by Quinn, Taryn
It was the same buzz that hadn’t steered me wrong since I started my career.
There was a sturdy fence keeping the house separated from the lake. “Is the dock mine—part of the land?”
Way to be cool, Gage.
“Yes, the dock is included in the sale.”
At least Oliver had the good graces not to smirk at me.
The front door was huge. Obviously upgraded for that whole curb appeal all the House Hunter-type shows and magazines harped on. The porch and front yard were manicured way past what I was capable of, but the idea of a riding mower all tricked out with some extra chrome increased the buzz factor once again.
Oliver rattled off more stats about the size of the house, the five bedrooms, and the bonus rooms. All I saw was a huge kitchen with lots of interesting surfaces and wide-open spaces. And windows letting in crazy light.
I saw kids running around.
I saw Rylee laughing as she convinced me to get the largest television possible for her horror movies.
Space to grow and a blank canvas for her to make it hers as much as mine.
I saw a life I’d never dared to dream about.
“I want it.”
Oliver stopped talking. “You made it about three minutes longer than I thought you would.”
I shook my head. “You’re an asshole.”
Oliver lifted a careless shoulder. “The house on Robinson was perfect for you—” He held up his hand at me. “But since you seem to have this one story requirement, I found you this one.”
“And I appreciate it. I’ll take it.”
“I haven’t even shown you the bedrooms.”
“I don’t really care. There’s windows and light, right? Lots of space.”
“The master suite is quite stupendous. Come on, it’ll just take a minute.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. And since I had a pregnant girlfriend…ish person in my life, I didn’t leave messages unchecked like I used to.
I’m here. Where are you?
I grinned at the text and replied.
I texted you weeks ago.
I had a thing.
I shook my head. Tish always had a thing. She was one of the most in-demand fabricators I’d ever known. Probably because she could literally create anything given enough time and a damn pencil.
And in those few weeks, I’d found out I was going to be a father and I’d fallen hard for a stubborn woman with so much light in her eyes it made me wonder how I’d walked away from her in the first place.
Mostly because she’d kicked me in the teeth with her one and done nonsense. Nothing on this fucking planet needed to happen once when it came to us. It needed to be repeated thousands of times. Well, maybe with the kid thing we could slow it down to two, maybe three.
But with Tish in town, perhaps I’d take the second opinion on the house.
“Yeah, show me the bedrooms.” I quickly texted Tish the address and asked her to come by.
I got a middle finger reply, followed by a thumbs up.
“Mind if I have a friend come and take a look?”
“I’ve got you slated for an hour. Plenty of time.”
“Lead the way then.”
I followed him through the long hallways to the bathrooms. One was something called a Jack and Jill since it connected two of the bedrooms. Then at the back of the house was the master suite.
Whistling would cover it.
“Holy Jesus.”
“I know.”
I gave Oliver a side-eyed glance and ignored the smugness coming off him. There was a huge window showcasing the lake and a view that made my chest ache and maybe added a slightly shaky stutter to my heart. “That’s a million-dollar view.”
“Not quite.”
Well, if it was under a million, at least I could feed my kid for a few years without worrying about what kind of job I was going to create for myself.
And if I had to buy JT’s Auto Body without my brother.
I didn’t want to, but I would.
I just had to do a little bit of fancy footwork to get some things to fall into line. And anything had to be easier than getting Rylee to agree with me on what color the sky was and if we were having a boy or a girl.
We were looking at the third bedroom when the rumble of a motorcycle progressively got closer.
Oliver gave me a raised brow. “Your friend.”
“Indeed.”
“Do we need to go down—”
“Holy fuck, Gage. This is a goddamn palace!”
“Guess we don’t need to go down and let her in.”
I laughed. “No. Not sure there’s a lock that can keep Tish out if you even engaged one.”
“I did not.”
“Well, that’s good.”
Her booted heels clomped down the hardwood floors as she stalked through the space. “Buy it. If you don’t, I need to find me a sugar daddy to buy it for me. Well, hello there. Possible sugar daddy?”
Oliver blinked and quickly waved his wedding ring finger. “Taken.”
“Damn. Looking for a side piece?”
“What my friend means is hello and nice to meet you.” I gave her a hard stare.
Tish flipped a flame-red lock of hair over her shoulder. She was wearing a heavy, armored motorcycle jacket over leather pants and five inch heels. Not that she needed them. She was just a few inches shorter than me, but she liked to lord herself over men in general.
She held out her hand to Oliver. He hesitated, but shook her hand. “Tish Burns.”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Burns.”
She gave a great booming laugh. “Is this guy for real?” She hooked her thumb at Oliver. “You sure you don’t want to go for a ride, handsome? I bet I can get you call me Tish without all that formality crap.”
“I’m quite sure.”
“His wife would kill you, Tish.”
“Oh, yeah? Think I might need to meet a girl like that.”
Oliver cleared his throat. “I bet you’d like to see the master suite.”
She hooked her arm through his. “I sure would.”
Oliver shot a slightly panicked look over his shoulder at me. Man, I’d missed Tish. She would like Rylee, I was almost sure. Who wouldn’t like her?
