Rosie comes through the swinging doors with a tray in hand. She sets a plate in front of me with a glass of lemonade and leans across the counter. My brow furrows.
“Liv told me you were coming,” she says, anticipating my question before I even have to ask. “Your usual. Extra pickles.”
“You remembered?”
“I always remember my favorite customer’s orders. Just because you ain’t living up the road anymore don’t mean I’m gonna forget ya.”
My heart squeezes. “Thanks, Rosie.”
“Of course. Now tell me how you ended up living at the ranch with that Hayes boy. Don’t tell me you got yourself knocked up, too.”
I almost choke on a pickle spear and glance at Olivia.
“Tale as old as time,” I say teasingly. “Nothing quite as exciting as that. My rent was increasing, and Jax offered me a room.”
It’s the same lie I told Mo. I can’t exactly admit that I was living in my car because I’m too stubborn to ask for help.
“If I’d known, I would’ve offered you the apartment upstairs, but my granddaughter, Sarah, just movedin.”
I cover my mouth to speak around a bite. “It’s not a bad view to wake up to.”
“I bet. Those Hayes boys sure are handsome.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Olivia snorts.
“Sure, it ain’t,” Rosie says, winking. “And I’m the Queen of England. Enjoy your lunch. I’ve gotta get back to work.”
Without another word, Rosie disappears into the kitchen.
Olivia takes her place across from me and snatches a french fry off my plate. “Have you thought about how you’re going to give them to him?”
“Not really. I figured I’d just go up to his office and set them on his desk.”
“Well, that’s boring. Where’s the dramatic flair? The romance? The grand gesture?”
“It’s not like that.”
“It’s exactly like that, and you know it.” She steals another fry. “Did you guys talk about the incident?”
As much as I wish I could forget what she’s affectionately referring to as the incident, it’s been haunting me ever since. I've replayed it in my mind every night. Even when I was barely conscious and fighting off a nasty case of the flu, the sound of Jaxon calling my name was never far from my mind.
“Nope. I’m pretending it never happened.”
“Is that what you’re telling yourself? Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t thought about it late at night when you’re all alone. Just you and your vibrator.”
My eyes bug out of my head. “Shh. You know these walls have ears.”
“It’s the vents,” Olivia says. “And Grammy won’t tell anyone. Right, Grammy?”
“My lips are sealed,” Rosie calls through the swinging doors. “Get it where you can, Callie.”
Olivia reaches for the last fry, but I pull my plate away. “Just for that, I’m cutting you off.”
I’ve always been driven by self-preservation, so I’ve been avoiding him since he left my bed the other day. Part of me wants to tell him I miss him, but I’m not sure how to reconcile these new feelings for Jaxon with the ones I have for another man. It’s complicated, so I’m choosing to ignore all of it in hopes that it’ll sort itself out. The similarities between what I did with Jaxon and what I pay for with my cowboy aren’t lost on me, but if I think about it too deeply, I’ll spiral.
Jaxon
