I stare at him, my jaw on my lap. What the hell is he doing? We don’t have to pretend to be a couple in front of my parents. Which begs the question, what the hell is he doing?
11
Brody
Three days until Christmas Eve:
* * *
Despite it being early Monday morning—did all these people miss the memo that Mondays suck?—the streets are busy, alive with activity as I finish walking Mabel and head toward home. Technically it’s not my home, it’s Josie’s place, yet in the few short days I’ve been staying with her, it’s somehow started to feel like my home too, and I haven’t been this happy on a Monday morning in a very long time. But I can’t think like that. We’re just having fun, right? Nothing more. All that sex was just…sex. Nothing deeper, no hidden meaning behind her touch, no telegraphed messages that she too might want more. Like I do. But will I fuck it all up in the end? The last thing I want to do is hurt Josie in any way. In fact, I want to do things for her, be there for her. With that thought in mind, I walk past the pharmacy, and see a photo kiosk where you can print pictures in minutes.
I tug my phone from my pocket, and grin as an idea forms. I open the door to allow Miss Mabel to enter, and she happily walks inside. I follow behind and a burst of warmth washes over me. I’m glad all the shops in this town are dog friendly and don’t mind Miss Mabel tagging along. Chatter reaches my ear and I turn to find a bustling giftware boutique at one end of the store. The shelves are filled with unique Christmas gifts that customers are sorting through, and filling their baskets with last minute presents.
With Mabel in tow, everyone stops to pet her. People are so damn friendly in this festive town. I chat with a few people, and everyone asks about Josie. I like that they do, like that they care about her, and don’t just want to know about me and my NHL career. It’s clear that everyone now knows we’re a couple, now. It’s also clear how well liked she is in this small town. Then again, what’s not to like? She’s kind, and sweet and nice to everyone
, except if you soak her with cold slush. I chuckle silently at that. She was having a bad day, and I made it worse. Guilt niggles at me as I think about her phone. I took a shit load of pictures of Mabel at the park today, and I really hope she had all her photos backed up. I would never forgive myself if she lost anything important.
I snatch up a cute picture frame that says, ‘Best Pawent’ and head to the kiosk to print some pictures. After we pay, we walk back home and Miss Mabel makes a beeline to her bed to collapse, all tuckered out from our play. I remove the frame from the bag and slide the picture in. Glancing around her place, I look for the best location to display the gift, and decide the perfect place is on the window ledge over the sink. It’s the best place for her to notice it when she comes home and I hope it brings a smile to her face. Her place is in need of pictures. That thought makes me laugh, because my house is no different. It lacks warmth.
I send a text off to Declan to see what he’s up to today, and head downstairs to the Chocolate Lab to check in with Josie. I reach the bottom step and look through the glass partition to spot Josie at the front counter, the phone pressed to her ear, panic all over her face. My heart leaps with worry, just as a noise in the lab catches my attention, and I turn to see Kayley. She smiles at me, but she too looks a bit frazzled.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?” I ask Kayley as she refills a tray with chocolate bark from one of the fridges.
“Our driver is out sick. We have a ton of orders and neither of us can go because we’re too busy.” I look through the partition again and count at least fifteen people milling about the store. Without thinking twice about it, I head back upstairs, grab my coat and hat and hurry back downstairs.
Josie’s face lights up when she sees me, and it wraps around my heart and squeezes tight. “How did you and Miss Mabel make out?” she asks as she rings in an order. To the left of her, I spot boxes and bags with addresses on them.
“Great. She’s napping.”
“Are you going somewhere?” She glances at my head as I tug on my hat. “Hanging out with Declan?”
“Nope.” I pick up one of the bags and check the address. “I’m headed to Acorn Street.” She goes completely still, confusion on her face. “House number twenty-four, to be exact.”
She turns from me and smiles as she bags the chocolate she just rang in and hands it over to the customer. “What are you talking about?” Her frown is back as she turns back to me.
I almost want to come back with a smart-ass comment, as I normally would, but she doesn’t look like she’s in the mood for teasing. “Kayley said your driver is sick, and I just happen to be free, and I have a car.”
“No, Brody.” She shakes her head and takes the box of chocolate from the next person in line. “I can’t ask you to do that. You’re here on vacation. I’ll find someone.”
“You already have.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, her gaze flies to mine. You already have. My God, I want to be the guy she finds, the guy she trusts not only her body with but her heart, too. Yes, I get it, she’s a little lost, hasn’t lived life in a long time, and is likely too afraid to put her heart on the line again after losing her husband. I don’t blame her, but if she ever trusted me with it, I would be damn sure to treasure it. Damn sure not to do anything to fuck this up. I can’t. I won’t.
I gesture with a nod over her head. “Do you have any more out back, or is this it?”
“Brody, you don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
“I can pay you.”
“Oh, you’ll pay,” I say and give her a teasing wink. A blush crawls up her neck, and she nibbles her bottom lip like she’s remembering all the fun we had last night. I turn to Kayley, who is grinning at the two of us. “Is this it?”
“For now,” she tells me. “I’m sure there will be more when you return from this run.”
I load up the bags, and the lady at the cash leans in and says to Josie, “You’ve got a good one there.”
“Yeah, I do,” Josie says and I toss a grin over my shoulders at her.