Caroline paused, one plastic lunch-lady glove on and the other one gripped in her hand. That was the million dollar question. “I don’t know.”
Lucy nodded sagely. “Maybe you need to figure that out before you let him talk you out of your panties again.”
She sure as hell did, Caroline thought.
*
By mid-afternoon, Boone had the counter completely sanded, cleaned, and the first coat of shiny, black lacquer on it. He also had an errand to run. Easing his phone from his pocket, he called his brother-in-law.
Boone had been the one to introduce Charlie and Lucy all those years ago. He’d never dreamed they’d hit it off, much less get married. Charlie had served with him on his first tour until an IED had left his knee a shredded mess. Charlie had gone stateside, and Lucy had nursed him back to health. They’d married the next year, and Charlie had officially adopted Nick.
“Hey…I need a favor,” he said once Charlie answered.
“I cannot do anything to control your sister’s behavior. I’ve been trying for my own benefit for ten years and have not yet succeeded.”
Boone chuckled in spite of himself. No one could wrangle Lucy, that was for damn sure. “Not that, though if either of us ever figures out how—”
“It’d be a cold day in hell,” Charlie replied. “Whaddya need?”
“I need to buy a mattress, and I need help hauling it into the house.”
“Dude, you just bought one! I helped you with it. Are you that much of a princess?”
Boone shook his head. “It’s not really for me. It’s for Caroline. She’s got no furniture…nothing.”
Charlie laughed. Big, deep, belly laughs that left him breathless and gasping for air. “You dumb son-of-a-bitch!” he finally said. “Why the hell would you buy her a bed when all you want is to get her into yours?”
Boone answered honestly. “Because I don’t want her there because she’s got no other options. If I get her into my bed, it’s got to be because she wants to be there.”
Charlie muttered about chivalry and Southern codes of honor, all of it interspersed with enough curse words to sound like a rerun of the Sopranos. You could take the boy out of Jersey.
“Are you done?” he finally asked.
“Alright, fine. I’ll help you with the damn mattress. Now?”
“Yeah. Meet me at the same store where we picked up mine.”
An hour later and several hundred dollars poorer, Boone and Charlie carted the full-size mattress set and metal frame up the short flight of stairs and into the apartment. Hauling it toward the second bedroom, they set it up quickly.
“You need sheets; women are funny about that. Won’t sleep on a bare mattress,” Charlie said.
“I’ve got a bunch of stuff in a trunk from Mom’s house,” Boone replied. “Thanks for the help.”
Charlie nodded. “You know your sister has gone all Machiavelli on this, right? There is no letting nature take its course. There’s Lucy’s course or the ass chewing of your life.”
Boone smiled. He did know, and he was shockingly okay with it. No one knew Caroline better than Lucy did. If she wanted to turn her efforts to putting them together, he wasn’t going to fight her on it. She was the best chance he had of getting exactly what he wanted. “She’d make a damn good general.”
Charlie chuckled. “Drill Sergeant. She likes to be in the trenches. Speaking of which, I need to get home and make sure the walking hormone hasn’t managed to defeat the parental controls on the cable box. The last time he ordered adult movies I thought Lucy was going to murder him.”
“Jesus, when did he stop playing with Legos and trucks?” Boone asked.
“About the time a girl in his class got boobs. You know how it is.” Charlie tugged his keys from his pocket and then turned back to him. “You know, the kid’s a pretty good football player. He’s got a game Friday night…and Lucy and I are going. Maybe you could bring Caroline.”
Boone shook his head. “You know in this town that’s like announcing your engagement, right?”
Charlie shrugged. “Never hurts to ask.”
As Charlie turned toward the door, the kitten awoke from its nap and let out a pitiful mew. “Jesus, what the hell is that?”
“It’s a kitten.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Boone said. “I’m sure. Why does everyone keep asking that?”
“Don’t look like no damn kitten I ever saw. Is it gonna live?”
