“No, I’m not.”
“So, rest and relax, and let me take care of you.”
Joey didn’t recall any of Axel’s previous women describing him like this.She didn’t say a word, but watched, waited, and listened.She took a sip of the refreshing water as Axel went to the fridge, which was fully stocked.
“You cook?”she asked.
“Hell, yeah, it was one of the things my dad taught me to do, but he had to learn himself, you know.”
“Your mom passed away.”
Axel nodded.“I never got a chance to meet her, but Dad didn’t mind talking about her, and we had a lot of pictures around.”
“He never remarried, did he?”
“Nah.I mean, he dated a lot.”
Joey knew that was accurate.Axel’s father had slept around with a lot of women.He was a man who many had described as broken, because he fell in love and lost his wife.It was sad.A lot of women had hoped to win him over but never had.He had died of cancer a few years ago.Again, this was all town gossip she was privy to being the owner of a coffee shop.
“No one could ever compete with my mom,” Axel said.“There was a time I thought he might hate me, you know.With everything that happened.”
“I doubt that.”
He chuckled.“I wouldn’t doubt it so much, but we talked it out, and he loved me.”
She had no doubt at all.
“But with Mom gone, he had to learn how to take care of himself, as she had taken care of him.He taught me to cook and take care of myself too.”
Chapter Four
Axel finished dinner, and it wasn’t anything fancy or too filling.He picked up the ingredients for chicken salad and brought them home before work.He had marinated the chicken in some lemon, garlic, and chipotle, as he loved that kick of spice.
He didn’t know if Joey liked spice, but she complimented his food.He knew how to make a damn good salad, and as far as he was concerned, there had to be a boiled egg on it.Softly boiled, not so it was runny, but it had a softness to the yolk.
After they finished eating, he gave her a tour of his home—the dining room, kitchen, sitting room, his office, and then a game room.There had been a potential for a library, but the few books he owned went into the game room.Next was upstairs, where he showed her the two spare bedrooms, along with the spare bathroom.
