Love, Exes, and Ohs

by Violet Duke

  “So Xoey,” he said after their entrees arrived, “have you given any thought to taking your financial platform for the brewpub to the next level? Franchising perhaps, or international distributions? I’ve got some investors who like to get in on projects like these, businesses like yours, at the ground floor. I’m talking next level here for you.”

  Seriously? He was giving her an investment banking spiel?

  This was worse than the ass-grabbing.

  Speaking of which.

  If he slides his hand any higher up the inside of my thigh—

  Dammit! That’s it! She gave his hand a firm shove.

  What was he expecting, to do a little dirty deed under the table?

  She got her answer a second later when he reached back down, only this time, to put her spare hand on his lap.

  Ew.

  This was a first date, for chrissakes.

  “Oops,” she called out then, the picture of wide-eyed innocence.

  “Shit!”

  Hiding her grin, she grabbed her napkin and went to work making her little ‘oops’ so, so much worse. If she thought her purse had looked good on charcoal slacks, this look was ten time better.

  “Dammit, this is an Italian suit.” Suddenly, the big soap opera smile was gone as he waved his hand at the waitress. “Check!”

  Guess that meant no on dessert.

  As the date sped toward an unceremonious end shortly after, Xoey couldn’t help but feel vindicated somehow.

  Here she was, getting driven home in a BMW by a guy whom, to his credit, was back to polite chit-chat and even a genuine smile or two, despite the mess on his pants.

  When he wasn’t ‘on,’ he was actually a pretty normal guy, though it didn’t stay ‘off’ for long. By the time they were back at her apartment, his hand was back on her leg.

  “So…raincheck?” he asked as he put the car in park.

  She stared at him like he had a few screws loose.

  Okay, so the guy was nothing like the man that seemed to have a strange, immovable anchor in her memories. Still, the initial similarities were probably what had her delivering her nicest ‘it’s-not-you-it’s-me’ speech to date.

  “You’re a good guy, Griffin. And maybe a different time, a different place, we would’ve clicked more. But now’s not that time for me.”

  As she entered her apartment and pulled off her stilettos, she found herself thinking again about the man responsible for her first oh.

  Only, this time, she allowed herself to actually address the sad, but very true reality of it all.

  She still felt an intense one-sided connection to him.

  She still looked for him in crowded rooms, wondering if…

  She still feared he had a chunk of her heart that she hadn’t even realized she’d given him until it was too late.

  She was still hung up on her first and biggest Mr. Wrong.

  * * * * *

  XOEY WAS SETTLING IN bed catching up on her DVR shows when her cellphone rang.

  Isaac.

  She smiled. “Hey, how’d Tyler do?”

  “He won by submission in the first round. A minute fifty-five seconds.”

  “No way! That’s incredible! I’m so bummed they didn’t televise the amateur fights tonight.” She turned off the TV and snuggled under the covers. “Wow, submission in the first round—he must be stoked. You must be flying high, too.”

  “He is. And I am. He’s worked so hard for this. He really deserved it.”

  She could hear how big his grin was in his voice and it thrilled her to no end. Tyler was like a little brother to Isaac, and he’d been training him for almost five years now.

  It was no secret that Tyler had had his fair share of run-ins with the law as a kid. He’d been on a bad path until his father had signed him up for MMA training at Isaac’s old gym before he’d relocated to Cactus Creek. The training, and Isaac, had turned the kid’s life around.

  “I’m so happy for you guys. I know how hard you all have worked with him.”

  “You should’ve seen his dad, Xo. He was so damn proud. God, that was a good moment.”

  “So what’re you doing calling me? You should be out there celebrating right alongside them. You deserve it.”

  “Nah, I’m going to turn in soon for the night. Been a long couple of days. I’d rather talk to my favorite girl up until I pass out.”

  She smiled and cuddled up to her pillow. She’d always loved hearing Isaac’s deep, sleep-heavy voice. Hot. And always more affectionate, too.

  “Tell me something fun, babe. To give me good dreams tonight.”

