by Kelly Oram
Sean took one last sip of his coffee and then stood. As he picked up the bagel he hadn’t even touched yet, he gave me one last serious look. “Libby’s had a hard life because she’s different. She doesn’t need someone who’s going to be rich someday. She needs someone who will respect her and love her just the way she is—love everything about her.”
I stood there, brow scrunched in confusion, mouth hanging open like a complete tool, as he said good-bye and walked out the door. I didn’t snap out of it until a heavy hand came down on my shoulder. “In case you missed it,” Josiah said, pointing at Sean’s retreating figure through the front window, “that wasn’t a man giving you permission to date his daughter; that guy was practically begging you to go for it.”
He was right. I wasn’t sure how or why, but Sean Garrett had just given me a thinly veiled green light. I talked myself out of it before my hopes shot through the roof. “She just got out of a relationship. She doesn’t need to start a new one.”
I followed Josiah back behind the counter. As I took the customers’ orders, he went to work filling them. “From what I hear,” he said over the hum of the espresso machine, “she wasn’t in much of a relationship. Maybe the best way to help her get over this guy is to show her how it’s supposed to work.”
I wondered if there was some truth to that.
“Give a guy a gas station coffee the first time, and he might like it. Give him one of these”—Josiah slid the fresh espresso across the counter to the waiting customer—“and he’ll never want gas station coffee ever again.”
Josiah handed over the rest of the drinks he’d just made to the people waiting for them, and then nudged me with his elbow. “If you want her, Adam, then you should go for it. She’d be lucky to have you.”
Adam
When Libby didn’t come into the shop at all that day, I figured she’d had enough of me. But then, precisely at two o’clock, Libby trounced into the store all smiles and enthusiasm. She skipped up to the counter and bowed to me as if she were some kind of karate student.
“I am ready for my training, oh great intervention master. I admit that I am powerless against my need for Owen Jackson’s hot love. I cannot quit His Holy Hotness on my own. I have yet to determine whether or not there is a great Divine Entity, however I have come to accept that if there is any force in existence capable of restoring my sanity, it comes in the form of a sexy, broody cider-supplying spiritual guide.”
Libby drummed her fingers on the counter in a short rhythm and pointed her finger at me like it was a gun. She winked as she pulled the trigger. “That would be you, Coffee Man.”
“So I figured.”
I kept my face blank. I could not show her exactly how much her theatrics amused me. She was supposed to be taking this seriously, and that would never happen if I cracked up at her ridiculousness the way I wanted to.
She wasn’t finished. “As my spiritual guide in this journey, and the future restorer of my sanity, I, Elizabeth Ruby Garrett, have made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of my Higher Power as I understand it—again, that would be you.”
I bit down on my tongue to keep from smiling at her. The truth was, I was impressed. Yes, she was being ridiculous, but that was just how Libby—the old Libby—was. I was glad to see the return of her sense of humor, strange as it may be.
It was also clear that she’d made some effort while I was at work today, because she was working her way through the twelve steps of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. I hadn’t ever explained to her what the actual steps were, which meant that she’d researched them on her own. So far, she was declaring step three.
“As a token of my gratitude to you for your time and effort,” she continued, “and also as proof that I am fully committed to this cause, I present you with a list of faults and strengths against my person as I am able to see them.”
She handed me a piece of paper that she’d folded all fancy into the shape of a heart. As I took the note, she grabbed my wrist and dropped her comedy routine. “The shape is symbolic.” She bore her eyes into mine to make sure I understood. “The moral inventory this paper contains is sincere. It comes from my heart. I did my best, even though I’m sure you’ll have a lot to add to it. I’m ready to confess my wrongdoings and have you help me remove all my craptastic personality defects.”
She was still clinging to my wrist, and the look in her eyes was so earnest I had to swallow back a lump of emotion. I was proud of her. Something had happened to her since she’d dropped me off at home last night that had given her a real change of heart. She was finally admitting to her problem and was ready to overcome it. I waited just a second too long to say something. The silence became awkward, so I smirked and said, “Craptastic? Is that a scientific term?”
