But maybe that was exactly what Ti needed.
A twinge of anticipation pulled her across the floor with ideas swirling.
On the wall behind the register, a rickety framed photo of a man handing Drew a set of keys stood out among the other pictures. Drew must’ve inherited the family business. That’d explain why he didn’t want to sell it. Was his dad still around?
Ti spun toward the sound of a bell chiming over the door and smacked into a cloud of old lady perfume.
A woman with gray roots chasing her blonde highlights strolled in, wearing lipstick to match the bright pink, oversized flowers on her blouse. “Morning, Drew.”
“How you doing, Mrs. Cunningham?”
The woman fluttered a hand at him like she had an imaginary handkerchief in it. “I’d be better if I were out on the water today.”
“Roger still hasn’t fixed your boat?”
An airy sigh punctuated her eye roll. “He’s off on one of his business trips again.” She hefted a giant purse onto the counter and leaned forward on both forearms till wrinkly cleavage ran into a fuchsia rose stretched across the middle of her shirt. “I’ll take you out for a spin if you come work on it today. Roger won’t be back till tomorrow.”
And people said Ti was bold. Lipstick Mama was working it.
Drew’s face turned a hundred shades of red. “Thanks for the offer, Mrs. Cunningham, but I, um, have, uh . . .”
“Work to do,” Ti peeped up from around the corner.
Mrs. Cunningham’s gaze danced over her like a strobe light. “I see.” Dismissing Ti, she fanned through a rack of stationery beside the register. “I thought you might need a little . . . distraction. With all that’s been going on, I can’t imagine dealing with the anniversary of your dad’s death, too.” She set one sun-aged hand over his and the other on her chest. “My heart goes out to you.”
Drew freed his caged fingers. “I’m managing just fine.”
“And how about Maddie? That poor girl.” Mrs. Cunningham shook her head. “My goodness, she gave us all quite a scare. I don’t believe my nerves ever recovered from the first hospital call.”
Drew stretched his neck while keeping his attention on the computer screen. “Maddie has a lot of fight in her.”
“Growing up without a mother, of course she does. And to think, Ann—”
Drew shot up. The teetering stool behind him cut her off, no words necessary.
Without a mother? Drew lost his wife? Made total sense now why he was so guarded and protective. Ti would be too if she had to raise a child as a single parent.
The meddlesome woman gently set a lighthouse notepad on the counter and slid a five-dollar bill beside it. “Well, now, you be sure to let me know if there’s anything I can do for you, you hear?”
He rang up her stationery and managed a tight-lipped, “Yes, ma’am.”
As soon as she left, Drew returned to sorting through a stack of bills.
Lipstick Mama wasn’t entirely off base about Drew needing help keeping his mind off things. Ti just had to figure out how to break through his closed-off shell. Sympathy was out of the question. Too prideful. She ambled over and picked at a chip on the counter. “That was a pity sale, in case you missed it. She didn’t really need that notepad.”
Drew lounged back. “Is mind reading on the résumé you pitch to all your clients?”
“It’s easy to read people if you’re willing to look past the surface.” At least, it was easy to read most people. He needed to give her something to work with if she was going to help him.
When he didn’t bite, she twirled away from the counter toward a winding staircase. “What’s up—?”
“That’s off limits.” Already beside her, Drew blocked the stairs.
“Wow, look at you. Secret chamber?” She raised a wry brow at his chiseled expression.
“Next topic.”
“Touchy.” Holding his gaze, Ti lifted her cell between them. “Owner has a mysterious side.”
His jaw rippled. He hedged her backward with a sharp glance at her phone. “I’m not the one hiding something.”
She almost snorted. “You serious?” Her exaggerated peek up the stairs tacked on a dozen exclamation points, but his stern eyes kept inching her away. She crossed her arms and peered back at the photo behind the register. “Fine. Then tell me about the shop. Did your dad pass it down to you?”
Drew stopped, face crinkling.
