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She waved me off when I tried to help her sit, instead bracing a palm on the table and lowering herself slowly into the chair. Grimacing, she rubbed her right knee. It had been bothering her more lately, hence the doctor visit.
“These doctors, they all want the same thing. To cut you open and replace your perfectly good bones with metal.”
“Oh, no, it’s that bad?” I placed a glass of water in front of her and sat down.
“Sí.” Her mouth thinned. I felt horrible for her, that sounded like a major surgery. “This is why I came over. My sister has offered to take care of me while I recover. I’m already packed and I plan to leave tomorrow. The surgery is next week and I want to get settled in before that.”
My mind reeled with the onslaught of information. I was worried for her, not liking the idea of her having to go through something so painful. Then I was happy that she’d be with her sister during recovery. From what I could recall, her sister was a few years younger. And though it was incredibly selfish of me, my next thought was oh shit, what am I going to do?
“That sounds like a good plan.”
She placed her hand on top of mine. “Lo siento, Mia. I know how hard this will be for you.”
I shook my head, “Don’t even think about it. We’ll figure something out. You just take care of yourself.” And I meant it. She’d been a God send for me when I needed it most but she was also family. What mattered most was her getting better.
We talked for a while longer, Miles darting in and out of the kitchen to ask for more snacks. When she left to go home, I freaked out when I looked at the clock on the microwave, realizing I only had an hour before Gage arrived. After getting dinner in the oven, I checked on Miles in the living room before running to my bedroom to change. I’d worry about my childcare situation later, tonight I wanted to have a nice dinner with my son and the guy that I really liked.
Opening my closet, I was dismayed at how few options I had. I brightened when I spotted a dress I hadn’t worn in years. Hoping that it still fit and also recognizing that I didn’t have the time to second guess my decision, I ripped it off the hanger and ran to the bathroom.
Stripping out of my work clothes, I was grateful that I didn’t smell like fried food and instead there was a pleasant sent of flowers and my amber perfume. I pulled the soft black fabric over my head and shimmied my hips until it fell into place around my thighs. The straps were thin, a scooped neckline showed a hint of cleavage but not too much to be inappropriate considering Gage and I wouldn’t be alone. The fit was tight to my breast then loose over my stomach and thighs, which meant I could actually eat while wearing it. It was the perfect non-date, date dress.
A fresh swipe of deodorant and a quick fluff to my hair was all I had time for as I heard a loud rap on the door.
“I got it!” Miles screamed, rushing past me and pulling the door with all his might. “Gage!” he shouted, giving him one of his trademark tackle hugs. Miles was big enough that I had to brace now, but Gage didn’t budge an inch. His arms were held frozen in the air. I giggled at the bewildered look on his face and gently extricated Miles.
“Sorry about the enthusiasm, but as you can tell, we’re happy you’re here.”
He lowered his arms, the tension draining from his face. Then, I noticed the white box he held in one hand and so did my son. “What’s that?” Miles jumped up, trying to look inside. Gage bent down and opened the lid.
“One of my good friends owns the bakery in town. She made a batch of special cupcakes just for you.” Miles’ eyes grew wide and I thought he might start drooling at any moment.
“Go wash up, baby. We’ll eat dinner and then you can have one.” He ran to the kitchen, making Gage huff a laugh. “I swear that kid never walks anywhere. He must burn thousands of calories a day just getting from point A to point B.”
“I’m glad he’s excited. I wasn’t sure how he’d feel having me in his space.” I noticed that he looked different tonight from any other time I’d seen him. Instead of his usual black tactical pants, he was wearing jeans, the denim looking soft and worn like he’d had them for ages. A navy button-down shirt was rolled to his elbows, giving me an unencumbered view of sexy forearm and those dark tattoos.
His long hair was wet, like he’d recently had a shower, and pulled back in his usual bun, revealing the black piercings he had in both ears. He smelled amazing, like soap and aftershave. Gage smoothed a hand down the buttons of his shirt, breaking the spell and I stepped back so that he could come inside even, though I’d like to stare at him a little longer.
Shamelessly, I watched his ass as he walked to my kitchen. It looked just as good in jeans as it did in tactical pants. Taking a picture would be creepy and weird, right? I couldn’t believe he was here. It was exciting and nerve wracking and wonderful. Whether or not this constituted a date, I was unsure. Especially with his ‘I don’t date’ declaration. But for a single mom with two jobs, this was the closest to one I’d ever had.
“Mom, the fridge is making that weird noise again,” Miles pointed out. The appliance was making a thumping sound that had become familiar over the last month. Every time I’d brought it up to our landlord, he’d ignored me, shocker. Why of all nights did it have to happen now?
“Awesome,” my voice dripped with sarcasm. “I’ll text Dan. Maybe he’ll fix it this time. He did get off his butt and fix the handrail and the sink.”
Gage coughed and when I looked to see if he was okay, gold eyes shifted away from me and toward the fridge. “I can take a look if you want. No need to textDan.” The way he said our landlord’s name was with pure venom and I wondered if he knew him and didn’t like him. Dan seemed to have that effect on a lot of people.
“No, you don’t have to do that. You’re our guest.” But Gage was already pulling the refrigerator away from the wall like it weighed nothing. Standing there awkwardly wasn’t doing much good, it’s not like I knew anything about appliance repair. So, I busied myself with finishing up dinner.
“Hey, bud, can you grab me the screwdriver out of the drawer over there?” Miles immediately did as Gage asked, staying close by so that he could watch.
“How’d you know that’s where we keep it?” I asked.
Gage coughed again from where he was kneeling behind the fridge. I hoped he wasn’t getting sick. “Wild guess, most people have a junk drawer of sorts with random tools and things.”
The sounds of metal scraping against metal and manly grunts replaced the mystery thumping sound. Then, Gage was on his feet and moving the fridge back into place. “Fixed. The water line for your ice maker had come loose and was hitting the coils in the back.”
“Thank you for fixing it,” I smiled in genuine appreciation as he walked to the junk drawer, replacing the screwdriver in the exact spot where I kept it.
“Happy to help. That smells amazing.” I was standing with my back to the stove and Gage bent over my shoulder inhaling deeply. My thighs clenched and I gripped the oven bar so that I didn’t melt into a puddle right at his feet. When Gage pulled back, a devilish smile lit up his face. He knew exactly what he was doing, that bad, bad man.
