covered mine where it rested on his chest.
“I survived. Maybe I’ll say more one day.”
“No pressure,” I said, and meant it.
“Ready to eat?” he asked, clearing his throat.
“More than ready. It smells so good in here.”