I paused, a tug-of-war raging in my mind over the idea of sending her away. It was so appealing. I could get my life back, not have to worry about melodrama—other than that found in the comforts of reality TV—and Nick and I could see each other a lot more often without a third wheel. Maybe even spend a night together…
Focus, Carly.
On the other hand, if I sent her away now, she’d probably never speak to me again. Or, at least not for a very long time. She’d have an even bigger chip on her shoulder. And really, at the end of the day, would our seventy-something-year-old grandmother be able to handle her any better than I could?
“No, it’s all right. I think we’re reaching a better place and I don’t want to mess things up.”
I couldn’t believe the words leaving my lips. I’d just signed away the rest of my summer.
My dad breathed an audible sigh of relief. Apparently, he’d been dreading calling my grandmother for a bailout.
“There’s one thing…maybe you can help,” I started.
“Anything, Noodle.”
“There’s this dog…”
18
Carly
* * *
“I got a four legged surprise at work today.”
I laughed softly at Nick’s greeting as he answered my call. After hanging up with my dad, I’d called him to arrange a meeting to swap the dog back to my possession. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t sound sorry,” he teased.
My laugh petered off but I couldn’t completely wipe the smile away. “I am. I panicked. Trust me, I’m already on Aaron’s list.”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, I heard about it all afternoon.”
“I bet. Well, if it makes it up to you, I’ll be taking the little fluff back into custody. I talked to my dad this evening and he said that Alesha can keep the dog. So, I’m going to give her another chance.”
“All right,” Nick agreed with a chuckle.
“Hey, are you off work? I just finished closing down.”
I hadn’t left the shop, but the till was locked in the safe, the lights were all turned off, and I was minutes away from setting the security system and heading out the door.
“I’m still up the hill, but I can leave anytime. Aaron blazed outta here a few minutes ago, so I’ve just been putzing around with this plane. We’re at a tricky part in the reconstruction and I get a little…obsessed…with things like this. But for you, I’ll happily leave it for the morning.”
I smiled at the happiness in his tone and my heart swooned, filled with longing to be back in his arms. “Glad to hear it. I need to go home and talk to Alesha, but after that, I’d let you take me out for a beer. Harvey’s?”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll head out and get cleaned up. Ya know unless you’d prefer me dirty.”
A shiver snaked through me at the deep tone in his voice.
God, the man did things to me.
I hadn’t been able to stop pining for him since our late-night make out in the cab of his truck. Any spare moment my mind got, it wandered back to that moment and played out any one of a dozen scenarios of what would have happened if the sheriff hadn’t stopped us before things got too carried away. But that didn’t stop me from indulging myself with the nasty thoughts of what could have happened if we’d gone a few steps further.
“Dirty works for me,” I replied, my own tone husky and urgent.
Nick groaned and I smiled to myself. It was fun knowing he wanted me just as much as I wanted him. In the past, when I’d been out and wanted to have a casual one night or one weekend kind of fling, it was a lot of flirting that led to a hot night between the sheets. There hadn’t been a need—or desire—for long, drawn out games and, in most cases, very little foreplay. With Nick, everything was foreplay. Every smile, laugh, secret glance, and casual touch was all one long game leading up to what was bound to be an explosive night when we finally found the time.
As we made our plans to meet, my mind kicked into overdrive, wondering if it might be the night all the talk turned into action.
I grinned to myself as I hung up the phone and walked back into the kitchen to grab my purse. On the way to the door, I decided that I’d shave past the knee just in case.
“Leash? You home?” I stepped into the house and shrugged my purse off my shoulder and dropped it onto the table by the front door. “Alesha?”
I scoffed at the resounding silence. “Son of a bitch, Alesha. This is getting so fuckin’ old.”
I stomped into the kitchen, swept the counter for the sign of a note, and cursed again when I went upstairs and found her room not only empty but ransacked as though she’d packed up her shit in a hurry.