Listen to Me

by Kristen Proby

  “I know.” Daisy’s mom has stage four breast cancer, and Daisy has been caring for her from the beginning. “What does that have to do with you doing drugs in my place?”

  “It’s so hard,” she mumbles. “I’m with her all day and I work here all night, and I’m exhausted. The coke just helps me cope with it all.”

  “Well, the working-here part is about to change.” My voice is hard and cold. Daisy whips her head up to stare at me with wide eyes. “Did you really think that you’d get caught and I wouldn’t fire you?”

  “Please don’t,” she says, crying harder. “We need this job. I can’t lose it.”

  “We have a zero-tolerance policy here, Daisy. You’re dealing with the public and their food. You could hurt someone.”

  “I wouldn’t ever hurt anyone,” she cries. “Please, give me a chance. I’ll stop doing the coke. I promise.”

  “How long have you been doing it? And don’t you dare lie to me.”

  She bites her lip, then sighs. “For a while. At first it was just occasionally, but now it’s a lot. I feel like I need it all the time.”

  “You’re taking the rest of the week off.”

  “But, I need the money!”

  “You’re lucky you’re not losing your job altogether, Daisy.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and thumb through my contacts. “I have a friend who works as a drug counselor. I’ll ask him to come here to meet you and you two can figure out an outpatient program to get you into so you can still take care of your mom and work for me, but I’m warning you, Daisy, if I so much as see a little sniffle or twitch, you’re out of here for good.”

  “I promise, Addie. I promise, I won’t let you down.”

  I hold my hand out, palm up. “Hand it over.”

  “ARE YOU TWO okay?” I ask, and pat Daisy’s shoulder. She and Cici’s brother, Dan, are seated at a table in the corner of the bar, ready to talk.

  “We’ll be fine,” Dan says with a smile.

  “Thanks again, Addie.” Daisy offers me a watery smile and I turn to walk to the bar for a glass of wine.

  It’s five o’clock somewhere, for God sake. It’s that or go to the gym to work off some of this energy. But when I look up, there’s Jake leaning against the bar, watching me with worried eyes.

  It seems he worries about me a lot.

  “This is a nice surprise,” I say with a smile and immediately wrap my arms around him, hugging him tight. “What are you doing here?”

  “Thought I’d steal you away for lunch.” His voice is soft in my ear, immediately soothing me. “What do you think?”

  “Well, I’m not really hungry, but I’d love to get out of here for a while. Somewhere with not a lot of people.” But I don’t want to have sex either. Geez, how do I say that?

  “I know a place,” he replies with a soft smile. He drags his knuckles down my cheek. “I hate it when your eyes are sad.”

  “Not here,” I say simply and shake my head. “Let’s not do this here.”

  “Okay.” He takes my hand in his and links his fingers, squeezing mine in the way that I love, and gives me a reassuring smile. “Let’s go.”

  As we pass through the dining room, I see Riley talking with Cami.

  “She okay?” Riley asks.

  “I think so,” I reply with a nod. “I’m going to take the afternoon off. I’ll be back for the dinner shift.”

  “No problem.” Cami nods. “We have this covered.”

  Jake leads me out to this car, gets me settled, then walks around to the driver’s side and gets in. We pull away from the restaurant.

  “We have to stop by your place,” he says quietly as he maneuvers through traffic.

  “Why?”

  He glances down at my heels, my brown slacks, and my teal blouse. “Because you’ll need something more casual and better shoes.”

  “Will my workout clothes work?”

  “Perfect.”

  I CHANGED INTO my gym clothes and shoes, but brought my work things with me because I am going back to work today. No playing hooky twice in the same month.

  Or twice in the same year.

  The drive out of Portland has been quiet and perfect. Exactly what I needed to clear my head.

  How does he always know what I need?

  He pulls off I-84 just about thirty minutes out of the city, then pulls into a parking lot.

  “Have you seen Multnomah Falls before?”