Yeah, I was biased. And happy.
Everything was falling into place. Now all I had to do was get my brother on board with the three of us starting a business.
Nineteen
I picked up the stack of dishes on the side table in the reading nook. It was becoming my permanent residence lately. I had the want ads open in the local paper, as well as a number of online applications half filled, but Gage’s words kept encroaching on my poor brain.
I wanted to talk to Macy about maybe expanding. Maybe just helping out to start. She was so busy all the time and she and her staff of four could barely keep up through the lunch rushes. The morning was pure chaos. I even jumped in a few times behind the counter. Macy had simply given me a harried glance and didn’t say a damn thing.
I might not have her magical abilities, but I could pour a regular pressed coffee. I could refill the various milks and condiments. It was the least I could do since I usually mooched a table from her most days. I wasn’t used to being bored. I hated it.
Gage usually kept me occupied most of the time. Both of us researching baby stuff, going to a few appointments.
Sex.
Lord, the sex. We kept trying to get to know one another, but then he’d laugh at something I said and he’d invariably lean in to kiss me and then there went the research. And our clothes.
Mostly our clothes.
The weeks had been a blur of baby stress and Gage’s inventive sleepwalking traps.
My new doctor didn’t know a whole lot about sleepwalking, but she was researching it. She’d advised a follow-up visit to discuss her findings and an ultrasound in the coming weeks.
All in all, we were finding our footing. The days were getting longer and warmer. I’d
showed him a few of my favorite spots on Main Street and we were finding new places to explore together. Both of us were starting over. It was like dating, only things felt a little bigger and a lot more claustrophobic. When I got too overwhelmed, I still had the tendency to push him away.
That was how I ended up in the coffee shop half the day.
Lately, he’d been a little preoccupied during the day. Always on his phone.
Sometimes he shared emails from his agent, who was forever trying to woo Gage back to the racetrack.
I hated that my stomach got knotted up the minute he put his hands on his phone. Eventually, he’d have to figure out a way to change careers. Or he’d simply fall in line. How many times could Harry call him or text him before Gage simply said yes?
“Moose!”
I looked up from the paper I was not looking at.
Ellie and Jodi called out the happy sing-song name. And right on cue, our favorite afternoon shy-guy filled the doorway. Large shoulders blocked the watery sunshine spilling into the café. He averted his gaze before lifting his head.
Though he wasn’t the most sociable dude, he had a way of looking at a woman as if she was the center of his universe.
Especially when it came to Vee.
“Hi, ladies.” Moose—also known as Murphy Masterson—was a regular. Almost everyone was in a town as small as Crescent Cove, but Moose came in every day without fail at one in the afternoon. Right after the main lunch rush, but before the teens got out of school and took over my reading area for schoolwork and gossip.
I might need to bring my cup up to the counter for no reason whatsoever.
Except maybe to make fun of Vee when she caught sight of Moose.
I shifted to the side of the counter.
Vee came out of the back where she made her crazy confections. She smoothed her brightly colored braid, toying with the tail as she got to the register. She changed her hair like I changed my underwear. Today, it was done in pink and purple streaks. “Hi, Murphy.”
“Miss Veronica.”
I resisted the urge to lean on the side counter with heart eyes. They were so danged cute.
Yes, there was no shortage of romance around me, and shockingly, I actually felt charmed by it. Maybe because my own romance was going surprisingly well.
Legos, unplanned babies, peanut butter, and all.
“You’re going to grow out of that corner.”
I grinned over my shoulder at Macy. “It’s Moose time.”
She tucked her towel into her apron. “They should just fuck already.”
I snorted. “Two shy people? Come on, we need more fairy dust than that.”
“Vee is the least shy person I know.”
“Yeah, when it comes to us. Guys? Especially that guy? Talk about buttoned down.”
“Hmm.”
We both watched as Vee, normally smooth and skilled behind the counter, fumbled with Moose’s repeat customer card. Their fingers brushed, and Moose’s neck heated up like a burner on high. If either of them averted their eyes any more, they’d literally be on the floor.
Moose lifted his cup in thanks, disappointment flickering in his gaze when Vee was already rushing back into the kitchen.
“You’d think she was thirteen, not twenty-six when he was around,” Macy muttered.
Considering I knew a little how that felt, I couldn’t say a damn thing.
Macy wasn’t through. “Don’t see me blushing and fluttering around a male, now do you?”
John Gideon hadn’t been in lately. I had it on good authority from Vee that he was Macy’s brand of kryptonite. Something about his giant tool belt.
I’d just leave that line of conversation for another day.
I cleared my throat. “So, I’m bored as hell. Do you have anything you need me to help out with? You know, busy work?”
“You keep helping out, I’m going to have to put you on the roster, mocha.”
“Would that be so bad?”
Macy folded her arms over her chest, a malevolent version of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown peeking over her stacked arms from her T-shirt. “You angling for a job?”
I shrugged. I wanted more than that, but it was probably the first avenue I should try. “I could help out when you needed it.”
