It was either Noah or one of Joy’s packmates. Hope and a few others had gone to the Rabbit Lounge for a late lunch, and around the time we closed the shop, she walked over and said she needed the car for a business run but would drop me off. When we got back to my house, Joy decided to stay and help me decorate and clean. Someone was supposed to pick her up at any moment.
I peered outside. “It’s Archer.” Watching him grab something off the passenger seat, I asked, “Is it hard for him to drive with one arm?”
“I suppose there are a great many things that aredifficult for him to do, but you’d hardly know it. He’s very adamant about his independence, and that’s an admirable quality.” She moved her purse by her bag. “Unless of course heneedshelp and refuses to take it. Once on laundry day, his shirts were in the wash, so he borrowed one of Lucian’s clean ones hanging up. The buttonholes were especially tight and he couldn’t get them fastened, so he walked around all day with his shirt wide open. He refused to let us button them for him.”
When I opened the door, my face lit up. “Come see!”
He peered in apprehensively before spotting the TV. “Holy hell. Did you win the lottery?”
“Jackpot!” Joy said in jest. “I talked Cecilia into splurging to celebrate her successful opening.”
Archer stared at the TV while scratching his cheek.
Joy walked in front of him like a model in a game show. “Isn’t this delightful? She absolutely refused to buy new furniture, but you should see the new bedding.”
I reached out and tugged his hand. Leading him into the kitchen, I opened the fridge door and freezer. “Voilà!”
Archer tipped his head to the side and stared at a freezer filled with frozen meat and vegetables. The fridge still had the leftover sandwiches and fruit, but it was now stocked with milk, eggs, juice, cheese, vegetables, and a case of beer. Then I showed him the food cabinets.
“Do you think he’ll like it?” I asked apprehensively. “Would you?”
Archer laughed. “You’re asking me if I’d be happy if a woman bought me a new TV and food with her money? Girl… that’s every man’s catnip.”
“I need to clear my things out of the bathroom,” Joy said. “I’ll be ready in a minute.”
“We’re having steak tonight,” I said proudly. “From the money I earned. I’m making his favorite dinner.”
Archer stoically looked at the canned food, boxed meals, pasta, breads, and cereal. “That was real thoughtful of you.”
“No junk food. It was hard to resist, but I didn’t want to spoil the evening.”
He frowned. “How the hell would snacks spoil anything?”
I shrugged.
With a single step forward, he was a breath away. “Cici,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder.
I turned my head and looked at it. “You can’t touch me like that,” I whispered.
“Like a friend?”
My heart was torn, and I hated myself for feeling more than attraction for Archer. He regretted that night, and I had to convince my foolish heart that I couldn’t be in love with two men, especially one I barely knew.
Headlights shone through the living room windows.
“He’s here!” A ripple of excitement ran through me.
Thiswould make Noah proud and turn everything around. He wouldn’t have the burden of debt and finances, and perhaps he could quit his job and find something better while we lived off the bookstore money. A job that wouldn’t require us moving back to Austin. He couldn’t say no once he realized how much money I’d made on the second day.
I rushed out the front door to meet him in the yard. When he got out of his car, I tackled him.
“I missed you too, baby.” He pulled back and studied my face in the dimming light. “What has you all riled up? Is someone else here?”
“Come see. I have a surprise for you.” I tugged him by the hand up the steps and into the house, turning around to catch his expression.
The first thing Noah noticed was Archer standing at the edge of the kitchen. The two regarded each other a momentbefore he looked at the living room and realized what was different.
Noah blinked at the realistic fish swimming on the screen. “What the hell is that?”
