Next to Me

by Allie Everhart

  "He doesn't need it. He's not going to call you. He said he made that clear to you last night."

  "Maybe he'll change his mind." She smiles. "I find men always come back for more."

  "I can tell you right now that Jake won't be coming back. He doesn't even live here. And besides, don't you have a boyfriend?"

  "He's my fiancé." She dangles her left hand out in front of me and I see the giant diamond engagement ring.

  "You just got engaged?"

  She brings her hand back down by her side. "I've been engaged for months."

  "That's the first time I've seen that ring."

  "I don't always wear it."

  "So that you can cheat on your fiancé?"

  She huffs. "He's never here. He can't expect me to be faithful."

  "Where is he?"

  "He got a job in New York. He moved there last April. I'll be moving there after we get married." She shoves her business card at me. "Take it. And make sure your brother gets it."

  I take it just so she'll go away. "Goodnight, Katie." I attempt to close the door but she won't move out of the way.

  "So what are you doing tonight?" She smiles and steps closer to me.

  I laugh. "Are you serious? You were with my brother just last night, and now you're trying to get with me?"

  "Like you said, your brother's not in town. And I think I'd like you better." She skims her hand over my chest.

  "Go." I push her away. "And don't come back here."

  She furrows her brows. "My daddy's a powerful man. If you want your building permits approved, you better be nice to his daughter."

  "And would daddy approve of his daughter sleeping with other guys while she's engaged to be married?"

  She turns and walks off and I slam the door.

  "Who was it?" Callie asks.

  I turn and see her behind me. "Katie. She threatened to interfere with my building permits if I don't sleep with her."

  "Are you serious?"

  "Yeah, but I'm not worried about it. She doesn't have that kind of power."

  "She does. Her dad's on city council."

  "That doesn't mean he can ban me from getting a permit. He's not in charge of the department that issues them."

  "Don't you already have all your permits?"

  "I have some, but not all. I was waiting until I knew exactly what I was going to do with the house. But now, I'm just going to go ahead and apply for whatever permits I think I'll need, just in case Katie tries to interfere."

  "I swear, I don't know what her problem is. This is why I don't like small towns. Everyone's always in everyone else's business."

  "This shit goes on in big cities too. There's always someone whose sole purpose in getting elected is to punish the people they don't like." I take Callie's hand and pull her toward me. "Let's forget all that and get back to what we were doing before the doorbell rang."

  She looks down. "I don't think we should."

  "Why? Just a few minutes ago you were all over me." I lift her face up and kiss her. "And I liked it." I kiss her again. "A lot."

  She rests her hands on my chest. "I did too, but I didn't mean to do that. It just happened."

  I smile. "You just happened to kiss me?"

  "Something like that." She glances down.

  I lift her face again, bringing her eyes back to mine. "There had to be a reason."

  Her shoulders drop. "Okay, fine. It was all that talk about hammering nails in the wall."

  "What?" My brows draw together in confusion.

  She sighs. "Your instructions. You used words that...I don't know...got to me in a certain way."

  "What did I say?"

  She avoids my gaze, her cheeks turning pink. "Pound it in. Drive it in. Do it harder."

  I laugh. "Shit, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard. You have a dirty, dirty mind, my friend."

  "I normally don't, but for some reason, those words just got to me. Maybe because I haven't done it for so long."

  "How long?"

  She shoves me back. "I'm not telling you. That's private."

  "It's been six months for me. I haven't done it since I ended things with Marissa." I have no problem admitting that. I'm pretty much an open book, with a few exceptions.

  "Six months?" She cocks her head. "Really? That's a long time for a guy like you."

  "A guy like me? What does that mean?"

  "You're hot. Outgoing. Flirt constantly. Girls must come on to you all the time."

  I smile. "Good to know you think I'm hot. As long as we're dishing out compliments, I think you have great eyes. They're deep and rich, and expressive. And I love your lips. They're incredibly soft. And your body? It's perfect. You might just be the hottest girl I've ever seen."