“Just get the hell out,” Boone said. “Your wife is trying to control my damn life, you’re insulting my cat. Just go!”
Charlie shrugged as he opened the door, but he didn’t leave without a parting shot. “I’m just saying, it’s about half the size of the rats I used to see in NYC. And I think they might have been fluffier.”
When the other man had gone, Boone walked over to the box and picked up the kitten, carrying her to the small kitchen. He’d taken her to the shop with him that morning, taking breaks every few hours to feed her and medicate her as needed. She was still puny, barely filling the palm of his hand, but as she nuzzled into him, purring louder than the engine on his truck, he smiled.
“What am I going to call you?”
The kitten offered no answers, just continued inhaling the wet cat food in front of her like it was air. After she’d been fed, gone to the potty, and her last dose of antibiotics given, Boone tucked her back into her box. She protested. Loudly.
“I’ll be back,” he assured her as he went into his bedroom. In his closet, he found the small trunk that contained the extra linens. Most of them were old and threadbare, but they’d have to do. Carrying the box out to the living room, he paused when the door opened and Caroline walked in.
Her blonde hair was swept back in a ponytail, and she wore a T-shirt that looked strangely familiar. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked happier than she had since he’d first seen her.
“I guess you had a good day,” he said.
“I forgot how much fun I always had helping Lucy with the bakery. What about you? Productive day?”
He nodded. “Got the counter almost done. One more coat tomorrow, then it’s just clean up. Opening on Friday as scheduled. Let’s just hope people show up.”
“It’s a college town, and the only other tattoo place in town is manned by an old scary guy with no teeth. I don’t think you’ll have a problem,” she said, plopping onto the couch. “And you’re taking your bed back tonight. You’re way too tall to sleep on this couch.”
“About that,” he said. “I have something for you.”
She shook her head, “Boone, you didn’t have to get me anything!”
He set the box back on the floor and took her by the hand, leading her down the hallway toward the guest room. “I did actually. Come with me, and I’ll tell you why.” Ushering her into the room, he gestured toward the bed.
“You bought me a bed?”
He looked at her, his eyes raking over her from head to toe, taking in every curve, every inch he wanted to taste, to claim. “Yeah, I did. I don’t want you sleeping on the couch, and my body is too banged up for it…and the next time you’re in my bed, I plan on being in it with you.”
*
Caroline locked her trembling knees. How the hell did he do that? With a look and a few choice words, he’d literally left her weak. Just thinking about being in that bed with him, thinking of what had very nearly happened in it just that morning was more temptation than one woman should have to withstand.
“Boone, I don’t really know how to do this… I’ve been married, pretty miserably, for almost the entirety of my adult life. I’ve never had a man say things like that to me.”
Caroline’s breath caught as he stepped closer to her. He leaned in, close enough that she could see the tiny flecks of green and gold in his brown eyes.
“That,” he said, “is because you’ve never been with a man. A real man never leaves a woman in doubt over whether or not she’s want
ed. He proves it every day. Only bullies and losers play the kinds of games William did.”
He was right. She knew it—had always known it. In public, William was charming and played just the right mix of good ol’ boy and smooth politician to get what he wanted from people. In private, he’d been verbally and emotionally abusive. She’d tolerated it because to do anything else would have destroyed her father’s dreams of having his son-in-law in the Senate. In the end, William had destroyed that dream on his own with his greed and his inability to keep his pants zipped. Not that it mattered. Her father would never blame William for anything.
“So what happens now? We just act like roommates, like you didn’t kiss me senseless in the kitchen…and again in your bedroom?”
“No,” he said. “I thought we might start with an actual date. Caroline Matthews, will you go to the football game with me on Friday?”
She giggled. In spite of everything, he made her laugh with his high school-esque invitation. “Are you going to be a gentleman, or are you going to be a bad boy and try to seduce me under the bleachers?”
“It’s a double date. I’ll be a perfect gentleman while we’re there. Once we get back home, all bets are off.”
