Shelby squirmed. She still wasn’t over us making her watch meerkats devour cockroaches named after the men who had done us wrong, namely Leland and Ryder at the time. The cockroach named Ryder, however, had escaped. I supposed that was fitting, seeing as Ryder and Shelby were married now and already procreating. Leland was getting a cockroach a week named after him now that I had some extra cash. Watching him die a painful death weekly would do me good.
“It’s not a bad idea,” I agreed with Emma.
“Y’all are just being silly.” Shelby pushed me back in the dressing room. “I’m telling you, the man is taken with you.Now change. I want to take some pictures of you for my social media pages.”
That reminded me of all the comments Miles was getting on his pages begging for a new song to be uploaded and for him to father hundreds of children. As pretty as those babies would be, they would all be neglected. Stupid man. I ripped off the camisole and leggings and threw on the skinny jeans and olive jacket Shelby picked out next for me. When I came out, Shelby tied a matching scarf around my neck and gave me some leather wedges to put on.
“Perfect,” Shelby exclaimed. “Let me get my phone out. With you as my model, I’ll be selling out of this jacket before I know it.”
“I doubt it.”
“Please, you’re gorgeous,” Emma quipped.
“I’m PMS bloated.”
“You want to talk about bloated? I’ve lost fifteen pounds in the last few months and still can’t eat or drink without puking—even Dr. Pepper—but despite all that, I couldn’t zip my pants up this morning. How fair is that?” Emma complained. “And why do these babies hate my favorite drink? The thought of raising offspring who prefer water like their father is unthinkable.” She faux frowned. “I still blame you, Shelby, for making me go on that sugar-free kick. My children were conceived without enough corn syrup running through their DNA.”
We all had a good laugh.
Marlowe walked through the fabric curtains that separated the dressing room area from the rest of the boutique. She must have just gotten to work. She looked surprised to see us all there, especially young Henry. The normally poised andstand-offish Marlowe turned ashen when she noticed him and stammered, “I’ll talk to you later, Shelby.” She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. In her haste, she got tangled up in the curtain.
Once she was out of hearing range, I whispered, “What was up with her?”
A look passed between Shelby and Emma that said they knew exactly what was up. Emma was the one to spill the beans on her sister. “We found out,” she said quietly, “the real reason she broke up with Bobby Jay is because he wants kids.”
“I thought he couldn’t have children,” I whispered back.
“He’s always wanted to adopt.” Shelby patted her heart. “I think now with Ryder having his own, he’s itching to have himself a baby something fierce.”
“And Marlowe doesn’t?” I asked.
Emma squeezed Henry, who was starting to fidget before he jumped off her lap and busied himself with some of the trains I’d brought with us. “Marlowe is afraid. She and Macey have always been the babies. I don’t think she would even know what to do with one.”
“Maybe she’ll come around,” I offered.
Emma shrugged. “Who knows.”
“I hope she does,” Shelby sighed. “Bobby Jay is in a world of hurt.” Shelby gave me an apprising sort of look. “You know, maybe if things don’t work out with the dashing Brit, you and Bobby Jay could give it a go.” She got a dreamy look in her eyes. “Oh my goodness, you would be the cutest couple, and Bobby Jay would make a great stepdaddy to Chloe.”
I snorted. “I don’t think so.” Bobby Jay was a nice guy and, like me, he’d been through an ugly divorce, but I wasn’t theleast bit attracted to him. Which was probably my problem. Apparently, I was drawn to jerks, which was another good reason to avoid men altogether.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t avoid my boss.
I tried my hardest to avoid him. I even contemplated having Henry stay with Chloe and me in the cottage that night, but I knew what havoc taking a kid out of their own environment could wreak. Then I had the smart idea to just take the monitor myself, but the thing didn’t transmit that far. So I went with plan C.
After I put Henry to bed, I tiptoed down the hall and set the monitor in front of Miles’s door. I knocked then, loud enough so he could hear, but not so loud to wake up Henry, I said, “I’m leaving the monitor in front of your door.” Then I dashed down the hall. Not fast enough, though.
“Aspen, please wait.”
Damn.I stopped near the stairs. I held onto the banister, not bothering to look at him.
That didn’t deter him; he zipped down the hall. “Aspen.” He landed right next to me. I was taken aback by how disheveled he looked. His curls were going every which way as if he’d run his hand through his hair a million times today, and his normally pressed clothes were wrinkled. Too bad it didn’t make him look unattractive. The swooping sensation in my stomach was back.
“I’ve been hoping to talk to you today, but you didn’t come by this morning.”
“You could have found me if it was important.” My snark came out. Probably not a good idea for job security purposes.
“It is important, but I’ve been busy.”