Libby’s grin came back and lit up the entire room. “You bet your gluteus maximus it is.”
At that, I couldn’t help it any longer. I threw my head back and laughed.
“You ready to go, Coffee Man?”
“Let me just go clock out.”
“Where to?” Libby asked after we jumped in her dad’s Escalade. “What’s first?”
“Your house,” I decided. “If you were an alcoholic, the first thing we’d do is remove all the alcohol from your house, so that’s where we’re going to start with you.”
“We’re going to remove Owen from my house?”
“All signs of him.” When she frowned, I rolled my eyes. “You’re a girl. Don’t tell me you don’t have some flowery shoe box full of random crap that reminds you of him hidden in your closet somewhere.”
“That is so sexist of you.”
“Are you saying you don’t have one?”
Libby glared at me, and I laughed again.
As Libby pulled out onto the road in the direction of her house, the mood was light. It was such a pleasant turn of events from the day before. I couldn’t imagine what made the difference. “What brought on the change of heart?”
The ease was sucked out of the atmosphere in an instant. I didn’t think she was going to tell me, but she took a breath and said, “You did.”
She wouldn’t meet my gaze, but I knew she could feel it burning into her. I was so stunned I couldn’t tear my eyes from her. She flicked me a brief glance. “Even though I asked Avery to fix me, I’ll admit I thought she was crazy with this whole rehabilitation thing. I was just indulging her. I didn’t know it was so real for you. I’m sorry if I offended you at all yesterday.”
As a reason, I’d take it, and I was touched that she’d consider my feelings, but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “It should be real for you. All of this is about you, not me. It’s your life we’re trying to fix.”
She turned into a nice neighborhood and shook her head in disgust. “After everything you’ve been through, you must think I’m so stupid.”
Now I understood her problem. I couldn’t blame her for feeling that way, but I hated that she did. “I don’t think that at all.” I softened my voice, hoping to convince her I was sincere. “You might not have an alcohol problem, but your friends are all worried about you for a reason. What you’re going through isn’t something to laugh at, and it’s not something you can ignore, either. I meant what I said to your parents. I’m happy to help you, if you’ll let me. But you have to take it seriously. Are you willing to commit to this now?”
Libby’s head bobbed enthusiastically. “I am totally committed to you, I swear.”
I choked on surprise.
As Libby thought back on what she said that would earn her such a response, her face flushed. She glared at me when my mouth quirked up into a grin, but that only made me break out laughing.
She smacked my arm. “Shut up! You know what I meant.”
“Yeah, I know, but I can dream, can’t I?”
I was relishing the light atmosphere, but when I grinned at her, she didn’t return the smile. She clammed up like she had several times the day before, and it broke my h
eart. It was like she didn’t think she deserved to be complimented or flirted with. Well, that was too bad. She was just going to have to get used to it, because I wasn’t going to stop. I could ease the tension a little, though.
“Thank you.” Libby glanced at me curiously. “Whatever the reason, I believe you want to do this now. You did your homework. And this”—I held up the personal inventory she’d given me—“couldn’t have been easy. I appreciate the effort.” I examined the intricate folding and smiled to myself. Libby had given me her heart. “I even appreciate the symbolism.”
Finally, she relaxed. “You’d better,” she said as she pulled into the driveway of a modest two-story home with a neatly manicured lawn. “That dumb heart took me an hour to get right. Brilliant I may be, but origami seems to defy all logic.”
I was still laughing as she dragged me into her house.
The inside of the Garrett residence matched every idea I had of a typical middle-class suburban family. The furniture was nice and matched the décor but looked comfortable, and though the place was clean, it looked lived in. I liked it. There was no pretense. It was the home of a happy, well-adjusted family. It was everything my home growing up never was, but I wasn’t jealous. I was glad she had that.
