“Are these for me?” she asked, walking over to him and leaning close to smell the fresh, vibrant flowers.
“Yeah. Unless you hate them. Then they’re for Tobias so he won’t tear my testicles off.”
She quirked an eyebrow as she accepted the vase from him and walked over to set them on the counter bar. “Did he threaten to do that?”
“Not in so many words. But his body language said it clear enough.”
The flowers made her smile. “Tobias will have to be appeased some other way. These are too beautiful to give him.” She turned back to face him. “Thanks. Now are you about to tell me what they’re for?”
He nodded and lifted the brown bag. “But it sounds like you need to eat. Should I bring these to the table?”
“Let’s live on the wild side and sit on the sofa.”
He sat and waited for her to do the same before he tore open the bag. She saw that it didn’t contain any cardboard holders. It was just filled with fries.
“The guy at the drive-thru recognized me,” he explained. “When I said I needed his hottest, freshest fries and a couple of chocolate shakes to grovel to my woman, this is what I got.”
My woman.
Her heart chose to cling to those words as she lifted the top off her shake. “He must’ve really wanted you to win me over.”
Will took the top off his shake too. When she reached for a couple fries, he did the same. She dipped the fries into the shake.
“So we’re really doing this, huh?” he asked, watching her as though he didn’t think she was serious.
“Oh, yeah.” She ate the first sweet and salty bite and moaned. “God, that’s good.”
Lifting his shoulders in a what-the-hell gesture, he dipped his fries and ate them. It didn’t take long for his eyes to widen in surprise.
“Wow. That is good.”
“Yep.” She kept her attention on the fries as she reached for a couple more. “And now you’ve successfully paved the way to the conversation we need to have.”
He finished swallowing his last bite and nodded. “Okay. Let me start by saying I’m really sorry I forgot to call you this afternoon to reschedule Katie’s lesson. It’s been a real pisser of a day and there’s been a lot going on. On top of that, I haven’t slept more than a couple hours over the past two days. It completely slipped my mind.”
“Okay.” She held up some fries to prod him into taking more himself.
After he did, he said, “I saw that you brought groceries with you. Were you going to cook dinner for us?”
“You saw them?”
“On video.” Seeing her expression, he ate his fries and said, “Let me start at the beginning. I got a call not long after I got home this morning…”
They made their way through the bag of fries and their shakes as Will summarized his day: the call from Katie’s mother, his conversations with Frank and Ryan, and their decision for Will to meet with her at the house. He also explained about the cameras and microphones and what they captured.
Jasmine was outraged on his behalf. “She stole from you? How dare she?”
“I know. I’m just glad I wasn’t gone from the room long enough for her to get even bolder and go to the bedrooms.”
Thinking of Carol Ann in Will or Katie’s rooms both creeped her out and jabbed her temper. “Oh, she’s lucky she’s not here right now.”
It steamed her to picture that woman sauntering around Will’s house acting like she owned the place. She gathered up their garbage and walked it over to the trash can.
“What are you going to do?” she asked as she washed the grease from her fingers.
He walked over to do the same. “Since she only took the twenty bucks Ryan planted, I’m not pursuing charges. When she left, she asked if she could keep in touch and I told her no, so in my mind, that’s that.”
“What if she decides not to leave it there?” she asked as they finished drying their hands.
Because she was watching him, she saw the pain that entered his expression. She put away the dish towel and reached out to take his hand. He wove his fingers through hers. The pain eased.
“I’ve been in touch with my attorney to make sure she’s prepared if anything happens,” he said. “She doesn’t seem worried.”