She’d take that as a yes. “If you can cook, you could always turn it into a diner.”
His eyes reached for the ceiling. “Does it ever end?”
“Wit happens to be the greatest skill on my résumé. Right after mind reading, of course.”
He wheezed. “I walk right into these things, don’t I?”
“And never see them coming.” Ti nudged him with her elbow. “For real, though, what’s the story with the shop?”
“No story.”
“There’s always a story.”
A tangle of emotions contorted his expression. “Only if you’re always chasing one.”
“How else are you going to find adventure?”
“What if all you find is disappointment?” The torment in his eyes pierced through again.
“That’s part of the risk.”
He prodded her farther back. “Maybe I’m fine with the way things are.”
“And maybe you’re lying.”
If her bluntness tripped him up, it wasn’t long enough to stop him from advancing. “Do you always say what you think?”
“I just call it like I see it.” Something behind her pressed into her back.
Drew studied her, his gaze more powerful than any touch. He had a way about him—this intense-yet-broken hero pull she’d have to be dead not to find attractive.
Ti searched for her breath. “You do that a lot, you know. Look at me like a math problem you can’t figure out.”
“Sorry. You’re not like most vacationers who come through here.”
“Is that a good or bad thing?”
“I’m still deciding.”
This close, she wasn’t sure herself. She was used to guys’ fast words and even faster hands. But Mr. Enigma baffled her. All she knew was those green eyes needed reins before she lost the ones keeping her from running her fingers through his tousled cowlick right now.
Thirty seconds of charged silence felt more like thirty minutes.
He finally released her gaze. “The second story’s off limits. As are all personal discussions. We’re here to work.”
A pent-up exhale leveled out Ti’s shoulders. “We are working.”
“No.” He backed up. “I’m trying to work. You’re . . .” He waved at her, his face crestfallen with something she couldn’t read. “Distracting.”
Of all the adjectives he could have used, of all the ones she’d heard from other guys, the most benign one shouldn’t have felt like a sucker punch.
Buffering the sting, Ti adjusted the strap on her heel and straightened. The emotions from the week were obviously throwing her off her game, but Drew wasn’t the only one who could be hardnosed. He wanted to work? Fine. He’d just better hope he was ready for what he asked for.
Chapter Four
Undertones
Another restless night put a serious strain on Ti’s makeup the next morning. Any more nightmares, and she wouldn’t be able to camouflage the bags under her eyes.
Coffee in hand, she strode up the walkway to the shop. At least she’d put the sleepless hours to work forming a plan. Drew’s brusque exterior wasn’t going to back her down.
She skipped the first two stairs up to the porch. The Don Johnson lookalike from the party came through the shop’s front door at the same time Ti went to open it.
What was he doing here? Taunting Drew again? The guy didn’t know when to quit. Or maybe he just didn’t know who he was up against.
He slid his sunglasses down his nose without moving to let her pass. “Miss New York, right? Fr
om the other night.” His gaze careened from her tan trilby hat down to her matching ankle boots and skimmed back up her sundress. “I wouldn’t waste your time on a business about to fold. But if you’re looking for more action while you’re here, I can give you my number.”
She’d rather get her stomach pumped. Yet instead of gagging in his face, she played along. “Do you have a card?”
His smug grin was almost as disturbing as the curls poking out of his T-shirt. “Of course.”
“Awesome.” She tapped his shoulder with the business card he gave her. “I was looking for something to burn off the heebie-jeebies you give me. This will be the perfect fire starter. I owe ya one.” Creep. Ti shouldered past him into the shop without waiting to see her response sink in.
A minute later, squealing tires echoed a revved engine. Talk about overcompensating. Little did V-neck Boy know, his instigation tactics only fueled her determination to see him lose.
She marched up to Drew, seated behind the counter, and handed him the list of ideas she’d scribbled down last night, along with a budget.
Drew sized up the sheet. “That’s a decent chunk of money.”
“The return on investment will be worth it. You have to spend money to make money. Business 101.”
