Man Cave, page 4
Go-sh, I was so nervous! Dinner with Tom was one thing, but being with him alone? Naked? He would see me. Only me. I couldn’t hide behind my clothes or my sass or sarcasm. I wanted him to make me forget my own name.
“This is what happens, woman,” I said aloud to myself. I wasn’t getting a pep talk from my brother on this one. He knew about the date, but we didn’t talk about our sex lives. I made that easy by not having one. “Get your shit together. Get naked. Get some dick-made orgasms.”
After the pizza and pep talk the night before with Bridge, I’d coordinated via text with Tom for a date. Tonight. It was a school night, so neither of us were going to do anything wild and crazy. Well, I’d take wild and crazy as long as I was in bed by midnight.
By in bed, I meant asleep.
My cell rang and I grabbed it from the bedside table.
CHERYL.
“Fudge. Sugar. Dang. Carp. GAH!” I practically shouted. I hated to watch my cuss words, but if there was a time to swear, it was now.
She only called when she needed something, like money.
I glanced at the ceiling, then swiped the screen to answer her call. If I didn’t talk to her now, she wouldn’t stop. I wasn’t going to let her mess with my date.
“Hey, Cheryl,” I said, dropping onto my unmade bed.
“How’s my pumpkin?”
I rolled my eyes.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Does something have to be up? Can’t I want to talk to my only daughter?”
And it started.
“Yes,” I said. “How’re things? Dad?”
I could see her shrugging through the phone. “Fine. The shop was closed for two days. A water main burst down the street.”
“I heard about that.”
Small-town life meant nothing was a secret. When a tree fell on Bridge’s and Lindy’s house over the summer, news had spread within a few hours, and they’d had the entire town drive by to see it. I had to admit, it was a spectacle.
“Maybe you can stop by and visit with him since he’s been a little bored without anything to do while he was off.”
All he probably did was sit in his recliner, smoke, and watch TV, perfectly content.
“Sure.”
“Bring some beers with you. Oh, and a quart of milk. Eggs. OJ. Bread.”
She was out of money. Again.
“What happened to the extra cash I gave you at the beginning of the month with the rent?” I asked.
She sniffed. “There was a problem with the car and–”
“Dad fixes it at work.”
“Like I said, a water main broke.”
“So he couldn’t fix it because of the water main?”
“He was busy.”
“I thought you said he was bored.”
I couldn’t miss the huff through the phone.
“What’s with all the questions?”
“Because I paid your rent this month and gave you a little over. You should have enough for extras… and I don’t mean beer or your gin.”
“What are you saying, that I’m not working hard enough?”
So much for being her little pumpkin.
“My salary only goes so far. I’m paying my bills and yours.”
“All Miss High and Mighty now with that big job.”
“I’m a first-grade teacher, not a hedge fund manager. The resort offers you overtime, I’m sure.” If I had to pick up tutoring over the summer, she could add on some hours. “That’s time-and-a-half?”
“Overtime?” She spat out the word as if it was foul tasting. “Your father needs me home to feed him his dinner.”
“You mean open his beer,” I muttered to myself.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Why are you being so difficult?” I heard the familiar flick of a lighter, then a deep inhalation. The amount the two of them spent on cigarettes a month could cover their food bill. “After all the things we used our money on for you growing up, I’d think you’d be a little more grateful. Do you have any idea what I could have become if it wasn’t for you?”
There was the knife she always liked to poke me with, laced with the poison of guilt and passive aggressiveness. The same old story she told about how I was an accident. That I’d never been wanted and that I, personally and solely, ruined my mother’s life.
“Yes, I’m well aware you were to become the next top model or whatever it was, but you got pregnant with me and had to back out.”
“You took my beauty, the least you can do is–”
I’d heard enough of this week’s round of Mallory bashing. I was used to it, but it still sucked. “Just text me a list of groceries and I’ll see if I can drop them by tomorrow. I have to go.”
I hung up without saying goodbye, then tossed my phone aside, snagged the pretty yellow bra. My mother wasn’t going to change. Not unless there was a time machine and she swallowed.
“Shit!” I shouted at the ceiling, not caring about swearing. Let it go, Mal. Let it go.
Yes, let it go, because I had a history teacher to fuck.
7
THEO
* * *
“I’m here!” I called from the front door. “You two better be dressed.”
Scout scampered down the hallway to greet me just as Bridget stuck her head around the corner from the kitchen. She pushed her glasses up.
