Ossie finished his pup latte, so I shoved the empty cup into the carrier and picked up my own latte, the warmth easing the chill inside me.
“Are you following me? You have my number, so just call me and ask me to meet. You know I don’t believe that bullshit about Happy sending you here.” He paused, his voice softening. “But honestly, I don’t care why you decided to come, I’m just glad you’re here.”
That was a surprise. “Why?”
Holden took a big breath. “Because I can’t keep my mind off you, and I have no idea why. You’ve become the number one thing filling my head, and I’m not sure how to stop thinking about you.”
I glanced at him. “You don’t need to do anything. Happy wants you to talk your parents into letting the recipients have access to her information. Trust me, Holden. I wish to hell I was lying or bullshitting you, but I’m not. And I’m not stalking you, I swear.”
His gaze focused on the dogs playing with Oscar in the dog park for a moment before returning to me as he took a sip of coffee. “Look, I think you believe that, and if you do, then so be it. I’m not willing to let your belief in the supernatural stop me from getting to know you better.” Holden reached for my hand, and I gave it to him.
The warmth of his touch sent a shiver down my spine. I wasn’t sure what to do but having his hand on mine nearly shorted out my brain.
“Yay! Talk to him! Tell him about yourself. He loves shit like that.”Holly was standing near the fence in black leggings, a teal puffy coat, and a matching beret. I was sure the weather didn’t exactly affect her in her current state of being. Maybe she wasn’t ready to accept she wasn’t alive any longer, or maybe it wasjust her sense of style that followed her into the next stage of whatever came after. Whatever it was, I damn well didn’t need her spouting orders at that moment.
I turned to grin at Holden. “What do you want to know?”
Chapter Fifteen
Avery
“What exactly do you do for work?” Holden turned in my direction as we sat on the bench.
“I’m an artist and a graphic designer. I’ve always liked to draw. When I was younger, I was never without my sketchbook and pencils. I used to draw comic strips for our school newspaper, and when I started taking tech classes, I learned how to combine my two passions.
“Once upon a time I thought about drawing comics professionally, but as I looked into it, I saw those jobs were pretty locked down and the chance I could break into illustrating a comic book was miniscule. So, I went to college and studied art and graphic design. That’s where I met my best friends and roommates, Kyle and Brooke.”
I told him about my best friends and some of our college antics as we sipped our coffees and Oscar followed around a very frisky chihuahua named Nina. It was adorable to see Oscar, a much larger dog, following the four-pound Nina around the dog park. They were cute together.
“Now Kyle and Brooke are engaged, and I’m looking for an apartment. I want to be out of there by the end of the month.”
Holden grinned. “So that’s why you’re in this neck of the woods. Apartment hunting?”
As dumb luck would have it, it was the perfect excuse for why I showed up in his neighborhood. “Yeah. The place I saw was a little pricey for me, so I’ll keep looking.”
“I’ve been thinking. I wonder if you’d be interested in doing an ad campaign for my business?”
That was interesting. “What’s your business?”
“It’s called Track and Tire Rescue. We repair or replace tracks and tires on heavy equipment.” Holden’s proud grin caused my heart to skip a beat. God, he was magnificent. How the hell was he still single?
“See, I told you. Okay, I’m gonna take off. You got this. See you later, doll.”Happy walked down the street at a brisk pace before she disappeared.
“What’s considered heavy equipment?” I couldn’t sit there with my mouth open like an idiot. Getting him to talk about himself seemed like a good idea.
“Uh, excavators, asphalt pavers, crawler cranes. Big machines that are used on construction and road paving jobs. It’s sort of an oddly specific business, but we’d like to get the word out that we’re available and willing to travel out of state if needed.”
Brooke was the marketing wizard in our little shop, but I’d heard her pitch clients, so I knew what she’d say in this case. “You need to target areas you’d be willing to consider your territory and do some radio and television spots. Get into some trade magazines with print ads or internet ads that pop up on social media sites. You don’t need anything too elaborate since you’re only interested in a small segment of the population.”
His expression morphed to one of concern. “Is, uh, is that expensive?”
Like a brick to the head, it dawned on me that Holden’s business probably didn’t need a marketing campaign. He was trying to find something for us to connect with each other because we were truly like an apple and an orange, but I, too, wanted to change that.
Hell, he didn’t need to spend money to get my advice. “It can be as cheap or expensive as you need, but maybe if you show me more about your work, I can offer you some free advice.”
“Free?Hell, I’ll take it. You busy this afternoon? I can take you to the shop and show you around. Maybe you’d like to come over for dinner? I’m making baked pork chops, sweet potatoes, and sautéed green beans.”
God, that sounded good. “I’d love to. I’ll even help. I can cook a little.”
