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I kept walking. At least until her voice turned to a screech.
“Fox!”
I froze but didn’t turn around.
“I’m going upstairs to get changed right this minute. So if you go next door and come back with jeans or whatever, you’re going to make me look overdressed. Can you please just come in and not make this into a thing?”
I felt like a damn fool, but I took a deep breath and sucked it up.
Josie grinned when I got back to the door. “Wow. Whadda you know? He actually listened…”
“Go get your ass changed.”
She looked down at the flowers I’d forgotten were in my hands. “Are those for me?”
“Yeah.” I held them out. “Here.”
She chuckled. “Come in. I doubt Mrs. Wollman left a vase, but you can look around for something to put them in while I get dressed.”
“Fine.”
Josie disappeared upstairs while I stood in the middle of the kitchen, wondering what the fuck I was doing. Meanwhile, the damn duck waddled across the living room, catching me off guard.
“Jesus,” I mumbled. “You’re still here.”
It quacked at me and kept walking, settling into…was that a dog bed? There was a TV that looked shall we sayvintageset up on the floor, playing cartoons. The duck made itself at home across from it in a pink orthopedic bed. I shook my head and looked around the kitchen. Three rows of festive Christmas cards hung along the wall. Underneath those, six different paint-sample squares had been taped up.
Between wearing this suit for a date and this place starting to feel normal, Josie wasn’t the only one who needed counseling. But I was here, and I still had the stupid flowers in my hand, so I figured I might as well do what she’d asked and see if I could find something to put them in.
A search of the cabinets turned up nothing, but I found a green plastic watering can in the garage and filled it with water.
Josie came back down as I was not-so-delicately stuffing the stems inside. I reached for the collar of my dress shirt, as it suddenly felt too tight around my neck.
She bit her lip. “This is the only dressy thing I brought. I’m not even sure why I packed it. And with heels, it’s a little on the short side.”
I was going to have to stay close behind her, especially if she dropped something. And it wouldn’t be easy to control the urge to punch every guy whose head turned, but spending the next few hours with her wearingthatwas totally worth the effort. The woman had enough leg to be six-foot tall, especially in those stilettos.
I might be thanking my mother instead of killing her after all… I swallowed. “You look gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” Josie smoothed the hem of her sparkly dress with a shy smile. “You look very handsome yourself. I’m sorry I was underdressed. There aren’t too many fancy places in town so I just figured…”
“My fault.”
She looked over at the flowers. “They’re really pretty. Thank you.”
I nodded.
Josie smirked. “I have to admit, I pegged you all wrong. I never would’ve guessed you’d show up for our date in a suit with flowers.”
“How did you think I would show up?”
“In a pair of jeans, maybe a button up. To be honest, I was expecting more like us going to the diner and you mauling me in the car when we got there.”
My face fell. “Wait. Hang on—is that an option?”
Josie laughed. She grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the door. “Come on. I don’t know where we’re going, but you look too handsome to be late.”
Across the street, Yvonne Craddox was dragging her garbage pails out to the curb. She stopped when she saw me and Josie walking down the driveway. I ignored her and kept my head down, trying to minimize the damage, but she was still gawking when I opened the passenger door for Josie and chanced a look back. The phone lines in this town would undoubtedly be burning up in thirty seconds.