“Just missed the money shot of your brother’s big dick,” she said.
I held up my hand and winced. “You’re one mean woman.”
A grin spread across her face. “Just kidding. He’s still at the site. They’re installing all of the toilets today. Literally every single one. I had no idea one man could be so excited about them.”
Leaning down, I gave Scout a pet and then joined Bridget in the kitchen.
“That’s a lot of containers,” I said, pointing to the center island.
“Well, it’s whatever-is-in-the-fridge night. We’re leaving tomorrow for Boston and don’t want it to go to waste.”
There were a pile of to-go boxes and plastic leftover tubs spread across the counter. She opened one and peeked inside.
“They finally got the professor?” I asked.
She glanced my way, a triumphant gleam in her eye. “We had him back in September, but two other women came forward with identical stories. The asshole. We decided to join forces so all three of us can get justice.”
Just last year, Bridget had been a student at MIT and had her work stolen by one of her professors. He’d taken her thesis papers and published the findings as his, which had Bridget quickly kicked out for plagiarism. It had been her word against his. A coed versus a tenured professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The situation was all kinds of fucked up, especially because she was the nicest–and smartest–woman I knew. She deserved her degree–which she hadn’t been able to finish–and the accolades that went with her data. I knew nothing about math other than what was needed for dosing patients, but she sure as hell did.
“Justice? How about revenge?”
She shrugged and a slow smile spread across her young face. I still couldn’t believe Mav had fallen for a twenty-two-year-old, but really, they were perfect for each other. He’d been clearly waiting for her, or some other romantic shit like that. When he found out what the asshole fucker had done… he’d gone ballistic. At least not in front of Bridget. He put Bradley, the assistant extraordinaire and a team of private investigators to bring the guy down. After a few months, it looked like it was about to happen.
“I want to see him kicked out and to get my work back. If Mav wants to… well, whatever dark, alpha male thoughts he’s hatched, that’s up to him.”
I had no doubt Mav had plans for the fucker. While I didn’t think Mav would have him killed, because that would be too easy and quick, the guy would probably wish he was when Mav was done. He probably wouldn’t be able to get a job teaching seals to play trumpets at the circus.
“I’m happy to help if needed,” I added, but made a mental note to let Mav know that as well. “I know what to do with dead bodies.”
A laugh ripped from her lips. “I’m sure you do. Mallory’s just as ruthless.”
I perked up at the name but didn’t let it show. Ever since she left the doctor’s office the day before, I’d been… unsettled. The idea of her having sex made me want to go all Mav and lumberjack the shit out of men in Hunter Valley who sniffed around her, let alone got his dick near her. It also made me a little crazy. Possessive, and I was never possessive. I could show Mallory what it was like with a real man, not some sixteen-year-old with pre-ejaculation issues.
She hadn’t even come and that just pissed me off.
“From what I know of her, I have no doubt.” I leaned against the counter and took the lid off a container. Pasta in a cream sauce with veggies. “She joining us? There’s enough leftovers for ten people.” I scanned the options, which was like a buffet.
“Ten? Or just you and Mav,” she replied. She knew the James boys well. We were big eaters. “No, she’s got a hot date.” Bridget looked my way and waggled her eyebrows. “Dinner at The Lodge. I sorta fixed her up with the tenth-grade history teacher.”
What the fuck? Mallory moved fast. I just saw her at her appointment. I grabbed another container, opened it with a little more aggression than necessary.
“On a Wednesday? An odd night for a date.”
“A first date, not that it matters. If she hits it off with Tom on a Wednesday, then–”
I dropped the leftovers and looked at Bridget. “Tom? His name’s Tom?”
Tom was a basic name. Plain. Boring. But common. Common was good because my first appointment the day before was a Tom whose dick itched, and it burned like fire when he pissed.
“Yeah.”
I had a sinking feeling. This wasn’t Denver where there were probably a hundred Toms in a one-mile radius. This was Hunter Valley, a small town in Montana. How many fucking Toms could there be?
I had to get answers from Bridget, but I couldn’t tell her why. I couldn’t tell her shit because of privacy laws. It was one thing to not want Mallory to fuck a history teacher, it was another to prevent her from fucking one with a sexually transmitted disease.
“I know a Tom,” I murmured.
“Here in town? His last name’s Zajik, which is different and memorable, but you’ve only been here a few days and you probably mean in Colo–”
Shit.
