Ihated that I was in some sort of weird limbo. It felt like the universe was pushing Donovan and me towards each other. Or maybe it was just pushing me. He magically appeared when I needed him, and he was my shelter from the storm raging in my life.
Donovan drove us to the store, and while we waited for Murphy to meet us at Grá, I went in to help start stocking, and he ran to his office.
Maeve, not one to mince words, was all over me as soon as I strode in. “Donovan dropped you off? But your car is here. What is going on, Audra?”
“Good morning to all of you as well,” I play bowed. “My car wouldn’t start last night, and he happened to be coming back here late to grab his car that had been parked here since the reveal, so he drove me. Where’s Cora?”
“I’m here!” Cora’s shout came from the back. “Just getting some things organized so we can start putting stuff out. I can heareverything, though!”
“Drove you? I hope you mean drove into you,” Jules threw out.
“Not quite. He drove me home. Well, that was the intent, at least,” I answered.
“But you couldn’t keep your hands off of each other, and you spent the night making sweet, sweet love?” Jules tried again.
“That’s my boss, Jules. Take it down a notch,” Maeve interjected.
“Yeah, well, your boss is fucking gorgeous,” Jules shot back.
“Wrong again, you freaking sex maniac. No, actually…”I began as Cora emerged, and I steeled myself for my admission.
“Audra, your face just fell. What’s going on?” Cora picked up on it immediately.
“I need this to stay here, ok? For right now, at least.” I took another deep breath. I wondered if this was part of his plan. To make me feel so embarrassed and uncomfortable that it made me not want to tell people. “Theo was on my porch last night. Uninvited. When Donovan pulled up, we saw him, but he didn’t notice us. We bailed, and I went to Donovan’s house to sleep. Not with him,” I threw in, looking at Jules.
I conveniently left out that he woke me from a nightmare, cuddled me back to sleep, and that I definitely saw his dick. “I’m really overwhelmed because it’s not the first time Theo has done something in the past month, and it’s just … it’s giving me a bad feeling.”
“Audra. Why didn’t you say anything?” Cora gave me the most sympathetic eyes.
“Because everyone has their own shit they’re dealing with. And I know this last week has been especially hellacious for you,” I said, looking at Cora.
There was no more joking in Jules as she spoke. “Have you documented everything?”
I nodded.
“And have you thought about going to the police? Emergency restraining orders are a thing.”
I nodded again. “Donovan was going to come with me after we figured out the car thing.”
“Ok, good,” Jules said.
“I’m sorry I didn’t pick up on this, Audra,” Maeve interjected, looking hurt. “I have had my head wrapped around my stupid brother and the implication of everything he’s done. Plus, if we’re into sharing right now, Tucker has been acting a little off lately, too. Just a little secretive. It’s put me on edge and in my head about it.”
“Well, aren’t we a mess?” I tried to lighten the mood. “Jules, anything you feel like sharing?”
“Not a damn thing,” she smirked. “Anywho, Audra, do you want to keep talking and processing? I know when I first started to come to terms with all the shit I went through, I didn’t always want to talk about it. So we can do manual labor in the form of stocking products to keep busy and occupied instead? You know, we could even stock and talk at the same time because we are that good.”
My answer was quick. “No, I don’t really want to talk about it. I’m still trying to sort through the onslaught of feelings I have. Let’s just stock.”
Cora came over to hug me and then went to the back to put on some music, and before we knew it, we all were dancing around filling the shelves with goodies. We were making substantial progress when Donovan popped his head in the door to let me know Murphy would be there in ten.
“Ok, guys, I have ten minutes before Murphy is here. Afterwe figure out my car, I have to go down to the station before I lose my nerve. After that, I can come back here to keep helping.”
When I left Grá, I found Donovan leaning on his car with his trunk open. His head was down, and he was so engrossed in whatever was happening on his phone that I had the opportunity to take him all in. The man was delicious. When he looked up, he saw me staring, and a smile crept across his face. He outshined the damn sun. I jumped up into the Navigator and sat next to him while giving him a playful nudge. Just then, the twins pulled up. They must have taken Maverick to the airport together. I couldn’t believe he actually left. I don’t know what Donovan texted Murphy, but neither of them blinked twice when we were sitting next to each other. No jokes, insinuations, no anything. It was very unlike either of their playful natures not to stir the pot. Or maybe they were just in their heads about the Maverick thing, too.
“How’d it go?” I asked when I saw them.
“Well, he’s an idiot, that’s for sure,” replied Murphy.