“Cute,” I teased, pointing at the picture of a toothless Libby with pigtails on the fireplace mantle.
Libby looked at the portrait and snorted. “Whatever. I rocked the pigtails.”
“You did,” I agreed. “Very hot.”
She mock glared at me. “Don’t tease. I’m sure even a hottie like you went through an awkward adolescent phase at some point.”
Yeah, I was still going through it. But I wasn’t going to try and talk her out of thinking I was sexy, so I grinned. “Nope. Totally skipped that part and went straight from adorable little boy to dangerously hot man.”
Libby raked her eyes over me from head to toe, and I stood there letting her look her fill. In truth, I’m not anything special to look at, but I learned a long time ago that confidence goes a long way with girls. It works that way with them, too. That’s why I’d always been so drawn to Libby. If she only knew how irresistible she’d been when she didn’t give a damn what the world thought about her, she never would have let Owen ruin her. If she hadn’t given in to his put-downs, he’d have eventually accepted her, despite his reservations. She’s just that kind of girl.
“Dangerously hot is an accurate assessment,” she finally declared. “That eyebrow ring…mmm.” Even though she was teasing, the noise that came from her throat stirred something in me. I cracked my neck and gripped the back of the loveseat next to me as I wrestled with my need for her. “What made you get it?”
I took a breath, grateful for the question, even if the answer was embarrassing. I needed to stay focused. “I did it to impress a girl.”
“Did it work?” Libby asked as she led me through the front room into the kitchen.
I leaned against the counter and folded my arms over my chest as I shrugged. “She agreed to go out with me.”
Libby opened the fridge and pulled out two bottled waters. “But?” she asked, handing one of the waters to me.
She was intuitive, that was for sure. “She dropped me the second she got bored of using me to driving her dad crazy.”
The way Libby’s eyes narrowed, I knew she didn’t like that answer. I didn’t really like it either, but it was pretty much par for my love life up till now. There was no point in pretending otherwise.
“Her loss,” Libby said. “You shouldn’t get involved with evil trolls like that, anyway. You can totally do better.”
I gave her a flat look. “Do you have any clue how hypocritical you sound right now?”
“Ugh, whatever. Shut up.”
I guess she did. I cracked a smile, and she punched my arm. “Come on, Coffee Man; we have work to do.” She kept the conversation going as she dragged me up the stairs by the sleeve of my hoodie. “Explain the tattoos. You don’t get such elaborate art to impress a girl. What’s the story there?”
I laughed. “Nothing as romantic as you’re imagining. My friend wants to start up his own tattoo parlor, and he needed practice and pictures for his portfolio. I’ve been his guinea pig on a number of occasions.”
Libby stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back at me with an evil gleam in her eyes. “Are you telling me you’re hiding more sexy body art beneath your clothes?”
There was something oddly exciting about having to look up at her from the lower step. It struck me as a random thing to get turned on over, but then, it could have been the suggestive look she was giving me that had my blood pumping. I grabbed onto the banister and pulled myself up to the top stair with her. Her eyes grew wide as my body came within inches of hers. “Are you asking me to show you?”
For a moment, the only thing that existed in the world was the electricity crackling between us. I wanted her so bad, and, right then, I was sure she wouldn’t deny me. I knew I shouldn’t. It was wrong for so many reasons. But my desire was so strong my body was screaming at me to act on it. Just as I was about to lean down and claim her lips, she let go of the breath she’d been holding and rasped, “You are dangerous, Coffee Man.”
She waited, understanding I was about to make a move and accepting it, but her admission had knocked the sense back into me. “Not as dangerous as you are,” I muttered, raking a hand through my short hair. I forced myself to take a step back. “Which way? We’re supposed to be working.”
