14. Chapter 14
H er alarm woke both of them, and Zephyr groaned as she threw the worn-soft quilt over their heads to escape her responsibilities. “I used to love getting up at the butt crack of dawn. What happened?”
Neil was awake, too, and peered at her through the darkness of their cover.
“It’s because we’re old now.” When she mumbled half a hex in response, he tore the quilt away and interrupted her sleepy incantation.
“No cursing, and I can’t have you showing up late today.
I’m expecting a delivery, and it’s already been delayed twice. ”
Zephyr bopped him with her pillow. “I let you sleep here and this is the thanks I get?”
“You made it very clear you only let me sleep here so I could do yardwork.”
“And I meant that. I also don’t own a lawnmower, so you’ll have to figure that out.”
He laughed, grabbing her hips to drag her underneath him, possibly guaranteeing a late delivery, when her doorbell rang.
“That thing still works?” Zephyr asked, frowning. She picked up her phone, checking the time and looking for any missed calls. Nothing. “Whoever that is, I’m sicking Dale on them.”
“Could be a nosy neighbor. Plenty of those in Pumpkin Hollow.” Neil squeezed her hips once, hard, before letting her go. “Maybe they want to watch my walk of shame.”
“They’ll have to wait until after you make me breakfast,” she said, hopping off the bed to cross the icy floor.
She moved to the small, round window, and stood on tiptoe to unlock the latch, push it open, and stick her head through.
As she scanned the outside, she heard Neil laugh inside and ask her if she wanted waffles or pancakes.
She couldn’t answer, couldn’t speak a single word.
She just stared down at her front door and at the stupid weasel of a man that stood in front of it.
“Jaxon,” she whispered in horror.
“Did you just call me—”
Zephyr interrupted Neil with a strangled, frustrated scream. He blinked at her, and all the uncertainty that she thought spending the night together had banished, came racing back. “Zephyr, what’s going on?”
The weasel shouted from outside, “Are you in there, darlin’?” His southern accent had once charmed her—now it seemed as fake as the rest of him. “Darcy gave me your address. Sorry it took me so long to visit, but you get it. Racing season, am I right?”
Damn it, Darcy , Zephyr inwardly screamed. Her agent had promised to keep her return to Pumpkin Hollow a secret, but Jaxon was so, so skilled at playing the concerned lover.
When she glanced back at her bed, Neil was standing next to it, almost fully dressed and tugging on a pair of jeans. Her thoughts spun with apologies and explanations, and all she got out was, “Neil, this isn’t what you think.”
“I know,” he said.
Now she blinked at him, stunned. “You, uh, know? Know what, exactly?”
“That your ex is outside.” He fumbled with his flannel shirt collar, smoothing the rumpled fabric, and then ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t think you invited him. I’m not running away. This just seems like a pants on situation.”
Gods, how she wanted to laugh in relief.
But their relationship was too new for something this weird.
“I’m glad you understand, but I do not want you to meet him.
” It’s embarrassing. I almost married him , she thought.
She couldn’t let Neil and Jaxon Wendt be in the same room together.
Her worlds needed to stay separate. For her own sanity.
Neil went still for a long time. “Do you want me to sneak out?”
“Well, no. But I haven’t seen Jaxon since my last race, and I—”
“ What did you just say?
She could see his patience fading. This was too much, too awkward, too mishandled. She was saying all the wrong things, and she was hurting him, and…
He repeated her words carefully, even angrily . “You haven’t seen that man since your last race? Is that really the last time?”
“Yes!” she snapped. “Why would I lie about that?”
“No, you saw him in the hospital, right? Levina said you were in the hospital for months after that race. So, you saw him there. I want to understand this.”
She felt so, so small as she answered, “No. I didn’t see him there. We broke up over the phone after my last surgery. He, ah, he broke up with me.”
Her shame lived in the quiet between them until Neil offered, “I can do something about him. It’s too soon for me to fistfight your ex in your yard, but I can make it rain on him wherever he goes. I’m sure he’ll leave Pumpkin Hollow, eventually. If not, lightning can be very convincing.”
“He won’t stay away,” she grumbled. Still, Neil’s offer was very tempting. “He’ll just come back until he gets what he wants.”
“Okay, then.” Neil set his jaw. “Waffles or pancakes.”
“Uh, what ?”
He still used that ominous tone. “I said, waffles or pancakes. Pick one.”
She couldn’t think of any other answer than, “I don’t own a waffle iron.”
“Pancakes it is,” he said, and walked past her, took his time down the stairs, and entered her kitchen.
For a full minute, Zephyr stood in the middle of her bedroom, wondering how things had left her control so quickly. Luckily, Dale’s indignant screech snapped her out of it.
She ran a brush through her hair, applying gel when her fingers weren’t enough to perfect her part.
Her clothes were still unorganized, jammed inside her closet and dressers without care, though she had moved in months ago.
Now, fully panicked and trying to block out Jaxon’s voice still calling from outside, Zephyr threw on her work uniform and ran downstairs.
Neil was in front of her sink, staring out the window as Dale perched on the sill to squawk at Jaxon through the glass.
“Your familiar and I are friends now,” Neil revealed with a shrug. “We have a common enemy.” When Zephyr only watched him, stunned, Neil added, “The rainstorm is still on the table. Just say the word.” Dale chirped in agreement.
She chewed her bottom lip for a moment. “Give me a few minutes to get rid of him. I can do this on my own.”
“I know.” He walked away from the window, setting up her kitchen island with flour, eggs, and milk. “Just take a breath. No one makes good decisions while panicking. Go deal with your ex. Then come eat.”
One of those things she really didn’t want to do. “Keep Dale inside. I don’t want to become an accessory to murder.”