Caroline waited for the kiss, but it didn’t come. He stared at her intently, his eyes roaming over her face. She felt the weight of his gaze on her lips, but in the end, he simply stepped back from her.
“There’s a box of linens and some other stuff in the living room. I’m going for a run before I forget that I’m trying to be a gentleman.”
Caroline watched him go, part of her wanting to call him back and another part of her desperately grateful for the reprieve. A glance at the bed, and his thoughtfulness overwhelmed her.
Needing comfort, she headed for the best source available to her. Retrieving the kitten from its box, she cuddled it close. It nuzzled into her neck, curling into a ball just below her chin and purring like a freight train. “You are the sweetest thing,” she said, stroking its fuzzy little body with two fingers. “And tiny. Lord above, you are tiny. I don’t suppose Boone has given you a name yet?”
The kitten didn’t answer. It had fallen into a deep contented sleep. Caroline chuckled in spite of herself. “Little one, when you are better, you are going to be hell on wheels, but for the time being, I’m just going to enjoy the snuggles.”
Chapter Six
‡
Caroline stood in the guest room, now occupied by an old vanity table that had just appeared the day before and the bed Boone had gotten for her. Lucy was perched on it, reclining against the pillows, while the kitten attacked her fingers.
“She’s getting cuter. I almost believe she’s an actual cat,” Lucy said.
“You are so mean! Of course, she’s a cat!”
Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Like no other cat I’ve ever seen. Crazy, matted fur with patches missing and big giant ears…that pointy, little nose. She looks like a half-phased werewolf I saw in a horror movie once.”
Caroline wanted to be angry, but Lucy wasn’t saying anything she hadn’t thought herself. “She’ll get cuter. You’d look like hell too if you had that rough a start.”
“Oh, fine. Fantastic. Give me the guilts!”
Caroline rolled her eyes. “Oh, please! Like you’ve ever experienced that emotion! Now stop verbally abusing a helpless kitten and help me figure out what the hell I’m supposed to wear on my first date with your brother!”
Lucy muttered, “Helpless, my ass. She’s got teeth like razors.” Nonetheless, Lucy laid the kitten on the bed and approached the closet. “You weren’t kidding when you said meager.”
Caroline shrugged. “I gained thirty pounds in the last year self-medicating with cupcakes and doughnuts. Packing a bunch of clothes I’ll never fit into again was pointless.”
Lucy reached into the closet and pulled out a black sweater with crocheted lace at the shoulders and neckline. “This is cute.”
“I put it on, and William told me to stop trying to be Stevie Nicks.”
“William was an asshole. It’s cute. You’ll wear it,” Lucy paused as she reached into the closet for a pair of skinny jeans and the one pair of boots that Caroline owned, “with these.”
“It’s a little much, don’t you think?”
“No. I don’t. I think you need a push-up bra and some the right jewelry. You’re not the mayor’s wife anymore. Boring suits, ladylike dresses, and taking your shithead husband’s crap with a polite smile are all things of the past.”
Caroline took the boots and jeans. Cocking her head to one side, she considered what Lucy had just said. “You’re right. Pleasing my father was always a wasted effort. There was no pleasing William at all. And everyone in this town just wants to point and laugh or give me fake pity smothered in a helping of superiority.”
“So fuck ’em.”
Caroline couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face. “Fuck ’em. My new motto.”
“Does that apply to Boone?” Lucy asked with a raised eyebrow.
“He’s your brother! It’s just weird to talk about this with you.”
Lucy shrugged. “He is my brother, but you are my best friend. Having had more than one run-in with your ex-husband, I can attest to the fact that no one needs to get laid more than you.”
“Just stop. Stop. Please, for the love of all that’s holy, just stop,” Caroline pleaded as she shimmied into the skinny jeans. The days of modesty with Lucy were long over. They’d been changing clothes in front of one another for years. She’d also been present with a front row seat at the birth of every one of Lucy’s children.
“Fine. I’ll stop,” Lucy agreed, pulling a heavily padded bra from one of the drawers. “Wear this. It’ll make his eyes pop out of his head.”