“I’m kind of an asshole boss. I mean, we’re friends-ish.”
I laughed. “Ish.”
She shrugged. “Whatever. If you don’t care that I’m grouchy by nature, you can try it out. I don’t want you crying to me when I snap at you because you do something I hate.”
“That’s different from how you already talk to me how?”
Macy just grunted. “Your funeral.” She headed back to the main counter now that the heart eyes were brushed away. “You can mess with the displays you’re always crying about.”
I grinned. “Really?” I called after her.
She waved over her head. “Just do it already. I’m sick of hearing you whine about it.”
I rushed back to my iPad and papers, shoving them back into my messenger bag. I debated running my bag upstairs, then decided I needed to change into clothes a little more suited for crawling around the floor rearranging mugs and memorabilia.
Just as I slung my bag over my shoulder, Gage came in the front door laughing with a stunning redhead and his brother. The strap fell off my shoulder as the bombshell woman in leather grabbed Gage and leaped onto his back.
“You will not cheap out on the shearing machine. I know a guy.” She hopped down when she spotted me staring at them. “That hot piece has to be your girl.” She punched Gage much like I usually did when he said something boneheaded.
Gage laughed and crossed to me. “Hey, huntress.” He dropped a kiss on my shocked mouth. “Sorry. One of my favorite people came to town. I told you about Tish? The one who kept dodging my texts?”
I couldn’t keep all of Gage’s people straight from his racing days. Perhaps I would have paid attention a little more if I caught her name. “You mentioned someone named Burns, maybe?” My eyes cut to the pinup-worthy woman, then back to Gage.
“That’s me, Tish Burns. Depends on how many beers deep we are which name he calls me.” Tish sashayed up to me, her full hips swinging. She held her hand out to me, I took it and wasn’t surprised to find her grip strong and sure.
Thankfully, she didn’t try to rush up to me with a hug. I wasn’t entirely sure I could stop myself from kicking her in the ankles. Maybe she’d topple on those platform heels.
Gage hauled me closer, his hand firmly tucked into my back pocket—his favorite place lately.
Well, second favorite place.
“She’s here to help me gang up on Dare.”
“I’d like to gang up on the Kramer boys, but alas, it’s not meant to be.” Tish’s attention strayed to the counter. “What is that delicious scent?”
“Who knows. Macy—the owner of this place—has some sort of hoodoo voodoo when it comes to coffee. She won’t tell me what she puts in mine.”
Tish’s eyebrow spiked. “In my world, that’s called a roofie, babe.”
Gage laughed and my need for violence grew. Was she an ex-girlfriend? “We call it magic. If she likes you, she won’t take your coffee order, she’ll just put it in front of you.”
Tish let out a dubious grunt. “We’ll just see about that.”
Dare sighed. “Hey, Ry. I’ll go make sure she doesn’t make Jodi cry.”
“Good idea.” Gage grinned down at me before he tilted his head. “Everything okay?”
“Sure.” I gave him a bright smile.
He shifted me in front of him, tucking his other hand in my remaining pocket. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
I tried to wiggle away, but he held me fast. “I have to get upstairs.”
“Oh. I was hoping you’d have lunch with us.”
“I already ate.” The snarky tone to my voice made me want to saw off my tongue.
“Okay.” He extended the word a
nd I really knew my bitch voice was in use.
I smoothed my finger down his button-down shirt. He’d definitely gotten dressed with a little more care that morning. “I kinda am working for Macy now.”
“Kinda? That’s great.” His face cleared, and he hugged me. “I knew you would talk to her.”
“Don’t get all excited. I’m just feeling her out. A little part time action to start.”
“Well, come over to talk to us when you’re back.”
I slipped away with a nod, grabbed my bag, and rushed over to the side doors to the apartment access. And okay, maybe I took a little more time with my hair and makeup than I usually did.
However, I now had another pair of jeans to add to the nope pile.
I sighed and tugged on a pair of black pants that were becoming a staple of my life. They were far more forgiving. I stepped into ballet flats and swapped out my T-shirt for a longer one that would cover my growing bump.
By the time I got back downstairs, Dare, Gage and Tish were laughing at a table. Vee’s now famous bagel chips were being dunked in soup as Tish kept testing out every other plate but her own.
“Hey, there you are.” Gage waved me over. “You gotta see this.”
There wasn’t a chair for me, but he didn’t seem to care. He hooked his arm around my waist and dumped me on his lap. Not sure why he thought I was his personal rag doll. And I tried not to love it every single damn time.
He held his cell so I could see it. “Listen to this from Harry. ‘The Tide people want you, for fuck’s sake. Pick up the damn phone.’” Gage shook his head. “Not only that, but they want me to do commercials.”
Tish laughed. “Covered in grease and,” she snapped her fingers, “look at how white!”
Dare just shook his head. “My brother in commercials.”
I blinked and my gaze jerked to Gage’s face. “Tide? Isn’t that a big deal?”
Gage shrugged. “They tried to get me before, but I was tied up with my last sponsor. Their promotional schedule is ridiculous. I’d never leave my old trailer.”
