him it was okay for her to sleep a bit. He was tired, too, but he could set an alarm and wake up in a few hours to make sure Roxie was all right. “Okay.”
He drove toward her place and couldn’t help but think the night had changed something between them.
chapter three
Roxie stirred and glanced at the clock. Two. And it was light enough in her bedroom that she knew it was day. The barking outside reminded her that it wasn’t her usual day.
She felt way better having gotten some sleep, and would feel even better after a shower.
Her cell buzzed. Someone had plugged it in and set it on the nightstand.
Someone? Zep had done it. Zep had driven her home, made sure she could walk up the stairs, and put her in bed with only a few snarky innuendos. Of course, if he hadn’t made them, she would have been worried.
She yawned and looked down at her phone. Her mom had called three times. Probably something about her birthday. Her mother insisted that her birthday wasn’t merely hers. It also belonged to her family, and that was why she should get over the whole “my best friend in the world died” and celebrate. But then her mother wasn’t one to dwell on anything dark. Life was too short, her mother would say.
Her mother also reminded her regularly that her eggs were shriveling up in her ovaries and all her shots at grandchildren were going with them. It didn’t matter that her brother would likely procreate at some point. All that mattered was Roxie was the daughter and should have already produced another kid for her mom to dote on and screw up with her insistence on perfection.
She took a deep breath and turned the phone over. She couldn’t deal with this now. In a couple of hours she would call back and explain again that she didn’t want to go home to celebrate something she didn’t have any real part in beyond being expelled from her mother’s womb. As her mom would point out, she’d even gotten that wrong since she’d been an emergency C-section and had ruined her mother’s ability to wear a much smaller bikini than anyone should wear.
Nope. She couldn’t handle all that judgment right this moment.
There was a loud bark and she moved to the window, drawing back the utilitarian curtains that had come with the place. Zep was in her backyard, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. He hadn’t even put on his shoes. Daisy was bouncing around the yard and generally being super cute. Zep had a frown on his face and his hair was tousled in a way that should have been messy, but simply made him all the sexier.
She opened the window, ready to call out to him, to let him know she was awake, and his duty was done.
“Come on, girl. I can’t go back in until you do your business,” Zep said with a yawn of his own. “And she’s going to wake up and toss us both out. We have to get back in there and prove our worth. Your job is to look adorable and not leave gifts on her floor.”
He wanted to stay? When would he get that she wasn’t some conquest? That’s what it had to be. Zep Guidry wasn’t used to women saying no to him. He’d wanted a second night with her and she’d refused. He was going to get that night even if he had to charm it out of her.
Would it be so wrong? Maybe they could keep it quiet. If they didn’t cause a bunch of gossip, why would it be wrong to see him again? Not see him. That would imply they were dating. Sleep with him again. Have sex with him again because he was good at it and she wasn’t seeing anyone and she was a healthy female with needs.
Yes, that was a good reason. It was practical when she thought about it. Her job was stressful. She needed to let off some steam every now and then, and the gym wasn’t cutting it anymore. There wasn’t anyone else in town she was attracted to. She’d seen Zep and couldn’t think about anyone else.
He wasn’t good for her. He was too charming, too good looking, too smooth. He was an ex-con, though doing a couple of months in county years before wasn’t exactly hardened criminal material. Armie was willing to hire him.