  “I’m from here,” I reply with a laugh. “But I haven’t been here since I was a kid.”

  “I come here all the time. Usually in the off-season, in the middle of the week.”

  “Less people,” I agree. “Well, it’s not the off-season, but it is the middle of the week, so it shouldn’t be bad.”

  He nods and takes my hand as we start down the path to the falls. They are magnificent, cascading from hundreds of feet up. The cold mist from the falling water makes it cooler up here, but I barely notice as I take in the scenery.

  “It’s so green,” I breathe.

  “Smells good too,” he adds, and leads me up a path to get a better view. There aren’t many people up here today, which is nice. “Do you know the legend behind the falls?”

  “There’s a legend?”

  “Of course there is.” He chuckles and points out a tree limb to step over. “According to Native American lore, it was created to win the heart of a princess who wanted a private place to bathe.”

  “Of course it’s about a princess,” I reply sarcastically. “And some dude who wanted to get her naked. But the story I heard as a kid said that the princess threw herself from the falls as a sacrificial act to end a plague killing her tribe and her lover.”

  “It’s supposed to be a romantic story, not a tragic one,” he says, barely panting as we climb the few hundred feet up to the bridge that spans the falls, so we can get an even better view.

  I’m panting like a whore in church.

  Wait. Do whores in church pant?

  “I run three times a week,” I complain. “How is it that I’m out of breath from this and you’re not?”

  “Because I’m an awesome example of a man, and you’re lucky to have me here?”

  “I don’t think that’s why.”

  God, he’s funny.

  “It could be why.”

  “Or, you’re lucky when it comes to genetics and you’re just in really good shape.”

  “It’s the swimming,” he says simply, shrugging one shoulder. “I’m not an Olympian or anything, but it’s good for the lungs.”

  “Huh.” I grin as I remember our own private time in his pool. That was fun. We reach the bridge, and when we’re in the middle, staring up at the most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen, I lean against the railing. Jake moves up behind me, presses his chest to my back, and cages me in, his hands resting on the stone bridge on either side of me.

  “It’s so beautiful,” I say.

  “You’re beautiful,” he whispers in my ear. “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

  “I’m fine,” I automatically reply.

  “You’re not fine, sweetness. Talk to me.”

  I lean my head back on his shoulder, turn my face, and kiss his chin. “Sometimes owning your own business is hard.”

  He nods and I turn back to the water. “Go on.”

  “It’s a lot more responsibility than I first realized. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, Jake. It’s fulfilling and rewarding and I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

  “Addie, work we love is still work.”

  “And sometimes people disappoint me, and I need to get over that.”

  “Why do you need to get over it?” he asks, and circles his arms around my waist, holding me close. “Why aren’t you allowed to feel the way you do?”

  “Because it interferes with my life. I call in sick at work and take afternoons off with you.”

  “Seduction isn’t your whole life, Addie. It’s an important part of it, yes, but
you’re still a woman. A friend. A human being. Days off are not against the law.”

  I simply shrug and watch the water fall before me. The mist coming off of it feels so great on my skin. It smells clean, and I can smell the trees nearby as well.

  “I usually go to the gym when I need to empty my head.” But this is so much better.

  “Close your eyes.”

  I glance up at him, then oblige him, standing in his arms, my eyes closed.

  “Now just listen,” he says in my ear. “Listen to the music of the water, Addie. The birds, the wind in the trees, the beating of your heart. Even your own breath. Listen to it.”

  It’s hypnotic. I bite my lip and simply listen to it all, and suddenly, it’s as though a blanket of calm is wrapped around me. My mind stills, my shoulders drop. I can even feel the muscles in my face relax.

  Jake’s arms tighten around me, and this is when I know, without a doubt, that I’ve fallen in love with this man. It’s not necessarily where we are that has soothed me.

  It’s him.

  He knows what I need to make me feel better. He listens without judgment.

  For the first time in my life, a man wants to take care of me.

  Because he cares for me.

