Return of the Jerk (Sweet Life in Seattle, Book 2) (5 page)

When she’s done, Blair walks into the bedroom and then stops.
One more time.
Three is usually her ritual’s magic number. Mr. Maurice follows her out this time and eats some food from his bowl.

The deadbolt is locked, the espresso machine and toaster unplugged.

Blair sighs. She can hear Mr. Maurice crunching as she heads back into the bedroom.

This time, she slips into bed beside Road and doesn’t get up. She doesn’t sleep, either. Road’s breathing is steady and deep. She wonders what he’s dreaming and then the memory of her own dream comes to her again, the erotic torment of him, but she pushes that from her thoughts.

That’s the last thing I need to be thinking about right now.

BLAIR WAKES UP
to an empty bed in the morning. Road didn’t touch her at all, and she knows this because she was awake all night trying not to think about him lying beside her.

She takes a deep breath, his scent in her bedroom. On her sheets. Everywhere. Blair closes her eyes and forces her desire aside. It’s just lust. Road is hot and she hasn’t had sex in almost a year, so that’s why she’s feeling this way. So what if she’s carried a torch for him since eighth grade?

I’m not in love with him anymore. That would make me an idiot, and I’m not an idiot.

After her shower, she finds Road in the living room, relaxing on the couch with his computer. A mug of coffee rests at his side. To her relief, he’s dressed—jeans and a blue Henley.

Blair is surprised he’s awake before her. Being a baker, she’s up early even on her days off, but then remembers Road has jet lag.

“Made coffee for you,” he tells her as she wanders into the kitchen. “It’s in the fridge.”

Her eyes widen. She opens the refrigerator and, sure enough, there’s a cold latte. She reaches for it and, after adding ice, takes it into the living room and sits in the chair opposite him. She brings her pen and notebook to start her daily list. She puts them on her phone, too, but likes to start on paper.

“Thanks, that was nice of you.”

“No problem.” He’s typing into his computer. Surprisingly, Mr. Maurice is sitting on the end of the couch near Road’s bare feet. “So, I noticed you like beige and white a lot, huh?” he asks, still typing.

Blair glances around her condo. There isn’t much color, as she tends to be conservative with her decorating choices. “Yes, I do.”

“You know, white is a funeral color in most parts of Asia.”

She frowns. “What are you implying?”

“Nothing.” He grins and glances over at her. “What time do you want to head over to Tori’s today?”

Blair leans back into the chair, tapping her pen against her notebook. “I need to go into work for a few hours.” She’s meeting with Road and Tori’s younger half-sister, Kiki, who’s getting married in a few months. Blair is making the cake for her as a wedding present.

Road seems distracted on his computer, but then looks up. “Can you give me a house key, so I’m not stuck here?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t need one. Today is your last day staying with me. I expect you to be gone by tomorrow.”

He lets out a frustrated breath. “Look, I need to go out for a few hours, and I won’t be able to get back in without a key.”

Blair picks up her latte and swirls the ice. She knows she’s being kind of a bitch. She thinks about how she ditched him for dinner last night and feels a slight pang of guilt.

“Fine. I’ll give you my spare key, but I want it back when you leave.”

“Need my car keys, too.”

Blair stops swirling the ice in her glass and stares at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Keys for Isadora, babe.”

She blinks. “I’m not giving you her keys.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because she’s mine.”

Road chuckles. “Don’t think so. And I need a car to get around.”

“I still have dry cleaning in the back of Isadora,” she lies. “You can take my Honda instead.”

Road’s eyes narrow at this, but then his phone starts playing Reggae music. When he sees who’s calling, he sighs and answers it. “Hey, what’s up?” Road closes his computer and rises from the couch. “Let me find someplace private I can talk.”

Blair watches as he opens her sliding glass door to her deck. She wonders who he’s speaking with that he needs privacy. He seems to have a lot of phone calls. She can see that Road has a serious expression on his face as he talks. She glances over at his ultra-slick computer and gets a prickle of unease at what he might be involved in.

He’ll be gone tomorrow anyway.

But then she thinks about how he was asking for the keys to Isadora.

He can’t take her back. I won’t let him.

There’s no way she’s giving him that car. Never mind she’s put thousands of dollars into her.
Isadora belongs to me now.
It’s as simple as that.

She chews her thumbnail. The problem is Road has her title and is still her legal owner.

But we’re still married, so I’m her legal owner, too.

By the time Blair is ready to leave, she discovers Road is still on his phone outside. She puts a spare house key and the keys to her Honda on the kitchen counter for him, along with a note telling him her parking space number in the garage. Luckily, her condo came with two parking spaces so she has one for each car.