  Her jaw drops slightly, then closes again.

  I reach for her, my arms circling her waist and pulling her into me as I look her in the eye. "And I don't flirt with just any girl. Only the ones I really want."

  I see her swallow, and hear her breaths quicken. "So the past six months...no one?"

  "No one. I've had plenty of opportunities, but I chose not to take them. If I don't feel something for the girl beyond just a physical attraction, I don't do it."

  "That's unusual."

  "Not really. Not every guy is just looking for sex."

  "Most are."

  "Has that been your experience?"

  She nods. "Unfortunately, yes."

  "Is that why it's been so long? You can't find a guy who wants more than just sex?"

  "No. That's not why." She closes her eyes and it's like the air around us turned darker, heavier. My mind starts thinking up reasons for that darkness and I feel anger rising up in me.

  "Did something happen to you?" I ask. "Did a guy—"

  "No," she says. "It's nothing like that. I just didn't have opportunities."

  "Callie, you're gorgeous. I'm sure you had plenty of opportunities."

  "Can we talk about something else? This is embarrassing."

  "You don't have to be embarrassed around me, but yeah, we don't need to talk." I lower my mouth to hers. "We could just go back to doing this." I kiss her but she laughs.

  "Nash, we need to stop. We can't do this every time we're around each other."

  "Actually, we could." I kiss her again. "There's no rule saying we can't."

  "You're my boss." She's smiling as she turns around in my arms in a lame attempt to get away. "It's not appropriate."

  "Then you're fired," I say, holding onto her, her back against my chest. I kiss the side of her neck.

  "Stop it." She laughs again. "I'm going back to work."

  "You can't. I just fired you."

  "Then I'm working for free, because I have to finish what I started."

  "You didn't finish what you started in the kitchen," I whisper in her ear.

  "See? Constant flirting. It never stops."

  "All right." I let her go and slap her ass. "Get back to work."

  We finish up at ten-thirty, which is later than I'd planned to work, but I was getting a lot done so I just kept going. And so did Callie, even though I told her she could go home. But she wanted to stay.

  After working all those hours, I told her she could skip coming here in the morning and just stop by in the afternoon, but the next day at eight-thirty, she's back at my house, going through more of the boxes.

  I'm starting to think that, despite what she says, she doesn't really like being alone. Actually, I'm starting to doubt a lot of the things she says.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Callie

  "Lou, I need more flour," I call back to him. He's in his office doing paperwork.

  "I just filled that thing," he says, walking into the kitchen. He keeps the flour in a big rolling bin, but when it's empty I can't fill it because the bags are too heavy. I tried doing it once and flour spilled out everywhere so Lou never let me do it again.

  He rips open the giant bag and dumps it in the bin.

  I
cough as flour dust fills the air.

  "You gotta stand back until it settles," he says, shaking the bag to get the last remnants of flour out. He tips the bag up, and as he turns to toss it out, he stops, his eyes on me.

  "What?" I touch my face. "Do I have flour on me?"

  He drops the bag in the trash, still eyeing me. "What's going on with you?"

  "Nothing. Why?"

  "Is it that guy?"

  "What guy?"

  "Your neighbor."

  "What about him?"

  "Are you dating him?" He crosses his chubby arms over his expansive gut, a slight smile on his face.

  "We're not dating," I say defensively. "I already told you we weren't. He's just my neighbor. Oh, and he fixed my walkway so you don't have to worry about me tripping on it. It's completely smooth. His brothers helped him. They did a really good job."

  He cocks his head. "So you had all those people at your house last weekend?"

  He knows I don't let people in my house. He doesn't know why and he hasn't asked. He knows better than to ask me about anything personal, although lately that seems to be all he's done and it's getting really annoying.

  "They only came into the house to use the bathroom," I say. "We ate lunch outside."