  And this is new.

  “You just melted into me,” he murmurs, “like a huge weight was lifted.”

  Because it was.

  I turn in his arms, my back to the water, and tuck my arms against my body as he holds me tight. I’m cocooned in him, soaking him up.

  I almost feel guilty for how good he makes me feel.

  “Better?”

  “Mm.” I nod, then lean back so I can look up into his green eyes. “Thank you for this.”

  “Well, it is my special place,” he teases, but then sobers and kisses my forehead. “And you’re welcome, baby. Your gorgeous eyes don’t look so sad anymore.”

  “You have an amazing way of making me feel better.” I bite my lip again, unable to look him in the face. I’ve always been a little uncomfortable with telling men how I feel. But he tips my chin up and kisses my lips softly.

  “I’m glad.” He smiles. “Are you hungry yet?”

  At the thought of food, I feel my stomach growl. “I think I’m starving.”

  “Good. So am I. We can go down to the lodge.”

  “Can we stay here for just a little longer? Just like this?”

  He tucks me under his chin, and simply rocks me slowly back and forth, his nose buried in my hair, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so safe in my life.

  Tell him you love him!

  But I don’t. It’s too new. It’s too scary. Instead, I relish in his hands gliding up and down my back, the sound of the water and the wind, and the smell of my man, as he rocks me in his arms.

  “I WANT A bacon cheeseburger, well done, with fries and a side of ranch,” I tell the pretty waitress at the lodge near the falls. “Oh, and a chocolate milk shake.”

  “I want the same,” Jake says with a grin, then just stares at me for a long minute.

  “What?”

  “I love the way you eat.”

  “Trust me, my hips won’t love this, but I’m starving and that’s what I want.” I shrug and sip my water. “I’ll go to the gym an extra day this week.”

  “Your hips are awesome,” he says, eyeing the hips in question. “They’re perfect for holding on to while I’m behind you.”

  Well, that makes me squirm in my chair.

  “I’m glad you approve.”

  “As far as I’m concerned, you’re perfect, Addie. If you want to go to the gym to make yourself feel good, then by all means do it, but please don’t think that you need to change anything about you.”

  “Oh,” I say as I wave him off and shake my head. “Trust me, that ship has sailed. If that were my intention, it would have happened when certain photographers called me a cow back in the day.”

  His jaw ticks with agitation, and I can’t help but love him for being offended on my behalf.

  “I just go now to stay in the shape I am now. I’m perfectly okay with my size, Jake.”

  Our food is served and I clap my hands gleefully.

  “Plus, I love food way too much to ever be a size zero.”

  “I love food too.” He takes a big bite of his burger and sighs. “So good. Tell me more about it.”

  “About the food?”

  “No, smart-ass, the modeling. How did you get into it?”

  I pop a french fry in my mouth, thinking back. “I was a freshman in college at Oregon State. Riley was my roommate; that’s how I met her.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Jake says with a grin. “How did you meet Kat?”

  “Kat was Cami’s roommate, and coincidentally, Kat and Riley were good friends already, so we all just became a fivesome. Anyway, my parents paid for school, but not for the extras, and I was prepared to get a part-time job so I had some fun money, but I saw an ad for a talent agency that was coming through Portland.”

  “And you went.”

  I shrug, munching my fries. “I’d thought about it off and on through high school. I knew that I had the height, but not the waiflike figure. Cami talked me into just going to the audition, so I did. And I didn’t get hired.”

  “Idiots.”

  “They take test photos of you at the audition, and somewhere down the line a photographer saw my test photo and said I was perfect for an ad he was doing. This was about six months later, during the summer, and I got a call. And that’s where it started.”

  “Did you go back to school, or did you do the model gig for a while?”

  “I put school on hold for one year, and let me tell you, that was an education all on its own. My parents hated it, but I’m stubborn as hell, so—”

  “So you did it anyway.” He grins. “I like your stubborn streak. What did you learn?”