  “You’re the one in the city of sin. You should be the one sharing stories with me. It’s the same old, same old here.”

  “Really? Beacuse I think a few of your fellow townfolk would beg to differ.”

  Great. She hadn’t realized the Cactus Creek gossip line covered the entire continental U.S.

  That’s what she got for not choosing a restaurant a good distance outside of town limits.

  “Whatever do you mean?” she asked innocently, wanting him to show his cards first and see what he knew. Since her date earlier had gone to college with Quinn, Luke, and Isaac, there was a good chance Isaac had met him in the past. She didn’t want to unintentionally bash his friend.

  “Well, based on the photo someone texted me—ˮ

  A photo? Dammit, the folks of Cactus Creek took nosiness to a whole new level.

  His grin grew audibly wider. “If I had to fathom a guess, I’d say someone had a ‘happy ending’ during dinner.”

  She wondered if she could get a copy of that photo for her scrapbook.

  “And is that the new Italian restaurant that just opened up? You didn’t get yourself thrown out of a restaurant we haven’t even had a chance to try out yet for lewd public conduct, have you, young lady?”

  “Perv. It wasn’t anything dirty. It was a misfortunate accident with food.”

  “Could’ve fooled me. Okay, so tell me what exactly I’m looking at here.” He sounded like he’d switched to speaker.

  Wouldn’t put it past him to be looking at the photo now so he could get a visual while she explained what had transpired.

  Okay, so clearly he wasn’t besties with the guy. Whew.

  “It was an innocent accident,” she lied outrageously. “It could’ve happened to anyone. I was just reaching for the little bowl of parmesan cheese for my pasta when I ‘accidentally’ knocked it onto my date’s lap. Wouldn’t have been so terrible if the little dish of balsamic olive oil dip for the bread hadn’t somehow walked its way over from the middle of the table and hopped off the edge.”

  Deep, soft laughter warmed the phone line.

  “To be fair, I tried to help him wipe it up, but weirdly enough, it turned into a big cakey white paste.”

  The laughter abruptly cut short. “He didn’t get mad at you or anything did he?” The promise of violence in his voice was primitive, but ridiculously sexy as well.

  “No,” she replied softly, trying hard not to smile. “He was annoyed, but not angry. The date ended soon after.”

  “Good.” Isaac yawned. “Hey, one question?”

  The yawn was catching. She burrowed into her sheets more. “Yeah?”

  “Don’t you hate parmesan cheese?”

  “Hmm, not so much anymore. But after tonight, I don’t think Mr. Octopus Hands is going to be much of a fan.”

  She could hear him smiling. And yawning again.

  “Best bedtime story ever,” he murmured in a thick, muffled sleepy tone.

  “Go to bed. I’ll see you at the baggage claim tomorrow. Text me when you land.”

  “’Mkay. Miss you, Xo. Wish you were here.”

  She sighed, wondering why he never said adorable things like that to her when he was awake.

  Then again, she was one to talk. “I miss you too, Isaac. Sweet dreams.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  ‘TOWNFOLK BREWERY NIGHT’ at Ocotillos was a brainc
hild of Xoey’s, and Isaac couldn’t be more proud of how much it was taking off.

  Back when they’d been dating, before she’d become one of the co-owners of Ocotillos and had still been teaching pilates and dance in addition to bartending, she’d told him once about how she used to have her dance students work together to choreograph numbers at least once a season for a show in the town square. Just so they could feel how great it was to create something and watch it come to life, see it reach others.

  He knew for a fact that those shows were always a hit, and the students had always been downright resplendent in their joy.

  At the start of this year, when Xoey had officially stepped down as the pilates and dance classes over at the town rec center, she’d appointed one of those very students she’d once taught to be her successor. And that student had since kept Xoey’s tradition alive.

  Months ago, during one of their usual late night phone conversations in bed, she’d confessed to him that while she loved everything about her career move, she did miss that one part of her old life—giving folks the chance to boldly, bravely let their creativity shine on stage.

