“Simply holding her hand?”
“Just being in the same room?”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Avery held up his hands.
“Those are just a drop in the bucket,” Spencer said. “The list is endless, and they’re not all good.”
Marcus nodded. “Like when she’s stubborn.”
“You want to talk stubborn?” Avery rolled his head against the back of the sofa to look at his brothers. “She reversed the bank transfers.”
Except for the first three, and he didn’t have to guess why. Once they started having sex, she’d said she was uncomfortable getting paid and made up a new rule to justify it.
At the time, he thought she made it up because she liked the addition of sex to their agreement and wanted to stay, but now, he wondered if it was because she didn’t really care about the money and stayed because she’d fallen for him.
Spencer hissed through his teeth. “Damn.”
“That’s not stubborn.” Marcus shook his head. “That’s brutal.”
“Actually, I’d say that’s admirable.” Leave it to Nick to see the other side of the coin. “She doesn’t want you to carry her. She wants to make it on her own.”
“I wasn’t trying to carry her. I was trying to help.” But the point stuck with him. Maybe he’d gone a little overboard. “I bought her a building.”
Spencer scratched stubble under his chin, clearly confused. “Most guys buy flowers.”
“I did that once. She gave them back to the florist. Said the scent interfered with the taste of her pastries.”
“Why did you buy her a building?” Marcus asked.
“For her bake shop.” The same day he received notification from the bank about the money, the lease agreement he’d slipped into her bag before she walked out of his life hit his desk via courier. “Doesn’t matter. She wouldn’t sign the papers.”
In the lease, he’d given her two options. Free rent for as long as she needed it, straight out. Or a small percentage of sales until she could meet the newly lowered rent. He’d have given her the building if he thought she’d take it. She was too proud.
But for her to throw his gift back in his face with a note that still pissed him off…
Avery,
Despite our rocky start, I am truly grateful for having met you. You taught me so much about myself. You gave me not only the means and opportunity to reach for my dream, but also the courage and confidence to make it happen. I know this gift comes from your unwavering support and generosity, however, I cannot accept.
Sincerely,
Jo
The “sincerely” bothered him more than the rejection. Like he was some unknown entity handing out grants.
Sticking with something simple would have been best, but the gift sitting on his kitchen island wasn’t delivered until yesterday. He’d get it to her when he found her.Ifhe found her.
“Don’t you remember Mom and Dad’s story.” Nick sat up, his forearms on his knees. “They met at the State Fair. Dad says he knew right then and there but when he got home, he’d lost her number. He thought he’d lost her. Then they saw each other somewhere else—”
“That club in Pasadena,” Spencer interjected.
“—and the rest is history.” Nick gestured with a sweep of his hand to encompass the four of them.
Kids. The dreaded two-point-five life suckers. They meant marriage and a fucking picket fence to keep them corralled. Yet, somehow, the idea of having those things with Jo didn’t seem as scary as they once had. He didn’t know if Jo wanted children. She was young; they both were. But he wanted to find out, or at least, get in some practice.
“So,” Marcus said, all humor gone, his tone heavy, “don’t wait five fucking years like I did to let it happen for you. She might not wait for you to figure out your shit.”
Five years? It had only been five days, each of them pure hell.