  “To develop a thick skin. Some people are just dicks. But some are really great too. It’s not a glamorous life. At all. There are drugs and sex and seedy things that happen behind the scenes, probably just like in anything else.”

  He cocks his head to the side and eyes me shrewdly. “I can’t imagine you getting caught up in the drug scene.”

  “Trust me, if I’d been the one snorting the coke, I would have been much thinner,” I reply with a wave of my hand. “That doesn’t interest me. I also met some of the most amazing people, and Cici is in our lives. So, it all worked out in the end.”

  “And why did you stop doing it?”

  “I wanted to stop all the travel. I wanted my friends. I wanted to eat cheeseburgers and go to football games and live a normal life.”

  “Those all sound like good reasons.” He nods and sighs, then changes the subject. “Do you like to cook?”

  “Do I like to? Sometimes.” I dip a fry in ranch and munch on it. “I’m pretty good at it. I guess I have to be in the mood. I’m no Mia.”

  “No one but Mia is Mia,” Jake says with a smile.

  “How about you?”

  “I like to cook,” he replies and sips his shake. “I don’t do it much for just me, but I like to cook for others. In fact, I’d love to cook for you.”

  “That would be awesome,” I reply with a grin. “Can I help you chop stuff?”

  “No, but you can sit with a glass of wine and look beautiful.”

  “That’s not a very difficult job.”

  He shrugs, chewing his fries. “I don’t need you to work at my house, baby. I enjoy taking care of you sometimes.”

  And who knew that I would love him taking care of me?

  “I know, it’s not really PC to want to take care of a woman,” Jake adds before I can respond. “And I know that you’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.”

  “But sometimes it’s nice to have someone around that you can lean on,” I say. “And I like that you have some old-fashioned values.”

  “Don’t let it get out,” he says with a wink. “I don’t want it to affect
my badass reputation.”

  “Your secret is safe with me.” I laugh and eat my lunch, content with the silence.

  “You’re very easy to be with,” Jake says out of the blue. “And I don’t always find it easy to just be with anyone.”

  “Thank you.” I grin and steal one of his fries. “You can just be with me, whenever you like.”

  “Not if you’re going to keep stealing my fries.”

  “Suck it up, Keller.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Jake

  “Are you sure you want to go?” Addie asks from the passenger seat of my car, fidgeting with the ruffles on the front of her sleeveless blouse. “I mean, I would understand if you don’t.”

  We’re on our way to Mia’s parents’ house in southwest Portland for a barbecue. Mia’s older brother, Landon, is home on leave from the navy.

  “Addie, you’ve spent time with Max and Christina. I haven’t had a chance to spend time with the people you love outside of the restaurant. But if you don’t want me to go¸ just say so.”

  “No.” Her head whips over to mine. “I do want you to go, I just don’t want you to feel obligated.”

  I shake my head with a chuckle, following the directions on the GPS. “Sweetheart, I don’t feel obligated to do anything where you’re concerned. I simply want to be with you.”

  Her smile softens. “Okay. It’ll be good to see Mia’s parents. Just Cami and I are going because Riley and Kat don’t know Landon well, so they’re holding down the fort at the restaurant.”

  We pull up to the house in the upscale neighborhood of the city and cut the engine. Addie smiles when she hears the commotion coming from the backyard.

  “Let’s go find them.”

  “Let’s do it,” I reply and let her lead me by the hand around the house. There’s a fire pit in the back corner of the expansive yard with chairs set up around it. It’s not lit yet, but the grill on the covered patio is sizzling, sending the aroma of cooking meat into the air.

  “You’re here!” Mia exclaims and runs over to hug us both. “Dad won’t let me cook.”

  “Good,” I reply before Addie can. “You should just relax and enjoy this evening.”

  “Mia doesn’t understand the meaning of those words,” a tall man says as he approaches us. He’s dark, just like Mia, but where Mia is short and curvy, her brother is tall and lean. “I’m Landon. You must be Jake.”