I didn’t let Bridget finish because I got everything I needed. I bolted to the front door. “I have to go.”
“What? Now? What’s the matter?” she called, chasing after me. Scout came racing up and gave me a woof.
“Diarrhea.”
“Wh–what?”
Yeah, I shocked the hell out of her. No one questioned diarrhea.
“Oh, um… well, this house has five bathrooms,” she reminded as I kept moving. “You can have any one of them and I’ll, um, leave you to it.”
“No, not here,” I called from the end of the walk.
“Um, okay, well, feel better!”
Like I said, no one bothered you when you had the shits. I was in my car and peeling down the driveway before Bridget had the front door closed.
Tom Zajik was Mr. STD. His raging case of chlamydia wasn’t going to be resolved by the antibiotics I prescribed the day before. Which meant his dick was dangerous if he put it anywhere near Mallory’s pussy… or her mouth.
Fuck me.
No, Tom was in danger if he got near Mallory. I wasn’t sure what Mav had planned for that asshole MIT professor, but I was going to make it look like a little booboo in comparison if Mr. STD shared more than small talk with Mallory.
Fuck. Mallory was going to sleep with the guy. She made her intent clear. Her vagina was practically untried, and she wasn’t protected by any birth control method besides condoms, even if she got in to see the OBGYN referral already.
She was any man’s wet dream.
Hell, she was mine.
I had to stop her. To keep from fucking the wrong guy. Because if she wanted a dick, she’d get mine. Big, disease free, and all hers.
8
MALLORY
* * *
Tom Zajik was a nice guy. A ginger who looked like the actor from Grey’s Anatomy, minus the Scottish accent, although he did seem to know quite about the history of Scotland, and the US Civil War. It wasn’t all that exciting because I wasn’t much of a history buff, but it did prove he was smart. A deep thinker. We spent dinner swapping student stories and the differences between teaching littles and teenagers. He was thoughtful, insightful, interesting, kinda cute, although only handsome like Bridge said. And he had the bladder of a peanut.
He paid the check, and we were leaving the restaurant when he diverted to the men’s room near the entrance. He knew exactly where it was because he’d already gone twice. Yeah, peanut bladder.
I stood in the lobby waiting for him and stared up at the vaulted entry, the logs that made the entire place blend in with the whole western theme. Was this it? Would he ask me to go back to his place? Should I ask him to follow me home for a nightcap? Who said nightcap anyway? What was a nightcap?
Fudge. I thought I was supposed to be hot and bothered from being with a guy, not anxious and–
“Mal.”
I spun on my cute heel I got at an end of season sale last year. My anxious thinking made me miss Tom’s return.
And Theo.
Theo James.
What the… what? Why was Theo here?
They stood side by side eyeing me. Next to Theo, Tom was a golden retriever, all earnest and gentle, filled with random facts about something that happened a century ago. Theo was big, broad, and looked like a grumpy badass. Not that he appeared ready to kick the shit out of anyone, but his usual intense stare was in full force. I felt small, feminine, and a little flustered whenever I was in his vicinity. And my vagina? The one that was the topic of our conversation the day before? Yeah, her. She was into Theo, pretty much crying at the sight of him.
Which meant I got wet just looking at the guy.
Not Tom, my date, but Theo. The guy who appeared out of nowhere.
I looked from one, to the other, then back. My cheeks flushed and my heart rate kicked up so fast I got a head rush just like all the other times I ran into Theo.
“Theo…”
“You know him?” Tom asked, eyeing him and not in a good way. Like he had to pee again and wanted to do it on my leg. Maybe Tom was a little more manly than I thought.
I nodded, licked my lower lip. “This is Bridget’s boyfriend’s brother.” Since Tom knew Bridget from work, he didn’t need further explanation.
I looked to Theo. “What… what are you doing here?”
Tom and Theo shifted to give room to a man who helped a woman into her coat.
“Listen, Mal, I have to go,” Tom said before Theo could answer my question. He looked a little uncomfortable. Angry. Both.
My attention pulled my date’s way and I frowned. “What? Now?”
Now that we had dinner and we were supposed to have sex? Now when my panties were wet?
Theo leaned in a little. “Diarrhea,” he whispered, thumbing over his shoulder toward the bathroom.
Tom flushed redder than his hair. “God, shit. Fuck, I mean, not shit. Listen, I had a nice time and all, but I can’t um… yeah.”