  "You had lunch with them?" He sounds surprised because I've had virtually no social interaction since the accident, other than my interactions with people here at work.

  "I thought it would be rude not to eat with them," I say.

  "And how'd it go?" He uses a cautious tone, hinting that I'm incapable of interacting with people. It angers me, and I turn away and get back to rolling out the cookie dough.

  "Callie," he says, not going away.

  "It went fine," I snap. "God, Lou, I'm not that messed up. I can have lunch with people."

  "I didn't mean it like that. I was just surprised that you—"

  I whip back to face him. "What are you, like Katie now? Telling everyone I'm crazy and never leave the house?"

  He holds my arm, his brows furrowed in anger. "She did not say that about you."

  I nod. "She did. At the bar. Saturday night."

  "You went out?" His voice is hopeful.

  "Nash talked me into it. We all went out. Him and his brothers and me."

  "And Katie was there?"

  I nod again, the scene replaying in my head, causing a lump to form in my throat. I can hear Katie's words. The town loser...hides away in her house all day...she's crazy. Any other time, that probably wouldn't have bothered me. It's just Katie being mean and immature, but the fact that she said it to Nash made it so much worse.

  "What did she say to you?" Lou asks.

  "She said..." I look up at the ceiling and bite my lip, willing myself not to cry. "She told Nash I'm crazy. She told him about the counting. That people in town talk about me and..." A tear runs down my cheek.

  "Oh, Callie." Lou forces me in his arms. I take a few long, deep breaths to stop the tears. I don't want that bitch making me cry. She doesn't deserve all that power.

  I pull away from Lou, wiping my face and looking at him. "Is it true?"

  "Is what true?"

  "Do people talk about me? Don't lie to me, Lou."

  "No." He shakes his head. "I've never heard anyone talk about you. Hardly anyone here even knows you, other than the people who see you here at work."

  He's right. Living here only in the summers and being on the remote side of town meant that my family didn't meet many people. We mostly stayed home or went to the nearby state park for picnics or hiking or to sit by the lake. So when my family died, nobody here really knew or cared, which is why I moved to this town. I wanted to be where nobody knew what happened. I didn't want people talking about me, but now I'm wondering if they are and Lou just doesn't know or won't tell me.

  "I'm never letting Katie step foot in here again," Lou says.

  "No. Lou, don't put your business at risk because of this."

  "She had no reason to say those things. She was being hateful and I don't allow people like that in my store."

  "You knew she was that way. It's not that surprising she said those things about me."

  "The girl barely knows you. Why would she attack you like that?"

  "Because she wants Nash. And he won't go out with her."

  "Katie's engaged."

  "She is? I didn't know she was engaged." I shrug. "Well, apparently that doesn't matter. She still wants Nash."

  He huffs. "Now I think even less of her."

  "I need to get back to work." I tighten the apron around my waist, then pick up the rolling pin.

  Lou remains next to me. "What did Nash say when she told him this?"

  "I don't know. I got up and left."

  "Lou?" Peggy, the lunch waitress, comes into the kitchen. "There's a guy out here who wants to talk to you about ordering pastries for an office party."

  "Tell him I'll be right there," he says. She nods and goes back to the dining room. "You going to be okay?"

  "Yeah." I slide the rolling pin over the cookie dough. "Sorry I cried at work. That's unprofessional."

  "It's understandable after what she did." He sounds angry.

  "Lou, please don't do anything you'll regret. Just forget I ever told you. I don't want her or her dad coming after you."

  I take the flower-shaped cookie cutters and set them by the dough. I'm making sugar cookies that someone ordered for a bridal shower. "You better go talk to that guy out front," I say as I press the cookie cutter in the dough."

  Lou just stands there. I look over at him and see his eyes are on my work area.

  "What's wrong?" I ask.

  His lips turn up just slightly. "Nothing."

