The only question was if I was the before or the after in her mind?
Or was I a work-in-progress?
I fisted one of the figurines in my palm and stuffed it in my jeans before leaving the room. I rushed down the stairs and grabbed my jacket. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Joe’s eyebrow quirked. “Magic elixir in that shower, boss?”
“Shut up. Did you drive Miss Kane home?”
His eyes shuttered. “She wouldn’t allow me to.”
I nodded. “Sounds just like her. Stubborn and prideful.”
“Gee, who would that sound like?”
“Yeah, well, call me an asshole later. I need to make some plans.”
Joe gave me a rare smile. “I wouldn’t call you an asshole.”
“To my face.”
He opened the door. “I almost did today.”
I swallowed. “Yeah. With good reason. I missed a damn big clue and fucked things up royally.”
“Glad you figured it out. If you took too long, I was going to go after her.” And with that bombshell, Joe strode down the stairs and to the truck.
“You better be fucking kidding,” I shouted after him.
When Joe only closed his door and started the truck, I snarled and followed him. I climbed in and snapped my belt, saying nothing.
“Give me the death glare all you want.” Joe took the hard right down Everly Lane to the main road. “She’s too fucking smart and beautiful to be alone long.”
I couldn’t deny that fact, and two days ago, I’d been prepared to let her go. I pulled the figurine out of my jeans pocket and transferred it to my jacket. I certainly didn’t need to show it off to Joe. Not when I’d like to keep a shred of my pride intact.
A fucking Grinch figurine had turned me into a lovesick puppy.
Pathetic, but I sure as shit wasn’t letting her go. Even if she thought it was a good idea. My gut was in knots at the thought of her out there thinking I didn’t give a shit about her. Stupid pride and a healthy dose of idiot made for one of the biggest mistakes of my goddamn life.
“How about you drive faster and stop thinking about my woman?”
Joe’s beard fluttered a little. Asshole was laughing at me, but fucking let him. I had work to do and only a few days to do it.
I pulled out my phone to make a few notes until we got to the airport where I had a prayer of getting a signal on my phone. Joe performed the flight checks and I let him fly us back to the city. I didn’t have the concentration for flying today and it was far safer for me to keep working on my plan.
It might be my only hope.
21
Kay
I tapped the little dancing Santa ornament on the tree in my office. He let out a maniacal “ho, ho, ho!” before relaxing back into the sweet smile that made me buy the stupid thing in the first place. Now I wanted to take out the battery and toss it in the bottom of the ornament box.
“Kay?”
I turned toward Mel’s voice. She stuck her head around the doorway, the rest of her remaining outside. “What’s up?”
“They’re asking for you. It’s time for Santa to hand out gifts.”