He gave Theo a quick glance, then fled.
I stared out the glass entry doors and watched him disappear. Theo didn’t say anything, just seemed to be waiting patiently as I processed being abandoned by my date.
“Did that just happen?” I asked.
Out of the corner of my eye, Theo shrugged.
I turned to face him, smacked his arm. “I can’t believe you just told me he had diarrhea. You might be a doctor and all and talk about bodily functions all day long, but he must be mortified. Especially since you ran into him in the bathroom. He’s never going to talk to me again because of that alone. I mean, if it was reversed and that had been me, I’d literally move to another state. It’s that mortifying.”
I blanched at the possibility. I’d done some crazy stuff, but not diarrhea on a date.
“It’s just a loose, watery bowel movement that can be explosive. He just needs to eat more fiber.”
My mouth dropped open. How could a guy so hot be so… blasé?
I spun around and aimed for the front doors. I had to get out of here and away from men with random facts about weird shit. Literally, shit.
“Are you serious right now?” I asked when I discovered he followed.
“Aren’t I always?”
Yes. Yes, he was.
“Did you drive yourself here?” he asked, following closely. Clearly, he wasn’t going to apologize.
“Yes,” I replied on a huff.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” He snagged my coat from my arm, and I had no choice but to stop so he could help me into it. “Come on.”
“Why were you standing there anyway?” I asked, shifting topics. Tom was long gone and wasn’t coming back. Not tonight and probably not ever.
“I came out of the bathroom behind your date, and I saw you. It would’ve been rude not to say hello.”
That was nice. And true.
“Yes, but why are you here?” I waved my hand around the parking lot indicating The Lodge.
“I’ve heard you run into people all the time in small towns.”
“That’s your answer? Do you always have to be so vague?”
He shook his head, his dark gaze meeting my eyes, then dropping to my mouth. “Bridget told me about the place, and I thought I would get carry-out. I’m not much of a cook,” he admitted, following me closely as we cut through the parking lot.
With the time change that had recently happened, it was already dark, but the restaurant had plenty of outdoor lighting.
I stopped in front of my car and reached in my purse for my keys.
“Were you going to have sex with him?”
My head whipped up, keys forgotten.
“What?” I stared at him wide eyed, his question bold. And intrusive.
“This is what happens, woman,” I said aloud to myself. I wasn’t getting a pep talk from my brother on this one. He knew about the date, but we didn’t talk about our sex lives. I made that easy by not having one. “Get your shit together. Get naked. Get some dick-made orgasms.”
After the pizza and pep talk the night before with Bridge, I’d coordinated via text with Tom for a date. Tonight. It was a school night, so neither of us were going to do anything wild and crazy. Well, I’d take wild and crazy as long as I was in bed by midnight.
By in bed, I meant asleep.
My cell rang and I grabbed it from the bedside table.
CHERYL.
“Fudge. Sugar. Dang. Carp. GAH!” I practically shouted. I hated to watch my cuss words, but if there was a time to swear, it was now.
She only called when she needed something, like money.
I glanced at the ceiling, then swiped the screen to answer her call. If I didn’t talk to her now, she wouldn’t stop. I wasn’t going to let her mess with my date.
“Hey, Cheryl,” I said, dropping onto my unmade bed.
“How’s my pumpkin?”
I rolled my eyes.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Does something have to be up? Can’t I want to talk to my only daughter?”
And it started.
“Yes,” I said. “How’re things? Dad?”
I could see her shrugging through the phone. “Fine. The shop was closed for two days. A water main burst down the street.”
“I heard about that.”
Small-town life meant nothing was a secret. When a tree fell on Bridge’s and Lindy’s house over the summer, news had spread within a few hours, and they’d had the entire town drive by to see it. I had to admit, it was a spectacle.
“Maybe you can stop by and visit with him since he’s been a little bored without anything to do while he was off.”
All he probably did was sit in his recliner, smoke, and watch TV, perfectly content.
“Sure.”
“Bring some beers with you. Oh, and a quart of milk. Eggs. OJ. Bread.”
She was out of money. Again.
“What happened to the extra cash I gave you at the beginning of the month with the rent?” I asked.
She sniffed. “There was a problem with the car and–”
“Dad fixes it at work.”
“Like I said, a water main broke.”
“So he couldn’t fix it because of the water main?”