  In response, he’d simply asked her, “Well, then why don’t you do that at the brewpub?”

  It hadn’t been a dare, or a challenge. But a nudge. For her to boldly, bravely let her own creativity shine on her newest stage.

  And boy did she ever.

  Unsurprising, really. Xoey’s mind was one of the most unique, soul-reachingly candid and creative minds he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing flourish. Within days, she’d come up with a project prospectus that had impressed the hell out of Noah, the town’s own homegrown business tycoon/guardian angel, which had resulted in his donating a good portion of the initial start-up for her project.

  Fast forward to three months ago, and the town had their first home craft beer brewing invitational sponsored by Ocotillos.

  It was a seasonal event wherein townfolk could try their hand at making a new brew for the season with home kits that Ocotillos assembled for them. Finalists would be chosen from all that entered, and for one night, those finalists would get to have their beer on tap at Ocotillos. The town would vote and the winner would have an official Ocotillos beer birth, with its foot-stomping, pub-rocking drinking song salute, which would lead to the writing of their name and the name of their brew on the wall of Ocotillos’ seasonal brews. And then that winning brew would get sold on tap for a month, with all proceeds going to the townfolk brewer’s charity of choice.

  To say that it was a smashing success last season was an understatement.

  From the looks of it, this season was going to be even better.

  After making sure to first toss a warm wink at the woman responsible for everything, Isaac headed over to the sole empty table in the place, being guarded by Luke.

  “Hey, man.” He sat down and thumped his friend on the shoulder in greeting. “Connor and Brian coming out tonight?”

  Even though he and Luke had been friends with the older of the Sullivan brothers first, with Tessa having married Connor’s brother Brian, both the brothers usually came out together to guys’ night out while their wives stayed home with the kids. Then the reverse would hold true when either Xoey or Dani would call the Sullivan women for a girls’ night out.

  “No, they’re having a double date night. And Lia’s helping Skylar babysit the kids.”

  Since there were still two chairs that hadn’t been swiped by neighboring tables, he assumed that meant Rylan and Hudson were going to be joining them. Made sense since Hudson’s fiancée Lia was the Sullivan brothers’ go-to babysitter—the woman was basically Mary Poppins, Barney, and Pink Power Ranger rolled into one.

  Admittedly, Isaac had always thought himself good with kids but whenever Lia was around, he and most other adults were basically invisible to children.

  “Hudson’s coming by in a bit,” confirmed Luke. “He’s just finishing up a meeting with Lia’s brothers. Rylan will head down after he finishes playing his set upstairs.”

  “Where’s Coop?” Isaac scanned the room for Rylan’s stepson Cooper, who usually never missed a show. He was a cute kid, and already quite the charmer at six years old. On the nights Rylan and his band played, he usually got just as much adoring attention from the women in the audience as the band did. And the last few times they’d had the little man join them for guys’ night, the waitresses had gushed over him all night long, sending root beer floats the size of his head and every item on the dessert menu.

  “Quinn took him over to hang out with Lia and the kids. According to Quinn, he’s gotten pretty protective of Connor’s daughter, who has apparently just informed her preschool teachers that she’s going to marry him someday.”

  Well, that was just adorable as hell.

  And he didn’t blame the kid at all—heck, he’d choose the girl over boy’s night, too. Every time.

  Mugs of beer arrived on the table moments later, courtesy of Xoey and Dani.

  While Xoey practically lived behind the bar, he was surprised to see Dani back in the trenches. He looked over at Luke. “I thought Dani was only going to be working in the brewery from now on.”

  “That’s still the plan,” replied Luke, as they both raised their mugs up to the girls in thanks. “But she was feeling nostalgic tonight so she jumped in to help.” After doing some Jedi flirting with his wife across the room, Luke shifted his attention back to Isaac. “Okay, so explain to me again what you’re doing about this Xoey’s man-quation thing. I still don’t fully get it.”