  I look back at the counter and almost gasp when I see the lack of order. The baking sheets aren't lined up. They're stacked on top of each other but they're skewed every which way, and there are five of them, rather than an even number. On the other side of me is the bowl of dough. Just one bowl. And just one rolling pin. How did I not notice this when I was setting everything up? And why don't I feel anxious seeing it this way?

  "I um..." I don't even know what to say. I feel like I should explain this, more to myself than to Lou, but I couldn't explain it even if I tried. I don't understand it. How long have I been doing this? Lou just noticed it so maybe this is the first time. But now that I think about it, I haven't counted anything all day.

  "So other than Katie," Lou says, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "it sounds like you had a nice weekend. Even did some entertaining. That's good, Callie." He smiles like he's proud of me for being social. I know he means well, but his comment just proves that he thinks I'm not normal. A normal 21-year-old wouldn't be praised for having friends over.

  But honestly, he's right. It's a pretty big deal that I did that. That I had people over. And today? I didn't obsess over having everything a certain way. And I'm okay with that. So what does that mean? Am I getting better? Am I finally moving on?

  "Lou." Peggy appears again. "That guy's still out here waiting."

  "Yes, I'm coming."

  He goes out to meet with the customer and I get back to work, leaving everything as is. Now that I see it this way, I have an urge to make things straight and even, but I fight it, and in doing so, I feel stronger and somewhat hopeful. But that hope is quickly dampened when I think about Katie and what she said. Nash never even asked me about that. Maybe he didn't believe her. He knows she lies, but he's also seen me act crazy plenty of times, so I really don't know what he thinks of me.

  Later, as I'm getting ready to leave for the day, Lou comes up to me. "How about coming over for dinner tonight? I'm making fried catfish. Bring Nash over. I'd like to get to know him better."

  "Lou, you don't have to worry about Nash. He's a nice guy. And I'm not dating him."

  "I'd still like to have you two over for dinner."

  "Maybe some other time. I have all this leftover spaghetti to eat up. I made a huge amount because Nash and his br
others eat like they'll never see another meal."

  "You cooked for them?" There's that proud smile again, but then Lou fakes a frown. "You never cook for me."

  I smile and pat his shoulder. "Someday I will. I promise. Night, Lou."

  "See ya, Callie."

  When I get to Nash's house, I find him in the kitchen next to some giant boxes.

  "What's all this?"

  "Hey." He smiles and I feel a flutter in my stomach. A light happy flutter. "These are the cabinets. You want to see?"

  "Yeah. You need some help getting them out?"

  "No, I got it." He takes a box cutter and slides it down each corner seam of the box, causing the sides to fall back, revealing the cabinet. It's stained a warm honey color that's light enough that the dark wood knots show through.

  "What do you think?" he asks.

  "I like it. It's got a rustic feel, like a cabin. It's perfect for this house."

  "I thought so too. I didn't want anything too fancy. I was going for a cabin feel. That's why I picked these."

  "How long before you install them?"

  "Probably a week or two. I might have to get one of my brothers down here to help." He comes over to me, placing his arms around my waist, and I feel that fluttering again. "How was work?"

  "It was okay."

  "But you like this job better." He grins.

  "Well, yeah. I mean, in terms of eye candy, you've got Lou beat, hands down."

  "Comb-overs and potbellies aren't your thing?"

  I laugh. "No. I'm afraid not. Or men who are forty years older than me. He wanted us to come over for dinner tonight. He wants to get to know you better. He thinks we're dating and wants to make sure you're a decent guy. I told him we're not dating but I don't think he believes me."

  "So what time are we going over there?"

  "We're not going. I told him I had leftovers to eat. Do you want to have dinner with me tonight? There's a lot of spaghetti left. Or if you're busy and don't want to, you don't have to."

  "I want to," he says. "This dinner thing is starting to become a habit. And I'm not good at breaking habits." He kisses me and a heat swells inside me. God, I want him. I want him so bad. Last night when he shoved me back against the wall, I was so turned on I would've done it right here in the kitchen.