“He was busy.”
“I thought you said he was bored.”
I couldn’t miss the huff through the phone.
“What’s with all the questions?”
“Because I paid your rent this month and gave you a little over. You should have enough for extras… and I don’t mean beer or your gin.”
“What are you saying, that I’m not working hard enough?”
So much for being her little pumpkin.
“My salary only goes so far. I’m paying my bills and yours.”
“All Miss High and Mighty now with that big job.”
“I’m a first-grade teacher, not a hedge fund manager. The resort offers you overtime, I’m sure.” If I had to pick up tutoring over the summer, she could add on some hours. “That’s time-and-a-half?”
“Overtime?” She spat out the word as if it was foul tasting. “Your father needs me home to feed him his dinner.”
“You mean open his beer,” I muttered to myself.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Why are you being so difficult?” I heard the familiar flick of a lighter, then a deep inhalation. The amount the two of them spent on cigarettes a month could cover their food bill. “After all the things we used our money on for you growing up, I’d think you’d be a little more grateful. Do you have any idea what I could have become if it wasn’t for you?”
There was the knife she always liked to poke me with, laced with the poison of guilt and passive aggressiveness. The same old story she told about how I was an accident. That I’d never been wanted and that I, personally and solely, ruined my mother’s life.
“Yes, I’m well aware you were to become the next top model or whatever it was, but you got pregnant with me and had to back out.”
“You took my beauty, the least you can do is–”
I’d heard enough of this week’s round of Mallory bashing. I was used to it, but it still sucked. “Just text me a list of groceries and I’ll see if I can drop them by tomorrow. I have to go.”
I hung up without saying goodbye, then tossed my phone aside, snagged the pretty yellow bra. My mother wasn’t going to change. Not unless there was a time machine and she swallowed.
“Shit!” I shouted at the ceiling, not caring about swearing. Let it go, Mal. Let it go.
Yes, let it go, because I had a history teacher to fuck.
7
THEO
* * *
“I’m here!” I called from the front door. “You two better be dressed.”
Scout scampered down the hallway to greet me just as Bridget stuck her head around the corner from the kitchen. She pushed her glasses up.
“Just missed the money shot of your brother’s big dick,” she said.
I held up my hand and winced. “You’re one mean woman.”
A grin spread across her face. “Just kidding. He’s still at the site. They’re installing all of the toilets today. Literally every single one. I had no idea one man could be so excited about them.”
Leaning down, I gave Scout a pet and then joined Bridget in the kitchen.
“That’s a lot of containers,” I said, pointing to the center island.
“Well, it’s whatever-is-in-the-fridge night. We’re leaving tomorrow for Boston and don’t want it to go to waste.”
There were a pile of to-go boxes and plastic leftover tubs spread across the counter. She opened one and peeked inside.
“They finally got the professor?” I asked.
She glanced my way, a triumphant gleam in her eye. “We had him back in September, but two other women came forward with identical stories. The asshole. We decided to join forces so all three of us can get justice.”
Just last year, Bridget had been a student at MIT and had her work stolen by one of her professors. He’d taken her thesis papers and published the findings as his, which had Bridget quickly kicked out for plagiarism. It had been her word against his. A coed versus a tenured professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The situation was all kinds of fucked up, especially because she was the nicest–and smartest–woman I knew. She deserved her degree–which she hadn’t been able to finish–and the accolades that went with her data. I knew nothing about math other than what was needed for dosing patients, but she sure as hell did.
“Justice? How about revenge?”
She shrugged and a slow smile spread across her young face. I still couldn’t believe Mav had fallen for a twenty-two-year-old, but really, they were perfect for each other. He’d been clearly waiting for her, or some other romantic shit like that. When he found out what the asshole fucker had done… he’d gone ballistic. At least not in front of Bridget. He put Bradley, the assistant extraordinaire and a team of private investigators to bring the guy down. After a few months, it looked like it was about to happen.
“I want to see him kicked out and to get my work back. If Mav wants to… well, whatever dark, alpha male thoughts he’s hatched, that’s up to him.”
I had no doubt Mav had plans for the fucker. While I didn’t think Mav would have him killed, because that would be too easy and quick, the guy would probably wish he was when Mav was done. He probably wouldn’t be able to get a job teaching seals to play trumpets at the circus.
“I’m happy to help if needed,” I added, but made a mental note to let Mav know that as well. “I know what to do with dead bodies.”