Caroline took the bra, dressed quickly, and under Lucy’s supervision, completed her hair and makeup. “I look like a slut.”
“You look hot on the cusp of slutty. It’s perfect. We’re going to the PitStop after the game…Charlie and I haven’t been kid-free since the last time I got pregnant.”
Caroline laughed. “There might be a link between the two!”
“Yes, there was a link. But a very helpful urologist snipped it, and now Charlie and I don’t have to worry about that anymore. So I’m going to drink lots of beer, go home to an empty house, and do dirty things with my hot hubs who traded his six pack for a pony keg.”
It had never mattered to Lucy that Charlie hadn’t maintained his perfect military physique. It hadn’t mattered to her that William had lost his hair or that his middle had spread. She’d accepted him for who he was, warts and all. Boone clearly didn’t mind the extra weight she’d put on since high school. “I don’t understand why William never just accepted me. It was always about changing me, tearing me down, making me feel like a failure. I never understood it…every pound I gained, every dress size I went up, it was just another thing for him to use against me.”
Lucy hugged her, and the gesture was much like Lucy herself—abrupt, strong, and oddly comforting. “That was never about you, babe. It was always about him. While you were wondering why he treated you so badly, the rest of us were wondering why the hell you married the son of a bitch anyway.”
“Can I just claim youth and stupidity?”
“Why not? Now, let’s go to a football game, watch my kid kick some ass, then go get drunk. I’ve got a man to seduce!”
*
Boone was waiting at the gates of the football stadium with Charlie. They’d dropped Nick off early for all the pre-game stuff and had spent the last half hour waiting for Lucy and Caroline to show up.
“Boone, how’s the tattoo business?”
Boone smiled. “The shop’s only been open a day, Roy, but so far so good.”
The other man nodded and kept walking. It was weird to be back in a town where everyone knew everything about everyone’s business. Thinking back to the things Lucy had said about Caroline and how people had treated her, it wasn’
t a stretch for him to imagine just how ugly it had gotten for her.
“Lord, I love that woman, but when Nick sees what his mother has on he’s going to shit a baby alligator.”
Boone glanced in the direction Charlie was pointing and saw Lucy and Caroline walking in. Lucy was wearing one of her more eccentric outfits, which was saying something. Skin-tight jeans with stiletto heels, she looked like the heroine chic version of Betty Paige. But Caroline was a different matter entirely. The black sweater with the lacy cutouts gave the illusion it was about to slip off her shoulders at any second. With her blonde hair hanging in rich waves and the glossy pink lipstick beckoning him, he didn’t much care what Nick would do when he saw Lucy.
“Hey,” he said, too dumbstruck to offer anything more articulate.
“Hey, yourself. Looks like the game is about to start.”
Forcing himself to think, to make his brain function in spite of the fact that none of his blood was actually traveling to it, Boone took her hand and led her toward the bleachers. They found a spot toward the center with a good view of the field.
It was a typical high school football game in a southern town. Everyone was there, regardless of whether they had kids on the team or not. As far as Friday night entertainment went, it was pretty much all the town had to offer. There was drinking in the parking lot, carefully concealed, of course. There was also lots of gossip. It was a safe bet that he and Caroline were at the center of most of it.
Whispers, stares, a few nervous giggles, and the less than subtle side-eye as people walked past. Yeah. Small town living had its drawbacks. It wasn’t that he minded people knowing he was with Caroline. If it had been up to him, he would have shouted it from the rooftops. But it made her uncomfortable to be the center of attention. He could feel her shrinking beside him.
“We can get out of here,” he offered.
She smiled brightly, but there was panic in her eyes. “Don’t you want to watch the game?”
He did. He wanted to see Nick play and cheer him on. It would be one of the first games he’d gotten to watch the kid in since he’d been in the pee-wee league. “Yeah, I do. But I know you’re miserable.”
Blue Colla Make Ya Holla Page 19
