Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
“One on the right. Rhodes. He comes in sometimes. He was just here yesterday. He used to date my cousin a million years ago. His son is best friends with Jackie.”
No shit? I wanted to tell her the truth, but she kept on talking.
“Dad said he moved back here when he retired from the Navy to be closer to his son and—oh, he’s about to get into his truck. Let’s move before he sees us and things get awkward.”
He had been in the Navy? Well, that was another piece of the puzzle. Not that it mattered.
And actually, the way he talked now made total sense. That bossy voice. I could totally picture him bossing people around and giving them the stare down he’d given me. No wonder he was so good at it.
“He’s my landlord,” I told her as we moved away from the window before getting caught spying.
Her head whipped around so fast, I was surprised she didn’t end up with whiplash. “He is?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the garage apartment you’re renting?”
“Uh-huh.”
“He let you rent it?”
“You’re not the first person to ask me that that way. But no, it was more like Amos did behind his back. Why?”
“It’s okay. He’s a good dad. He’s… quiet and private is all.” Her eyes widened. “This suddenly makes so much sense. That’s why Amos got grounded.”
So she’d heard from Jackie. Was that why she had been giving me funny looks when she thought I wasn’t looking? “Yup.”
It wasn’t until we made it back around the counter that she asked really quietly, “Have you seen him without a shirt on?”
I grinned. “Not yet.”
Her smile in return was pretty damn sly. “Take a picture if you do.”
* * *
I was early again that night. Two minutes ahead of schedule and holding a plate with a few Chips Ahoy cookies I was going to try and pass off as homemade unless one of them asked. It was the thought that counted, right?
My notebook was tucked under one arm, the beautifully wrapped crystal that Yuki had sent Amos was under my other arm, and I had a pen shoved into the back pocket of my jeans alongside my cell and key. I’d written out a bunch of questions while I’d eaten dinner and marked them in order of what I should ask, depending on how much information we could get through.
Hopefully a lot.
I’d only gotten one chance that day to use my newfound knowledge, and I’d been so damn proud. It had helped curb the edge for every other time I had to go bother Clara or pass a customer off on her. She was a fountain of information, and I admired her so, so much for it. Sure, she’d grown up in this business and lived in the area way longer, but it didn’t make it any less impressive. She had moved away; anyone else would have forgotten most of what they knew.
In my dreams, Mr. Rhodes would do me another solid and invite me over tomorrow too, but I wasn’t holding my breath. I thought about the way Mr. Rhodes had looked in his uniform earlier when he’d been across the street.
It sure wouldn’t be a hardship.
Was he divorced? Did he date a lot? I didn’t think he had a girlfriend since no one ever came over other than the Johnny/uncle figure, but you never knew. From everything I’d gathered about him, he was really overprotective of his half-grown son. Maybe he had a girlfriend but never brought her over.
That’d be a bummer.
Not that it should matter.
I really did need to start getting around to possibly dating. I wasn’t getting any younger, and I missed having someone to talk to in person. Someone who was... mine.
Being single was cool and all, but I missed companionship.
And sex.
Not for the first time, I wished I had an easier time with one-night stands or friends with benefits.
For one brief second, my heart longed for the easiness and effortlessness that had been such a staple in my relationship with Kaden. We’d been together so long and knew everything about each other, I had never thought for a second that I’d ever have to find someone else to become my new best friend. Someone else to get to know me and love me.
And I missed that a lot.
But we weren’t together anymore, and we were never going to get back together.
I missed having someone in my life, but I didn’t miss him.
Sometimes, maybe even more often than just sometimes, you were better off alone.
Sometimes you had to learn to be your own best friend. To put yourself first.
One tiny tear pooled up in my eye at yet another reminder that I was starting over again—at the magnitude of what lay in front of me—when the door swung open. I hadn’t even realized the hallway light hadn’t gotten turned on. Mr. Rhodes was right there, one hand gripping the door, his frame filling the rest of the doorway. His gaze landed on my face and he scowled, lines etching their way across his broad forehead.