A laugh ripped from her lips. “I’m sure you do. Mallory’s just as ruthless.”
I perked up at the name but didn’t let it show. Ever since she left the doctor’s office the day before, I’d been… unsettled. The idea of her having sex made me want to go all Mav and lumberjack the shit out of men in Hunter Valley who sniffed around her, let alone got his dick near her. It also made me a little crazy. Possessive, and I was never possessive. I could show Mallory what it was like with a real man, not some sixteen-year-old with pre-ejaculation issues.
She hadn’t even come and that just pissed me off.
“From what I know of her, I have no doubt.” I leaned against the counter and took the lid off a container. Pasta in a cream sauce with veggies. “She joining us? There’s enough leftovers for ten people.” I scanned the options, which was like a buffet.
“Ten? Or just you and Mav,” she replied. She knew the James boys well. We were big eaters. “No, she’s got a hot date.” Bridget looked my way and waggled her eyebrows. “Dinner at The Lodge. I sorta fixed her up with the tenth-grade history teacher.”
What the fuck? Mallory moved fast. I just saw her at her appointment. I grabbed another container, opened it with a little more aggression than necessary.
“On a Wednesday? An odd night for a date.”
“A first date, not that it matters. If she hits it off with Tom on a Wednesday, then–”
I dropped the leftovers and looked at Bridget. “Tom? His name’s Tom?”
Tom was a basic name. Plain. Boring. But common. Common was good because my first appointment the day before was a Tom whose dick itched, and it burned like fire when he pissed.
“Yeah.”
I had a sinking feeling. This wasn’t Denver where there were probably a hundred Toms in a one-mile radius. This was Hunter Valley, a small town in Montana. How many fucking Toms could there be?
I had to get answers from Bridget, but I couldn’t tell her why. I couldn’t tell her shit because of privacy laws. It was one thing to not want Mallory to fuck a history teacher, it was another to prevent her from fucking one with a sexually transmitted disease.
“I know a Tom,” I murmured.
“Here in town? His last name’s Zajik, which is different and memorable, but you’ve only been here a few days and you probably mean in Colo–”
Shit.
I didn’t let Bridget finish because I got everything I needed. I bolted to the front door. “I have to go.”
“What? Now? What’s the matter?” she called, chasing after me. Scout came racing up and gave me a woof.
“Diarrhea.”
“Wh–what?”
Yeah, I shocked the hell out of her. No one questioned diarrhea.
“Oh, um… well, this house has five bathrooms,” she reminded as I kept moving. “You can have any one of them and I’ll, um, leave you to it.”
“No, not here,” I called from the end of the walk.
“Um, okay, well, feel better!”
Like I said, no one bothered you when you had the shits. I was in my car and peeling down the driveway before Bridget had the front door closed.
Tom Zajik was Mr. STD. His raging case of chlamydia wasn’t going to be resolved by the antibiotics I prescribed the day before. Which meant his dick was dangerous if he put it anywhere near Mallory’s pussy… or her mouth.
Fuck me.
No, Tom was in danger if he got near Mallory. I wasn’t sure what Mav had planned for that asshole MIT professor, but I was going to make it look like a little booboo in comparison if Mr. STD shared more than small talk with Mallory.
Fuck. Mallory was going to sleep with the guy. She made her intent clear. Her vagina was practically untried, and she wasn’t protected by any birth control method besides condoms, even if she got in to see the OBGYN referral already.
She was any man’s wet dream.
Hell, she was mine.
I had to stop her. To keep from fucking the wrong guy. Because if she wanted a dick, she’d get mine. Big, disease free, and all hers.
8
MALLORY
* * *
Tom Zajik was a nice guy. A ginger who looked like the actor from Grey’s Anatomy, minus the Scottish accent, although he did seem to know quite about the history of Scotland, and the US Civil War. It wasn’t all that exciting because I wasn’t much of a history buff, but it did prove he was smart. A deep thinker. We spent dinner swapping student stories and the differences between teaching littles and teenagers. He was thoughtful, insightful, interesting, kinda cute, although only handsome like Bridge said. And he had the bladder of a peanut.
He paid the check, and we were leaving the restaurant when he diverted to the men’s room near the entrance. He knew exactly where it was because he’d already gone twice. Yeah, peanut bladder.
