been a fool, but I’m trying to fix it. So, can you not cancel that date?”
“As part of your kinky foreplay? Nah, man. I’m all for getting some the way that gets your rocks off, but I’ve gotta pass.”
I couldn’t do anything but laugh. Exhaustion had set in for sure—both physical and emotional.
“No, I want to take your place. But I want it to be a surprise.”
“So she’ll actually show up?” he asked drily.
“Something like that. But that’s where your part ends. You don’t have to appear in chainmail or anything.”
“You’re lucky that I’m a teacher and actually know what that is.”
“I’m lucky in a lot of ways lately. So, can you help me out? I’ll consider it a huge favor.”
“Hmm, getting in good with the sheriff. I could make use of that. Unless this is another way to try to off me. You seem like a wily sort.”
“You have a very suspicious nature.”
“Let’s just say I’ve had to climb out of a few bedroom windows and hide in a couple of closets. Never of my doing either. Sometimes you aren’t told the full score.”
“That’s not Gina. She was honest with you. I just didn’t step up like I should have. I’ve learned.”
“We’ll see. I don’t want to hear I played a part in hurting her. She’s a nice girl. Don’t screw up, Brooks.”
I exhaled. “I won’t. And if I do, I have a cute baby I can use as a distraction.”
“Right.” He paused. “Uh, say what? Where did you get a baby, man?”
I smiled as I climbed the stairs to check on her again. “I got lucky.”
Fourteen
“I shouldn’t do this. It’s not right.”
“Why the hell not?” Luna asked.
She was standing at my side in the triple mirror in Kinleigh & August’s Attic’s dressing room and acting as my stylist, since I wasn’t used to getting all dolled up. My most usual uniform was jeans and a top and hair in a ponytail.
Tonight, she’d swept my hair up into an updo with a few strategic ringlets tumbling to my shoulders. My makeup was tasteful, but it was more than I usually wore.
She fluffed the Christmas red skirt of my dress with its gauzy, shimmering overlay. The top was a vintage style with a sweetheart neckline that perfectly showcased the pear-shaped pink quartz necklace hanging just above my cleavage. Luna had picked it out for me from Kinleigh’s jewelry case, since she was an expert on crystals and their meanings.
Quartz was for love. I could get behind that, except not for my actual date. Which I should not even be having, but it wasn’t anything other than friends looking at lights. Was that how Caleb felt though? I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to lead him on in any way.
If I wasn’t going to be with Brooks, I wasn’t going to date, not ever again. I was prepared to let my hoohaa wilt and wither away, and I would learn to be content with self-satisfying. Many a woman lived quite happily without a man.
Even one who dispensed two orgasms without getting any for himself.
“He sent me flowers. I could barely fit them all in my apartment window,” I admitted, thinking of the trio of white orchids that had arrived from Brooks’ Greenery this morning.
They’d been in colorful pots, and each one had two spikes of orchids in full bloom. I’d put one in each of my windows, fussing to make sure they got the proper light. This afternoon, I’d read about them online, how they were the perfect plant to apologize. True, easy enough to just have his father send them, but I couldn’t help being touched.
As angry and hurt as I’d been last night at his sudden dismissal, I’d had more time to think during my sleepless night. His mom had left when he and Mason were basically babies. He’d had few female influences in his life, and I understood quite well how when he got overwhelmed, he defaulted to rigid, stoic, lawman Brooks. It was his safety setting.
And what could be more overwhelming than the past week and a half? I came from an extremely healthy—and boisterous—family background, and even I was floundering a bit with these changes. Brooks didn’t know what any of that was like. As nice as his dad and Mason were, they were all independent guys who did their own thing. Dinner at their place was quiet with the occasional quips and laughter. My family was the only experience he’d had with what it