He hated that his gut churned, pain radiating through his chest at the thought of Becs and Luca together. Yeah, he’d noticed her flirting, but he hadn’t thought anything of it. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. It was more like he was in denial, wishing like hell she would smile at him the way she smiled at Luca.
Deck chuckled softly. “Like I said…”
Yeah, yeah. Evan had heard him. It wasn’t wise to mix things up with co-workers.
He got it.
Damn it.
Chapter Sixteen
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
“It’s so good to see you,” CindyTavoularis greeted when Reese’s mother opened the door.
JJ offered a smile and accepted the woman’s hug as she stepped into the house. This wasn’t her first visit to Reese’s mother’s house, so she felt comfortable. She’d spent the holidays here back when she’d been running away from Baz and the overwhelming feelings she had for the man.
“Likewise,” she told Cindy. “I didn’t think I’d see you for a couple of weeks.”
“Which tells me this visit isn’t about the wedding,” Cindy said sweetly, her gaze shifting to Baz and a beaming smile appearing. “And you must be Sebastian.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Baz held out his hand to shake hers. “But please, call me Baz.”
Cindy peered down at his extended hand, then up to Baz’s face. “I don’t shake hands with family.”
Before JJ could decipher what Cindy meant, she leaned in and hugged Baz, startling him enough to make his eyes go wide.
For whatever reason, that struck JJ as funny. Probably because she rarely saw Baz flustered. The man was the epitome of a smooth operator, but it looked as though other people’s parents could trip him up. She filed that information away for later.
“Come on in the kitchen. I’ve got coffee, juice, and bagels if you’d like.”
JJ glanced up at Baz as they followed behind Cindy. She mouthed, “I want coffee,” which earned her a wicked grin.
“It’s decaf,” Cindy noted. “Since you’re pregnant and all.”
JJ stuck her tongue out at Baz and smirked. She would get coffee after all, although it didn’t make a lick of sense to drink it if it didn’t have caffeine. But it was the principle of the matter, she figured.
“I take it y’all are here to talk about Toby?” Cindy’s brown eyes were wary as she glanced between them, motioning toward the table and pulling out one of the chairs for herself.
“We are.” JJ took a seat across from her. “We think he might’ve gotten himself mixed up in something … uh…”
“Bad?” Cindy contributed, slowly easing into the chair, her gaze scanning JJ’s face for clues. “Nefarious? Illegal?” Her face scrunched. “Taboo?”
JJ chuckled, realizing the woman was worked up with concern. Wanting to soothe her nerves somewhat, she answered with, “We don’t know what it is at this point, but that’s why we’re here. Brantley and Reese are lookin’ into some of the properties he owned up here, hopin’ he might be hidin’ out somewhere.”
Cindy exhaled, then stood quickly, as though realizing she hadn’t meant to sit down. “Would either of you like coffee?”
“I would, please and thank you,” JJ answered, looking over at Baz.
“I’ll take some, too.”
JJ watched as Cindy poured three mugs of coffee and delivered them to the table. There was already a small container of sugar and a little glass pitcher of cream set up with a plate full of bagels and a variety of spreads to go on them. Her stomach rumbled.
“Go on, honey, get yourself some.”
JJ didn’t hesitate.
Because she’d spent a Christmas up here with Brantley and Reese, JJ’d gotten acquainted not only with Cindy but also Cindy’s boyfriend, Hugh, and Reese’s sister, Jensyn, who lived in California. At the time, she recalled being wildly anxious about being here, but it had only taken a few short hours in Cindy’s company before she felt right at home. Enough that all those pesky nerves had been obliterated.
