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“Then what about dinner tonight at my house?” he now asks, and I’m trying to figure out if he’s this oblivious or if he’s really this interested in us getting together tonight
“Dylan, seriously, not now. I will text you later. I have to deal with something for Jack and Lauren’s house.” I let out a hard sigh, trying to keep myself from crying.
“Fine, Tess,” he now mutters, probably feeling as defeated as I do. I watch him walk away, the guilt taking over, feeling like I should chase him down, but I need to remember why I’m here. I can make things right with him later.
I finally make it over to my car, my mind now focused on getting things settled with the house. But just as I pull my laptop from the car, setting it on the hood to get started, Ellen pulls up.
Out of her SUV hops her twins Olivia and Oscar, and from what I’ve seen of them, they are a riot. Oscar has this incredible relationship with his Uncle Jack that would make anyone’s heart swell. I can only imagine what he’ll be like as a dad given how great he is with his niece and nephew.
“We’re getting a dog!” Olivia shouts as she jumps out of the backseat.
“A big dog!” Oscar adds, running up to me.
“Um, what?” Ellen says, her brow furrowed and her hands on her hips. “You asked me if we could get a dog and I said no. You heard me, right?”
“Yeah,” Oscar says nodding. “But we’ll just nag you until you say yes.”
“That means eventually we’ll get a dog,” Olivia adds. “There are two of us and one of you. We can be very persuasive.”
Ellen runs her hands down her face, shaking her head. “Have kids, it will be fun,” she mutters, and I can’t help but laugh a little.
“If you had to return one of us, who would it be?” Oliva questions, winking at her mom and tilting her head in her brother’s direction. “Oscar. It would be Oscar, right?”
“It would be you,” Oscar chides, sidling up to his mom and flashing her a toothy grin before turning and glaring at his sister. “Mom always says you’re the annoying one.”
“Oscar,” Ellen shames, “I’ve never said that. I would get rid of both of you.” She laughs out loud, making both of their mouths drop open. I can see where they get their sarcastic sense of humor from. “Now go into my office and get your homework done.” Ellen snaps her fingers and points toward where the Somerville offices are located and Olivia rolls her eyes, but both of them do as they are told.
“They’re a good time,” I joke, smiling at Ellen as I try to settle myself down and focus.
“They really are. Exhausting, but fun,” she replies, falling silent for a second. “You doing okay?” Her head is cocked to the side as she looks me over. Maybe it’s the mother in her that can sense my unease.
“Just a little overwhelmed, that’s all.”
“With work? Dylan? Both?”
“Both, but mostly with Dylan,” I admit, feeling those tears pool once again.
“I’m guessing you both want the same thing but you’re struggling to talk to each other. I’ve been there and all it does is make you think the worst. Speculation is a relationship killer,” Ellen says, elbowing me in the side a little as she smiles.
“I know and I need to stop being so weird about the whole thing. It’s hard because we went into this as nothing more than hooking up and then I changed my mind. I worry that he’s just going with what I want…” I stop talking, not finishing my thought. As I say it out loud, I realize how ridiculous it sounds.
“You really think he’d stick around just to play games with your head? I don’t know Dylan that well, but he seems way too genuine for that. Kinda seems like he might actually like you,” Ellen teases, winking at me.
I let her words sink in. There’s no way he’s just waiting around to get laid. Looking like him and with his charm, he could pick a girl up anywhere. All this back and forth, all this drama I’m creating is probably driving him away. I need to get my shit together.
“Thanks, Ellen,” I say, taking her words to heart.
“No problem. Now if you could go have a conversation with my kids about doing their homework for me, that would be great.”
She walks off, leaving me to sort out this mess with the late beam and trying to figure out how to keep the project running. I call the company that is supposed to deliver the beam and get a new arrival date. I then scour the list of projects, eliminating ones that require inspections or additional materials, until I find one that can be started right away. It might not be the order we would usually do things in, but it will keep the project on track.
I head back to the jobsite and unload my new plan on Jim, who then relays it to the guys on the job, and like that, things are moving along. I breathe out a sigh of relief knowing I’ve tackled one thing, but now it’s time to set things right with Dylan.
A few minutes later, I find him hauling some fallen branches out of the orchard, his shirt sleeves are rolled up, revealing his toned and tattooed arms. His skin glistens with sweat and a part of me is wondering why the hell we are waiting for this whole hook up thing. Seeing him right now has me thinking I’ve lost my damn mind.
“Hey!” I yell out to him, stopping a few feet short of where he’s standing. He smiles when he turns around and sees me, making my heart hammer wildly in my chest. The look on his face screams there’s no one else he’d rather see and I love it.
“Hey to you.”
“Dinner tonight at your place?”
“Does seven work?” he asks as I walk closer to him.
“It does,” I reply, resting my hands on his chest when I reach him. I push up on my toes, kissing him. “I’m sorry,” I whisper against his mouth.
“So am I,” he murmurs back, kissing a path along my cheek to my ear. “I’ll make it up to you tonight. Maybe with my tongue,” he adds, letting the tip of his tongue trace the shell of my ear.
“I think I could be up for that.”