Libby snapped out of a trance, and, after taking a deep breath, showed me to her room. It took me a minute to follow. I was literally shaking. That girl was going to be the death of me. I nearly pulled her down with me and made sweet love to her right there at the top of the stairs. I was that close to losing complete control.
She didn’t make it any easier, either. There was definitely something between us—an undeniable attraction that felt highly flammable. We were toying with something explosive, and it was only a matter of time before we ignited. It was inevitable. I understood that now. We were going to happen. The question was: how long could I hold myself back?
If it were any other girl, I’d have jumped in without hesitation, but I didn’t want to be just another fling for Libby. I didn’t want to be her next Owen. I wanted her to see me, not just a means to feel good. Libby needed to learn the difference between what she had with Owen and a real relationship, and I wasn’t going to be her plaything while she figured it out, no matter how tempting it was.
I followed Libby down the hall, repeating a mantra of all the least-sexy things I could think of—I had no idea how I was going to be alone with her in her bedroom and not fool around with her—but my problem was solved for me the second I stepped into her room.
“No offense, Libby, but this room is frightening.”
Her bedspread was lime green, her bookshelves were electric blue, there was a big shaggy hot-pink circle rug on the floor, and the walls were purple. There were cat figurines all over the place, and hung on the wall above her bed was a poster of Scott Stevens next to a poster of a unicorn sitting on a toilet reading a book. The caption said: READING PROMOTES LITERACY.
Libby’s laugh startled me out of my horror. “Avery hates that one, too.”
I shook my head, still unable to believe what I was seeing. “I’m not sure if Scott Stevens should be honored to be pinned up next to the pooping unicorn, or insulted.”
She laughed again. “Definitely honored. Unicorns have magical powers, you know. They poop rainbows. Burdock Sparkle Lord has been bringing Scott good luck for years, and Scott doesn’t even know it.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Seriously, some things truly had no words. I looked around the room again and shuddered. I couldn’t help it. But at least Libby didn’t seem offended by my reaction. “How much of this stuff is Owen stuff that we can get rid of? Please say most of it.”
That made her sigh. “Unfortunately, not much. Owen didn
’t like to come here.”
“I used to fault him for that, but now…”
I shoved my hands in my pockets and tried not to grimace as I sat down on the bed. I must have made some kind of face, though, because Libby rolled her eyes. “Come on; it’s not that bad.”
Was she kidding? “It’s like Rainbow Brite and Willy Wonka had a love child with a snowboarding fetish in here.”
She gave me a look like the ones I usually gave her. “Funny, Coffee Man. Stop insulting my creative genius, and help me purge Owen from my life.”
“Right.” I pulled my eyes away from the walls and held out a hand to her. “We’ll start with the cell phone. We need to delete Owen’s contact info.”
“Ha!” Her mouth twisted into a wry smirk. “Already done. Take that, Mr. Spiritual Guide.”
Unable to hold back a laugh, I shook my head. “Way to take the initiative.”
A little of the light left her eyes. “After I dropped you off last night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept wondering if Owen found someone else to take to his fancy hotel suite.”
My gut twisted. I really didn’t want to hear the rest of this story, but as her sponsor on this journey, I had to ask about it. I forced as much calm and indifference into my voice as was physically possible. “And did you call him to find out?”
Libby met my gaze and beamed a proud smile at me. “No. I blocked his number so he couldn’t call me anymore, and then I deleted his contact info. After that, I deleted all my social media, too.”
I jerked back in surprise. I honestly thought she’d have called him and gone to him last night. Since the moment I realized she was taking this so seriously, I’d figured that’s what had happened. She said her change of heart had been because of me, but I didn’t understand how I could have had that much of an effect on her.
I’d assumed she’d contacted him last night and got her feelings hurt again. The fact that she hadn’t—that she’d resisted him, and that all of this effort really was for me—was a damn good feeling. I grinned at her. “We’ll have you cured in no time, then. You didn’t need to delete all of your social media, though. You could have just unfriended him and set your stuff to private.”
