All facts. However... “It was back before he moved here, I guess. I’m not exactly sure of all the details. He came into the bar while I was working—”
“Wait, you mean that hole-in-the-wall place you were at before Warren’s?”
“Yep. That one. Anyway, he came in, looking all kinds of beat down. He didn’t exactly belong in a place like that, so it was pretty hard to miss him. We got to talking, he made me laugh, and when I asked if he was from here, he said no. He thought I was asking about the town next to Whitecap where the bar was. It was a huge misunderstanding. He had a room here at the Inn, and I ended up meeting him there after my shift ended.”
“Okay,” she dragged out, confusion pulling her brows down into a V.
“We didn’t exchange names,” I explained. “So I thought he was just some dude passing through. A one-time deal. Then I walked into that interview today, and lo and behold, the guy I’d banged six ways to Sunday is the lawyer running the place.”
“That had to have been... awkward.” It was obvious she was trying to hold back her laughter, but I didn’t see what the hell she found so funny about any of it. It was a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
“That’s putting it mildly,” I deadpanned. “So, there I am, my mouth hanging open, and at first, he thinks I’ve somehow managed to track him down. He actually seemed excited about that.” That realization made my belly flip in a way it had no business flipping. “Then he realized I’m the chick his mom referred for the assistant’s job.”
Cheyanne seemed to be hanging on to my every word, her eyes round and rapt on me, all she was missing was a bucket of popcorn. “What happened after that?”
“You mean after he informed me he made it a habit not to shit where he ate so I wouldn’t be getting the job?”
She sucked in an indignant gasp. “He did not say that!”
“Well, not exactly that. What he actually said was he couldn’t hire me because he knew what it felt like to have me wrapped around his dick.” And what in the living hell was so wrong with me that I felt happy little twinges between my thighs as I recalled that?
“Wow,” Cheyanne breathed, then blew her top. “That conceited, self-important pr—” She caught herself just as Renee came barreling up. “Momma! Watch my handstand! Are you watching? You gotta watch! You too, Lu-Lu. You both gotta watch me!”
“We’re watching munchkin,” I assured her. “Show us what you’ve got.”
She darted away again and executed a handstand for all of half a second. “Did you see? Did you see?” she crowed. “I did it!”
“You did, baby. Good job.” Cheyanne and I both clapped. “Now keep practicing.”
“Aren’t you worried she’s going to break her neck?” I questioned as I watched Renee fall three times in the span of ten seconds.
“Nah. Kids her age practically have rubber bones. Now back to what we were talking about. What a prick,” she finished on a whisper-yell so her kiddo wouldn’t hear Mommy saying a bad word.
“Yeah, you’re telling me. I have to say, five minutes in his company, and I can’t for the life of me understand how two people as amazing as Georgia and Dezzy could have made someone as awful as him.”
“Well...” She curled her shoulders toward her ears on a giggle. “Five minutes in his company while you two are dressed,” she teased. “Because I think your first meeting went a lot better than this last one.”
“You’re terrible!” I cried on a laugh, picking a handful of grass and throwing it at her face. The blades caught on the salty breeze coming off the water behind my house and blew them away before they could get close to her.
Cheyanne giggled uncontrollably as she leaned away from the flying grass. “I’m not wrong, am I?” She arched a knowing brow, daring me to disagree. “After all, you never would have let the man anywhere near your pants if there hadn’t been something there the first time you met.”
“Yeah, well, now I regret the whole damn thing, and not only because I really needed that job.” I stopped, the heaviness that had been resting on my shoulders for months, the same heaviness that had started to lighten when Georgia had first mentioned the position because I’d been stupid enough to hope, fell from the sky right onto my back, drooping my whole body beneath its weight. My voice came out small, quiet, and sad as I admitted, “I really wanted that job, Chey. It would have helped so much.”
She hooked her arm around my shoulders and pulled me against her. “I know, honey,” she said softly. “I know. But screw that guy, and screw that job. You don’t need it.”
But didn’t I? Yeah, I really, really did. But I liked where her head was at. “Yeah. Screw him and his stupid job. I wouldn’t want to work for a jackass like that anyway.” Lie, lie, lie. But whatever.
“What’s a jackass?” Renee asked loudly as she came dancing up to us, once more, twirling that stick wand of hers. In her eyes, she could probably see glittery swirls of magical light trailing behind it. Oh, to be a kid with that kind of imagination again. Life was so easy at that age. Well, for most kids anyway.
What had started as an uh turned into an oof when Cheyanne shoved her elbow into my ribs.
“Remember that talk we had about grownup words? You know, the words you’re not supposed to repeat?”
“Oh yeah.” Renee visibly perked up, grinning big. “Like when Daddy called that guy in the giant truck a motherfucker that one time.”
I got another elbow to the ribs when I choked down a laugh that turned into a snort. “That’s exactly right, sweetie.”
Renee danced back off, hopping and skipping as she hummed out whatever tune was playing in her head. I might not have gotten the job, I might be in the same desperate situation I’d been in for months with no end in sight, but at least I had good people in my life. And without even trying, Cheyanne and her precious girl made everything just a little bit better.