He stared at her so intently, the papers in his hand mindlessly slipped to the desk.
Ti mimicked his curious pose. “Seriously, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m gonna paint monkey ears on you and call you George.”
Scratching his clean-shaven jaw, Drew laughed softly. “Sorry. You have a way of catching me off guard.”
“So I’ve noticed.” She set her coffee down, ran her hands along her arms, and avoided his gaze. “I know you think I’m just a flighty model, but—”
“That’s not what I think.”
A residual pang left from his comment yesterday crept back to the forefront. She tilted her head. “Just distracting?”
A slow-building flush colored his neck. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“We’ve been down this road already.” He’d made his impressions of her loud and clear. No need to keep backpedaling. “We’re here to work, right? So, how about we agree to shoot it straight with each other? I’m not as fragile as I look.” At least, not that she’d show him.
Drew lowered his chin. “It’s not—”
The overhead bell rang, followed by an adorable voice chattering away. Cooper and a girl probably in her early twenties entered the shop, bookending an elementary-aged girl between them.
A small cluster of freckles on the girl’s nose complemented the strawberry blonde braids swaying as she relayed a grand-gestured story. “. . . And Winnie said Fletcher told her he saw Mrs. Godfrey’s ghost at the Island Inn, but I told her not to believe anything boys say.” Her hazel eyes found Drew across the room and turned ten times brighter.
Drew scooped her up. “Hey, Sea Monkey.” With a kiss to the cheek, he set her back down. “I thought you were going paddle boarding with Uncle Coop today.”
“We are.” Cooper strolled up to the counter and picked through a container of mints. “But we ran into Chloe on the way, and Maddie couldn’t pass up giving her a play-by-play of her sleepover.”
“It’s not something boys would understand.” The girl in skinny jeans and dark-rimmed glasses winked at Maddie on her way behind the counter to the register. She must be one of Drew’s employees. What a trooper. She got major points for that alone.
Cooper adjusted his Tar Heels hat, leaned back on both elbows, and smiled at Ti. “So, what’s the prognosis?”
The two girls must not’ve noticed Ti when they first walked in. Now, someone might as well have plastered a spotlight on her. She slipped off her hat and ruffled her bangs. “I just gave Drew a list of things we should start with, actually.”
Hipster Girl cleared her throat in an obvious nudge for Drew to make introductions.
He looked between them. “Oh, sorry. Chloe, this is Ti Russo. She’s going to be helping out around here for a while.” No one else appeared to notice his inflection, but it gave Ti enough of a laugh to relax her shoulders.
Chloe turned from Ti to the patron-less store. In a matter of seconds, her expression transitioned from confusion over what in the world Ti could do to occupy her time to relief over seeing someone with a clue finally stepping in.
Ti liked this chick already.
And little Miss Sunshine in the glittery flip-flops? Forget it. A girl after her own heart.
Without hesitation, she ambled right up to Ti and extended a hand. “Hi, I’m Maddie.” She twisted a sparkly turtle stud in her ear, scoped out Ti’s outfit, and burst into rays of smiles. “I like your earrings. And those boots are so sweet.”
Ti made it a point never to give in to the love-at-first-sight junk Hollywood fed hopeless romantics. But that rule obviously didn’t apply to Maddie. This cutie had Ti hooked and sunk.
Drew rubbed Maddie’s head. “All right, sweetie. Let’s give Ti some space. She has . . .” He sent a loaded grin her way. “Work to be doing.”
Yeah, starting with tucking her heart back down where it belonged.
Drew kissed Maddie’s cheek and shot his brother a keep-my-girl-safe look of warning.
Nodding, Cooper slung an arm around Maddie’s shoulders. “Ready to find some turtles?”
The silent squeals lighting Maddie’s face tumbled out. She closed one eye in an impressive pirate expression and pointed ahead. “To the sea!”
Cooper jogged out with her while Ti stood there, caught up in laughter of her own.