I stood in the lobby waiting for him and stared up at the vaulted entry, the logs that made the entire place blend in with the whole western theme. Was this it? Would he ask me to go back to his place? Should I ask him to follow me home for a nightcap? Who said nightcap anyway? What was a nightcap?
Fudge. I thought I was supposed to be hot and bothered from being with a guy, not anxious and–
“Mal.”
I spun on my cute heel I got at an end of season sale last year. My anxious thinking made me miss Tom’s return.
And Theo.
Theo James.
What the… what? Why was Theo here?
They stood side by side eyeing me. Next to Theo, Tom was a golden retriever, all earnest and gentle, filled with random facts about something that happened a century ago. Theo was big, broad, and looked like a grumpy badass. Not that he appeared ready to kick the shit out of anyone, but his usual intense stare was in full force. I felt small, feminine, and a little flustered whenever I was in his vicinity. And my vagina? The one that was the topic of our conversation the day before? Yeah, her. She was into Theo, pretty much crying at the sight of him.
Which meant I got wet just looking at the guy.
Not Tom, my date, but Theo. The guy who appeared out of nowhere.
I looked from one, to the other, then back. My cheeks flushed and my heart rate kicked up so fast I got a head rush just like all the other times I ran into Theo.
“Theo…”
“You know him?” Tom asked, eyeing him and not in a good way. Like he had to pee again and wanted to do it on my leg. Maybe Tom was a little more manly than I thought.
I nodded, licked my lower lip. “This is Bridget’s boyfriend’s brother.” Since Tom knew Bridget from work, he didn’t need further explanation.
I looked to Theo. “What… what are you doing here?”
Tom and Theo shifted to give room to a man who helped a woman into her coat.
“Listen, Mal, I have to go,” Tom said before Theo could answer my question. He looked a little uncomfortable. Angry. Both.
My attention pulled my date’s way and I frowned. “What? Now?”
Now that we had dinner and we were supposed to have sex? Now when my panties were wet?
Theo leaned in a little. “Diarrhea,” he whispered, thumbing over his shoulder toward the bathroom.
Tom flushed redder than his hair. “God, shit. Fuck, I mean, not shit. Listen, I had a nice time and all, but I can’t um… yeah.”
He gave Theo a quick glance, then fled.
I stared out the glass entry doors and watched him disappear. Theo didn’t say anything, just seemed to be waiting patiently as I processed being abandoned by my date.
“Did that just happen?” I asked.
Out of the corner of my eye, Theo shrugged.
I turned to face him, smacked his arm. “I can’t believe you just told me he had diarrhea. You might be a doctor and all and talk about bodily functions all day long, but he must be mortified. Especially since you ran into him in the bathroom. He’s never going to talk to me again because of that alone. I mean, if it was reversed and that had been me, I’d literally move to another state. It’s that mortifying.”
I blanched at the possibility. I’d done some crazy stuff, but not diarrhea on a date.
“It’s just a loose, watery bowel movement that can be explosive. He just needs to eat more fiber.”
My mouth dropped open. How could a guy so hot be so… blasé?
I spun around and aimed for the front doors. I had to get out of here and away from men with random facts about weird shit. Literally, shit.
“Are you serious right now?” I asked when I discovered he followed.
“Aren’t I always?”
Yes. Yes, he was.
“Did you drive yourself here?” he asked, following closely. Clearly, he wasn’t going to apologize.
“Yes,” I replied on a huff.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” He snagged my coat from my arm, and I had no choice but to stop so he could help me into it. “Come on.”
“Why were you standing there anyway?” I asked, shifting topics. Tom was long gone and wasn’t coming back. Not tonight and probably not ever.
“I came out of the bathroom behind your date, and I saw you. It would’ve been rude not to say hello.”
That was nice. And true.
“Yes, but why are you here?” I waved my hand around the parking lot indicating The Lodge.
“I’ve heard you run into people all the time in small towns.”
“That’s your answer? Do you always have to be so vague?”
He shook his head, his dark gaze meeting my eyes, then dropping to my mouth. “Bridget told me about the place, and I thought I would get carry-out. I’m not much of a cook,” he admitted, following me closely as we cut through the parking lot.
With the time change that had recently happened, it was already dark, but the restaurant had plenty of outdoor lighting.
I stopped in front of my car and reached in my purse for my keys.
“Were you going to have sex with him?”
My head whipped up, keys forgotten.
“What?” I stared at him wide eyed, his question bold. And intrusive.
