“Or maybe you’d like to go to Costco instead?”
Wes shut his eyes. “I’m going to kill you, Ma. How many stories have you told her?”
“Oh, just one or two.”
I chuckled. “Or six.”
“Great.” He crossed over to open a cabinet, pulling out a mug and filling it with coffee from the pot. “Just what I needed.”
He carried the mug to the table and sat down opposite his mother, who looked between us and smiled. “How did you two meet?”
I opened my mouth to tell the story we’d told Mario and Natalia—how Wes had pulled me over for a traffic stop, and we later met at the bar. But I didn’t think that timeline would make sense, as his mother probably knew he’d been off the force for a while. So I extended a hand to Wes. “I’ll let Wes do the honors. It’s so much funnier when he tells it.”
Without missing a beat, Wes spoke with a straight face. “I saved her ass.”
His mom chuckled. “What does that mean?”
“I was in Dunkin Donuts getting my morning coffee, when the woman ahead of me in line darted to the ladies’ room. I figured she really had to go.” He shrugged and sipped his coffee. “A few minutes later she came back, and there were like six more customers in line, so I told her she could cut in front of me since she’d been there before I was. When she did, I noticed her entire ass was hanging out. She’d accidentally tucked the back of her skirt into her underwear.”
My eyes widened, mortified.
The corner of Wes’s lip twitched. “She also had some toilet paper in there.”
I blinked at him, unsure if I should be impressed that he’d made up that story so quickly, or a little scared.
Joanna patted my arm. “It happens.” She looked over at her son. “Did you not sleep well, Wes? You look tired, and it’s not like you to sleep so late.”
“I had a little trouble falling asleep.”
“You did?” I asked. “I thought you fell asleep pretty quick.”
Wes shook his head slowly. “Nope, but you did. You were out cold. I think I had a pile of drool on my chest when I finally fell asleep about four o’clock.”
Oh shit. I thought he’d been asleep when I snuggled up to him. Wes had a sparkle in his eyes as he looked at me across the table, and I was grateful when Joanna changed the subject.
“What are your plans for today, honey?” she asked.
Wes shrugged. “Not much, other than going over to visit Grandma.”
“Did you have a certain time in mind?”
“I figured I’d give Juliette some time to shower and get ready, then head over. Maybe an hour or two. Is that all right?”
“That’s perfect. I’ll go over and see her now and then stop back later tonight. That way she has visitors throughout the day.”
“Sounds good.” Wes nodded.
Joanna finished her coffee and stood. “All right, you two. I’ll see you later on.”
After Wes’s mom left, he rinsed our empty mugs in the sink and leaned a hip against the kitchen counter. “Why don’t you go shower first, since you take longer to get ready?”
“Okay. How’s your back feeling today?”
“Great. Thank you for last night.”
I smiled. “And thank you for letting me use you as a pillow.”
Upstairs, the shower felt incredible. One thing I missed about living on the East Coast was the water pressure. My rental didn’t compare to this or what I’d had at home in New York. I lingered longer than usual and let the pounding water unwind the tension in myshoulders. When I finally stepped out, I realized I’d done the same thing as Wes had last night: left my bag in the other room. So I walked out in my towel.