Chloe pinned an Anderson’s Soundside Treasures nametag on her shirt and flicked her chin at Drew. “Seen much traffic from the festival yet?”
And just like that, the lingering afterglow of Maddie’s presence vanished. Drew adjusted his shirt collar. “Not as much as we need.”
Ti slipped her hat back on. “Considering ten whopping people came through your doors yesterday and none yet this morning, I’d say that’s a slight understatement.”
Drew sent her a thanks-for-pointing-that-out glare, but Ti didn’t let it faze her. She motioned to Chloe. “Are you on shift until close?”
“Aside from a break for lunch, yep.”
“Perfect.” Ti grabbed Drew’s hand. “We’ll see you later, then.”
He dragged his feet. “Where are we going?”
“To save your shop.”
The intense reactions Ti finagled out of Drew were messing with his head. How he’d let her talk him into taking a day trip to Cedar Island, he still had no idea. Then again, after the way she turned shopping into an extreme sport, he shouldn’t be surprised at what she could accomplish.
Crammed in her tiny smart car, Drew clicked the on button to his cell out of habit. Still dead. Obviously, wishful thinking hadn’t magically charged it. He tossed it in the cup holder and unwrapped a piece of taffy while peering at the clock. They hadn’t slowed down since the ferry ride hours ago. Surely, she was almost done.
“Worried about turning into a pumpkin?”
He looked in her direction. “What?”
“The clock.” Ti motioned to the car stereo. “You’ve checked it, like, every five minutes over the last hour.”
Minutes he was losing. “The Ocrafolk Festival’s going on right now. Meaning, I’m missing prime time for business. I should be at the shop, not running around on a scavenger hunt for paint and decorations.”
“There’s no point in starting backward,” she said in a Zen-like tone.
He tore off a bite of taffy to keep from spouting off a few proverbs of his own.
“Relax. Chloe can handle it. And it doesn’t matter how many people flock to the island. If you aren’t drawing them into the shop, you can’t sell them anything, remember?” Ti patted his knee. “Trust me.”
She swerved around a pickup, tires screeching. Drew almost choked on the taffy. “It might be easier to trust you, if you knew how to drive. This isn’t the BQ
E.”
Her contagious laughter filled the car. “Just ’cause everyone around here moves as slow as midtown traffic doesn’t mean I drive too fast. And what do you know about the BQE? You’ve been to the city?”
“Once.” He stared out the window at the passing shoreline. “A long time ago.” Cutting off that conversation, he grabbed a bag of trail mix and swallowed the pang of memories better left forgotten.
If Ti caught the undertone in his comment, she didn’t press it. Instead, she tapped the steering wheel to the beat of whatever song she was singing. Sunlight streamed onto her long blonde braid draped over one shoulder.
Drew fluttered a glance away from her. “You do that a lot, you know.”
“What?”
“Sing to yourself.”
She looked him up and down. “Better than listening to you crunch on those nuts.”
She didn’t like hearing people chew, huh? He leaned toward her and exaggerated the munching sounds. “I’m sorry. What was that?”
Ti took one of the nuts and flicked it at his face. “Careful, Mr. Anderson,” she said like Agent Smith from The Matrix.
“You’ve been dying to say that, haven’t you?”
“Since I first found out your last name.” Her amusement overran her cheeks. “We’re talking some serious self-control holding it in until now.”
Fighting a grin, Drew shook his head and sat back in his seat. “Congratulations.”
“Why, thank you. I think this victory warrants an iced coffee.” She zipped up to the curb beside a café, killed the engine, and wagged her brows. “You know you want one. I mean, I know caffeine isn’t as big of a rush as that red pill, but ignorance has its perks.”
He rolled his eyes. “If I go in, will you stop railing Matrix jokes?”
“Maybe . . . if you actually order a coffee.”
What was the point of arguing with her? “At least let me charge my phone first.”
Halfway out the door, she shrugged. “I left my charger in my bag back at the trailer.”
Begin Again (Home In You Book 2) Page 4
