“Well, it wasn’t really her safety I was thinkin’ about.” She grinned, showing off the same dimples both of her daughters had. “I was talkin’ more about her… satisfaction.”
“That’s it!” Charli said, throwing her hands up in the air as she curled her hands around her mama’s shoulders. “You’re leavin’ now.” She kissed her mama on the cheek before she said, “I love you, crazy lady. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I kept walking with Aidy, guiding her down the wide stone steps to her Ford Explorer.
She unlocked the door and I opened it for her before she turned to face me. “I meant what I said, Dade. You’re a good man. Don’t give up on love just because you haven’t found a woman who appreciates you.”
Chapter 5
Charli
Iwas pretty sure if dying from embarrassment was a thing Dade would have been calling 911 by the time mama pulled away. She’d humiliated me plenty of times before but not in front of Dade-freakin’-Jarvis. Was she crazy? I was gonna talk to Cece about having her tested ‘cause she clearly wasn’t firing on all cylinders anymore.
“Dade,” I said, holding my hand up before he could enter his own house. “I’m sorry doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
He surprised me by pulling me into his arms. “Relax, okay? I like your mama. And she seems to like me. No harm done.”
I tipped my head back to look him in the eye, but I dipped it again when my cheeks started to burn. “But the things she said, the questions she asked…” I shook my head. “There are no words.”
He chuckled, making his powerful chest rumble before he slid a finger under my chin and forced me to look at him. “Hey, I like people who are real with me, Charli. Is your mama a little too real? Maybe. But I’ve had enough fake to last a lifetime.”
I felt like he was begging me to be real with him, but if I told him what was really on my mind, I didn’t think I’d be sleeping alone tonight. And that was risky. He was my boss now. We had to draw some new boundary lines.
“I appreciate you being so understanding about this. Most guys would—”
He pressed his fingertip against my lips. “I’m not most guys. I like you. And I like your family. Cece and Knox are two of my best friends, so whatever happens, I don’t want you to worry about offending me. You won’t.” He smiled. “I’ve had to develop a pretty thick skin over the years. Not much anyone can say or do to offend me anymore.”
Yet he’d had a hard time dealing with the fall-out after his last break-up. That told me he wasn’t as resilient as he pretended to be. His heart wasn’t made of stone. Callous comments and judgements still hurt him.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I slipped out of his embrace, needing some distance to think straight. “I’m sure you’ve learned to let a lot of things bounce off you, Dade. But you’re not made of Teflon. No one is. And I don’t think you should have to pretend to be.” I was probably overstepping, but I didn’t care. If we were going to be working together he’d get to know the real me eventually.
He watched me wander toward the kitchen before he said, “I appreciate knowing I can be real with you.” His expression was pensive as he followed. “It’s not easy for me to trust people. Especially women. Yet I feel like I can trust you already, so that’s a pretty big deal for me.”
I liked knowing that I’d earned his trust. I hoped that meant we could have a solid working relationship and maybe even a friendship. “I’m glad.” I walked past him into the living room to collect the tray of dishes. “That’ll make this easier, don’t you think?”
He took the tray out of my hands when I broached the step that separated the living room and kitchen. “Let me get that.”
“Thanks.” It was his house, and I wasn’t even an invited guest, but I felt the least I could do was clean up after my mother’s visit. “Um, if you just wanna show me to that guest house, I’ll get out of your hair. I’m sure you have better things to do tonight than entertain me.”
“Actually, I was thinking since it’s getting late, why don’t you just crash here tonight? I can set you up in the pool house in the morning. I’d like to make sure it’s stocked first anyhow. I didn’t have a chance to mention to my housekeeper that you’d be staying there, since honestly, it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision.”
I watched him put dishes in the dishwasher before coming around the island to hand wash the teapot. “I hate that one stupid little kiss turned your life upside down like this.” I didn’t like feeling like a nuisance and even though I might be of some value to Dade as his assistant, I was sure he didn’t want a house guest.
He side-eyed me as I filled the farm style copper sink with warm water and soap. “I kissed you, not the other way around. So if anyone should be apologizing for this mess, it’s me.”
I couldn’t regret a single thing that happened between us. I teased him about some stupid bucket list, but truth be told, it had been a long time since I’d had the kind of connection with a man that I’d had with him. The sex was incredible, but beyond that, for those few brief hours, I felt like someone other than my family and friends actually cared about me.
“Don’t apologize.” I turned the water off and dipped my hands into the lavender scented bubbles. “I’m not sorry about what happened, Dade. Not that very public kiss…” I looked up at him. “Or what happened after.”
“Really?”
I loved that someone who was so outwardly confident still had some uncertainty. It let me know that he wasn’t so full of himself that he assumed every woman wanted him. “Really.”
I rinsed the teapot and pulled a drawer open, looking for a drying towel. I found a neat stack of them and plucked one off the top.
He faced me, taking the dry teapot out of my hands, before he said, “I’m glad to hear you say that. We’d had a few drinks and—”