Blair drives Isadora to work and parks behind La Dolve Vita in her usual spot. She and Natalie, moved the bakery to a larger location recently, and they both love it. Besides having more space, it’s an old brick building that’s quite picturesque.

The familiar smell of fresh pastries and espresso surround her as she enters through the back door, and as always, it gives her a lift. She was into baking as a hobby when she was younger, and graduated from college with a degree in English intending to teach, but after some friends asked her to make a cake for their small wedding, Blair discovered she was hooked.

Ginger, one of the part-time bakers they’d recently switched to full-time and who Blair is mentoring, let’s her know Kiki has arrived and is already waiting.

“Thanks, tell her I’ll be right out.”

Blair quickly checks her messages and makes note of a few. There’s one from the director of a women’s shelter with a list of the kids’ names who have birthdays coming up soon. Blair donated some cakes a few months ago, and when she heard the plights of some of these women and their children, decided to make it a regular thing.

Afterward, Blair finds Natalie in their bakery’s back office, doing payroll on the computer. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and she’s wearing jeans and a purple shirt on her curvy body. Natalie recently married the most beautiful man on Earth and has a constant glow of happiness.

Blair comes inside and closes the door, leaning against it. “You’ll never believe who showed up yesterday.”

Natalie concentrates on the computer, typing something with the number pad. “Who?”

When Blair doesn’t respond, Natalie looks over at her. “Everything okay?”

“
Road
showed up at my front door yesterday.”

Natalie stops what she’s doing and stares at Blair with her mouth open. “Are you kidding?”

“I wish I were.”

“What does he want?”

Blair doesn’t reply right away. What exactly
does
Road want? She’s not really sure. He hasn’t asked for anything, except Isadora. “I don’t know want he wants. It sounds like he’s moving back to Seattle.”

Natalie is studying her. “Maybe it’s a good thing. Now you can finally put all this behind you.”

“Maybe.”

“Who’s he’s staying with? Tori?”

“With me, for now.”

Natalie’s eyes widen. “Is that smart?”

“It’s only for a couple of nights. I told him he has to leave by tomorrow.”

“I see.” Natalie studies Blair. “Do you still have feelings for him? You did love him once, so it’s understandable if you do.”

Blair sighs. Natalie doesn’t know how she wound up married to Road. The only person who knows the whole story is Tori, and she suspects their mom has her suspicions. Everyone else assumes it was a normal marriage. Well, normal until Road jumped ship like a fleeing rat.

“No. I just want him out of my life. He had the nerve to ask for Isadora’s keys this morning. Can you believe that?”

“And?”

“And I gave him the keys to my Honda instead.” Blair thinks about the way Road’s eyes narrowed, his laser focus turned on. He knew she was lying.
He’s not going to give up easily.
For all his faults, she wouldn’t call Road a quitter. She takes a deep breath and lets it out, trying to calm her growing panic. “I’m worried. I think I might have a custody battle on my hands here.”

Natalie grins. “It’s just a car, Blair.”

She shoots Natalie a look. “
Just
a car?”

“All right, she’s an incredible car, I’ll give you that.”

Blair gets up. “If he thinks he can just show up and take Isadora from me, he’s in for a big surprise. I’m not giving her up without a fight.”

She leaves the office and grabs her white jacket, along with a pencil and the sketch pad she uses to design her wedding cakes, before heading out front.

“Hey, Blair!”

Blair smiles and takes the seat across from Kiki at the corner table. Kiki, short for Katherine, is Tori and Road’s younger half-sister. Of the three siblings, Kiki looks the least like any of them. Blair has always thought Kiki was stunning, though. With her dark hair and tilted brown eyes, she’s something of an exotic beauty.

“How is Road?” Kiki asks. “Tori said he’s just arrived yesterday and is staying with you. I haven’t seen him yet.”

“He’s fine, I suppose.”

“You must be glad to see him.”

Blair doesn’t know what to say. “I guess.”

They go over the details of the type of cake Kiki has in mind. She’s already picked out chocolate coconut for the flavor.

“You might want to consider a smaller second cake or some cupcakes,” Blair says. “Not everyone likes chocolate.”

Kiki laughs. “Don’t be silly, who doesn’t like chocolate?”

“Well, your brother, for one.” But then Blair wishes she could take it back, hating she still knows that about him.

“Oh, yeah.” Kiki nods. “I forgot. What does Road like?”

Road’s favorite cake is carrot, of course, but Blair pretends not to know. “I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask him.”