“I’m an executive at a major movie studio.” He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “There’s not much to it, but they insist on paying me the big bucks, so I stay.”
Shannon laughed and visibly relaxed. Victoria wasn’t surprised. Her dad had a way of putting people at ease. When she’d been younger, with her friends running in and out of the house, he was the parent they all sought out. Ava wasn’t exactly a warm, fuzzy person, but he could be counted on to keep things running smoothly emotionally and was the one who suggested the impulsive ice cream run or trip to the zoo.
“What do you do, Shannon?” he asked.
The tension returned. “I work for my mom right now as her assistant. I went to college for a couple of years, but it didn’t work out. I want to start looking for something more challenging. You know, maybe find my passion. But so far...”
Victoria had the strongest urge to shake her and tell her to stop being so self-deprecating.Shehadn’t gone to college either and didn’t give a damn who knew it. Higher education wasn’t required for success or happiness. Sure it was good for some, but not everyone. As for finding a so-called passion, she was pretty sure that was unobtainable for most people. Better to figure out what made you happy and what you could tolerate doing rather than chasing the impossible dream.
“You’re looking fierce,” her father said.
“I’m railing at the world, Dad.”
“That’s my girl.”
From across the room, her mother stood up. “This has been so wonderful. Thank you to everyone for indulging me. I think we should all exchange phone numbers so we can stay in touch.”
Ugh. She meant so she could hang out with her favorite almost-daughter Shannon, Victoria thought, possibly more irritated than she should be.
“No one wants to exchange their numbers,” she said aloud.
“Oh, I don’t know.”
That comment came from Javiar who was looking right at her. Victoria’s first reaction was a big fat no. But then she took a second look and wondered if maybe she could use a Javiar-sized distraction in her life. She was always interested in her next hookup, and if he even sort of knew what he was doing in the bedroom, maybe they could have fun together.
“Numbers it is,” she said and pulled her phone from her pocket.
10
Javiar waited two days to text Victoria. She stared at her phone and realized she’d completely forgotten about their meeting the other night. She’d been too busy dwelling on the fact that she had been little more than the backup child in her mother’s life. A distressing truth, and one she had to figure out how to deal with or she was going to risk either needing therapy or leaving her twenties as a dried-up, bitter hag. She really didn’t want to experience either.
While she was trying to figure out what to say, he texted again.
I’ll bring croissants.
The incongruity of tempting her with bread when she was thinking about whether or not she was physically up for sex made her laugh out loud.
Is that your way of saying you want lunch?She almost added the wordfirst, but thought maybe she should let things play out before she assumed they were doing it. After all, one-on-one he might be annoying and that was a no-go for her.
Lunch and conversation sounds good.
She thought about what was in her refrigerator. She could probably pull something together.
She texted her address, then added,See you in an hour.
Looking forward to it.
She tossed the phone on her desk and saved her day’s pages, then made her way to the kitchen. She had several kinds of cheese and had gotten a grocery delivery the previous day, so there was fruit. If he was serious about croissants, then she could put together a decent charcuterie board with minimal effort and let the bread be the star.
She sliced cheese, washed berries and sliced up a couple of apples. After squeezing on lemon to keep them from turning brown, she arranged everything on an oval board. Once that was done, she picked up her living room, checked the towels in the guest bath and wondered if she should change her sheets. There wasn’t a lot of time, and these days, with her cast, the task was daunting. And seriously, how many guys complained the sheets weren’t clean when they were about to get sex?
As promised, he rang her doorbell at the one-hour mark. She opened it and stared at the man standing in front of her. He was as tall as his dad—about six feet—with dark hair and eyes. He was fit enough for her to guess he worked out but not so muscled that she had to worry he was totally self-absorbed.
“Oh, wow. You’re much better-looking than I remember.”
Javiar raised one eyebrow. “I’m offended. How could you forget that I’m hot?”
She laughed. “It was the stress of the evening, and I apologize for my inattention.” She shuffled back to let him enter, then eyed the bakery box. “I don’t suppose those are diet croissants. I’m short and I can’t work out, so putting on weight is a thing.”
