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Jo’s chest is mimicking mine, rising and falling deeply, her eyes turning into twin pools of…wonder? Confusion?Affection?“How do you know about me taking care of my aunt and that other work stuff?”
Too much.I said too damn much. “Windfall is the size of an ant farm. Gossip is this town’s gospel.” I shuffle back a step, then two, my face overheating with each twitchy move. “Forgot about a call I need to make for work. I’ll be back in a sec.”
I strut for my room and shut my door. Place my head on the wood and try to remember how to breathe, while I berate myself for being so goddamn obvious.
I may as well have blurted that I was in love with her before WITSEC and that I think about her way too much now—ask about her, watch out for her, work to make her life better.
A fact I can’t seem to change.
I grab my phone from my dresser and call Javier.
“Cal,” he says in greeting. “What’s up?”
“Jolene’s fridge at the Barrel is broken. Can you get over there tomorrow to fix it?”
“Ah, shit. She called about that, but I’m in the weeds. Hoping I can get out there Friday or next week.”
Which would leave Jolene frustrated and stressed for at least another four days, likely more. “Do you still need help remodeling your bathroom?”
“It looks like something from the set ofThat ’70s Show. Simone complains about it whenever she stays over.”
“I can start tomorrow—do two nights a week in the evenings with you, and Sundays instead of soccer. Get it done in a month or two, depending on the work.”
“Dude, that would be awesome.”
“Under one condition.”
He laughs. “I’ll shuffle some stuff around, get to Jo’s bar tomorrow.”
My shoulders drop a fraction. “Don’t tell her I called you.”
His lingering pause has my shoulders hitching back up. “You don’t want her to know she has a guardian angel?”
“Depends. Do you want your new girlfriend to know that you came in your jeans the first time you tried to have sex?”
“Harsh, man,” he says, more amused than irritated. “Super harsh.”
“I believe we have a deal, then.”
It’s a short-term fix. I think Jo would be happier if she didn’t have the pressure of the bar—running it the way her aunt wanted, feeling tied to it out of guilt. Without that shackle, she might push herself outside of her comfort zone, challenge herself to do something she loves more. I’ll have to think on how to help extricate her from the Barrel, without her feeling like she’s failed her aunt. Maybe there’s a loophole in her lease agreement I can use.
For now, I need to get back into my kitchen, where I won’t blurt more truths Jolene shouldn’t know.
chaptertwenty
Jolene
Keeping my eyes on Cal’s closed door, I snatch up my phone and dial Larkin’s number. I’m not sure she’ll be home. Monday is her “personal” day. The one day a week she can’t work and falls off the grid, but I’m on the verge of freaking out.
“Hey, Jo,” she answers, sounding tired and kind of sad. Gunshots blast in the background. Hopefully it’s her TV. “You’re not at work on your day off, are you?”
“God, no.” Six days a week is already too much. “I’m at home, cooking dinner with Cal, and…” I glance at his closed door.
“And?”
“I think he maybe likes me the way I like him,” I whisper. Honestly. Could I sound more like a lovestruck teen passing notes?
“Wow. Okay. An opening like that takes precedence over watching Jason Statham blow things up.” Another flurry of gunshots echoes, followed by an explosion that quickly diminishes. “You have my undivided attention and better not skimp on the juicy parts. Also, I told you so.”
