She was about to ask him how, but she felt his breathing settle into the rhythm of sleep. She lay there for the longest time wondering if she’d changed things for the better or the worse.chapter sevenZep woke up to the smell of bacon.
All in all, it wasn’t a horrible way to start the morning, but then he remembered what had happened the night before.
He forced himself to sit up.
He was in Roxanne’s bed, but it wasn’t a forever thing. It was a “Hey, we’re here for a week, why not work out some stress?” thing.
It still hurt and he wished it didn’t. He wished he could take what she’d said, process it, and move on.
She was going to leave and he would be left alone to figure out what to do with the rest of his life, which would probably involve hanging out with friends who were all getting married and being that weird guy who’s always around but doesn’t truly have a place.
The funny thing was this general sense of discontent hadn’t hit him until he’d met her. He’d been content that he’d done what he needed to do and helped out his family. But then he’d met Roxanne and realized what not making something of himself was going to cost him. It was going to cost him her.
He slid out of bed and checked his phone. He had a couple of texts from his friends wondering where he was since he hadn’t been at The Back Porch for two nights in a row. It reminded him that he had a schedule and it wasn’t exactly filled with stuff to do.
He missed Luc. For the first years of his nephew’s life, he’d seen that kiddo every single day. Then Sera and Harry had gotten married and they’d moved out to the B and B. Now he was lucky to see him once or twice a week. He hadn’t realized how much being around Luc had made him feel like he was doing something important.
The phone rang and his mother’s number came up. It was past noon, so at least she’d waited awhile before making the call that had been utterly inevitable. He’d managed to duck her when he’d gotten his stuff the day before, and she hadn’t said anything last night since they’d been in front of Roxanne, but he’d known this was coming. “Hey, Momma.”
“Zéphirin, you naughty boy. What is going on between you and that sweet deputy?”
“Momma, she’s not exactly sweet.” Except she’d felt that way the night before when she’d wrapped herself around him. They’d nestled together like puzzle pieces and he’d slept better than he had in ages.
“Oh, she is in her own way,” his mother insisted. “Now, what are you doing with her? I heard a rumor that you’re tricking her mother and father into thinking she has a boyfriend because her mother meddles. I can’t imagine what that’s like. The poor girl.”
Sure she couldn’t. “Anyway, I’m staying here for a few days. It’s not a big deal. I’ll be back by Monday, if not sooner. If you need anything, all you have to do is call.”
“Baby, wait. I want to talk to you. Your brother is worried about you. He talked to me this morning because he heard you went on a call last night. I told him that I was there and you were with the deputy. She wasn’t on duty. She wasn’t supposed to be there, was she? Remy thinks you two might be getting in pretty deep.”
Well, of course his brother was worried. Remy was always worried about him. But that was what happened when big brother had to go halfway across the country to get little brother out of jail the one time he’d decided to follow his heart. His heart? It was more like his dick, though it had been his heart that really got him in trouble. “I’m fine. I’m doing a friend a favor. Everything’s going back to normal next week.”
Normal and boring. His days were dull, and his nights seemed to drag on until they mixed together and he couldn’t tell one from the other.
“She’s never been your friend, Zep. Do you think I don’t know that you spent the night with her and then she started arresting you at all turns?”
No one ever said his momma didn’t lay it on the line. “All right, I’m helping out a woman I like.”
“How much do you like her? You’ve never said anything about her to me. I always thought you were more the free-love type.”
He could point out to his mother that love was rarely free. Everyone paid for it one way or another. He worried what he felt for Roxie was going to cost him a lot. Not in money, but then he’d learned there were far more precious things than cash. But he wasn’t about to tell his mother that. She would get with Miss Marcelle and start working on a love spell or some nonsense. “Roxie and I are friends, nothing more. I know we don’t hang out a lot, but we understand each other.”