  Glancing up to see Xoey across the room taking off her bartending apron, Isaac shook his head and slapped a few bills on the table. “Sorry man, I’ll explain next time. I have to go.”

  Amusement lit Luke’s questioning brow arch. “Ditching us on guys’ night? Dare I ask why?”

  Lifting his shoulders in an apologetic shrug, Isaac grinned back. “I choose the girl.”

  * * * * *

  “WOW, IT’S GONNA be tough to choose this season, Xo.”

  “Great selection, Xoey. Some real unique fall brews.”

  “I just can’t decide. Maybe one more round of each juuust to be sure…”

  Xoey hadn’t stopped smiling once all evening. The raves had been coming throughout the night, and the mingling finalists were positively glowing from the praise.

  And with Dani making a welcome comeback to fill out the already fully-staffed bar, Xoey had been able to settle back for the last hour to just take it all in.

  A big, warm body sidled up beside her as a deep, throaty voice stated with clear affection, “You outdid yourself tonight, Xo.”

  Grinning, she shoulder-butted the tall, familiar frame, recognizing Lia’s oldest brother’s voice anywhere. “They outdid themselves. And thanks.” She looked around for the rest of the Spencer boys but couldn’t spot them. “You flying solo tonight?” Turning finally after greeting a few more passing regulars, she did a doubletake when she saw that Caine wasn’t just out of uniform, but dressed to impress.

  She let loose an appreciative whistle. “You with a gun and badge is plenty hot as is, but when you put in this kind of effort, it’s almost unfair.”

  Chuckling, Caine slung an arm around her shoulder. “High praise. And here I thought you wouldn’t notice.”

  That was when it registered that he was standing awfully close to her.

  Huh, that was…new. “What’s up, Caine? You seem different tonight.”

  An understatement of epic proportions. He never flirted with her. And he’d always cite the reason why as him not wanting Isaac to kick his ass.

  Didn’t stop her from playfully flirting with him from time to time though. All in harmless fun, of course. It was just amusing to push his big, gruff alpha cop buttons.

  Instead of answering her question, he dropped his eyes to her lips and came in a step closer.

  Holy shit.

  After the momentary mesmerizing spell passed—she was only human—Xoey turned fully
and narrowed her gaze on him. “Okay, that’s it. Am I witnessing a midlife crisis meltdown?”

  A swift, peeved scowl transformed him back into the Caine they all knew and loved. “Criminy, I keep telling you I’m not old; I’m thirty-goddamn-six years old.”

  She hid her laughter. Worked every time. “Then what’s all this about.” She waved a hand over his GQ attire, and pointed two pointedly forked fingers at his still smoldering gaze.

  “Can’t a guy want to make a good impression on a blind date?”

  “Ohhh. Gotcha. Wow, lucky girl. She may as well hand over her panties at the door.”

  Now that the odd mystery was solved, Xoey went back to keeping an eye on things. “Did Dani finally wear you down and set you up with someone?”

  “Nope. Lia did.”

  “No kidding?” Interesting. She couldn’t see her tough little bouncer meddling in her equally tough brothers’ love lives. It’d be a hobbit-like journey to navigate through, without a doubt.

  Caine, Gabe, and Max were all great guys, princes among men, but complicated as hell. Of course, Lia’s foster brother Drew, on the other hand, was strikingly uncomplicated. But he was also clearly in love with someone the entire town of Cactus Creek had been trying to learn the identity of for a while now.

  Luckily for Xoey, her own three new brotherly figures—who’d followed through and become nearly as overbearing as the Spencer boys were with Lia since the night Xoey had given them dwarf names—were not nearly as complex. So far.

  “So I’m trying hard not to take the panty comment literally but you’ve put quite the image in my head, sweetheart. Makes me want to walk you right over to the front entrance now.”

  His eyes did that warm glittering thing again that had her rapid-blinking to keep from falling into a trance.

  What in the world was going on?

  That’s when it all slammed into her like a freight train.

  “Lia’s Oh-Mate Bachelor choice for me is you?”