Return of the Jerk (Sweet Life in Seattle, Book 2) (7 page)

Not that I have any plans to sell her.

Still can’t get over the color though. Green?

“Seriously, Blair, I have to ask what you were thinking painting my car green.”

She glances over at him with those pretty hazel eyes. “It’s not your car anymore.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Isadora is mine now. You can see how much money I’ve put into her.”

“I’ll write you a check to cover your loss.”

He watches her hands grip the steering wheel. “I don’t want your money!”

Nathan smiles at her tenacity. He likes that she’s fighting for what she wants. She’s fighting a losing battle, though. “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I own the title to this car. She’s legally mine.”

“And I’m still legally your wife. So, I guess that makes her half-mine, too.”

He shakes his head. “Nice try, but I owned this car before we got married. She doesn’t come under community property.”

His Uncle Lance gave him Isadora as a gift for his sixteenth birthday. She needed a lot of work. Didn’t have the money back then to really fix her up, but he got her running well, at least.

Blair goes silent, plotting her next move no doubt. He’s sure she’ll come up with something.

He thinks back to her accusation earlier about him smuggling drugs.
Like I’d do something that nuts.
It had shocked him. Where the hell did she come up with something so crazy? It’s true his family can get rowdy, and some of them are tap dancing around the law regularly, but muling drugs?

He chuckles to himself then leans back.

There’s a nice breeze blowing, and they have Isadora’s top down. The radio’s playing the Beach Boys’s “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and Nathan relaxes, takes in the sense of peace.

Forgot how much I enjoyed this car.

He notices the wind is blowing Blair’s scarf around, and it makes him want to pull it off and grab a handful of that dark red hair. Blair’s a pretty woman. He’s always thought so, even when they were teenagers.

Have to admit, she knows how to handle Isadora, too. Goes easy on the clutch, doesn’t hit the corners hard. She looks good sitting there with her elegant profile. A classy babe all the way. If they were living in the Middle Ages, she’d be highborn for sure. There’s an understated glamour about Blair—not flashy like some of the women he’s dated—but sexy all the same.

Problem was she was so quiet—even after they got married. Occasionally, she’d relax, but it was hard being around someone who was too shy to speak and, unlike some men, he preferred it when a woman didn’t hold her tongue.

He had a feeling she’d changed after seeing that article Tori sent him about her wedding cake business, though. And he was right. Not shy at all. She’s been giving him shit ever since he got here yesterday.

“You know I was only teasing earlier,” he tells her. “Knew you baked wedding cakes.”

Blair gives him a scathing look. “Right.”

He chuckles. “I saw that article in
Seattle Magazine
. Tori sent me a copy.”

“She did?”

“See, I’m not lying.”

“You read it?”

“Yeah, I read it.” It was a short article, one page, but there was something about the picture of Blair in it that he couldn’t take his eyes off of. Just kept staring at it. She was wearing a white chef’s coat, so you couldn’t even see her body. It was shot from the side, with her grinning into the camera, and the way she looked? Damn. Sassy and hot. Just the way he liked his women.

And that’s when this strange thought floated into his head.

She’s your wife.

They arrive at Tori’s house and Blair is glad Road let her drive. It helped calm her down. Maybe she is still in love with him. So what? The fact is she hasn’t met anyone else and if she did, she’d probably fall out of love with Road in an instant.

Or maybe I’m destined to be in love with him forever.

She sighs.

Blair parks Isadora in the driveway right behind Tori’s blue minivan. Ironically, Tori’s ride looks like something a soccer mom would be driving around in, though she’s the furthest thing from a soccer mom Blair can imagine.

Unless dogs and cats are going to start playing soccer.

“Thanks for letting me drive,” she tells Road as they walk to the front door.

“No problem. Want to tell me what got you so down?”

Blair shakes her head. “It was nothing.”

Road rings the doorbell and immediately, a choir of dogs starts barking inside.

A few moments later, Tori swings the door open with a big grin on her face. Her light brown hair is pulled into a messy ponytail, and she’s wearing jean shorts and a black Def Leppard T-shirt. “My two favorite people!”

Blair grins back. Tori’s enthusiasm is always contagious. She has a way of making every event feel like an occasion.

Tori hugs Road. “I’m so glad you’re here! I missed you, big brother!”

“Missed you, too.”

Then she grabs Blair. “Where have you been, stranger!”

“Tori, I just saw you three days ago.”

By now, a trio of dogs—‘the boys’—has come to the front door to investigate, sniffing and pawing at her and Road. Blair reaches down to pet each in turn—Eddie, the golden retriever, then Duff, a fat pug mix, and finally Tommy Lee, a tiny Chihuahua. Most of Tori’s animals are from PAWS, a no-kill shelter in Seattle, and are mutts that nobody wants. Some have been abused. Tori, with her big heart, is a sucker for every hard-luck case.

Road and Blair follow her into the living room. Despite all the animals, her place is clean and smells like the apple-scented candles Tori likes to burn.

Music is playing on the stereo. Blair recognizes Ratt’s “Round and Round.” Tori has a love of all things ’80s, especially ’80s hair bands. There are two cats, one black and one white, named Joan and Lita. Both cats eye them from the top of a carpeted cat house.

“I made lemonade,” Tori says. “And oatmeal raisin cookies.”

Oatmeal raisin is Road’s favorite cookie. Blair is annoyed with herself for knowing this. She wishes she didn’t have all these lists in her head about Road. His favorite color (red), his favorite movie (
Terminator
), his favorite number (7)—yes, Road has a favorite number and she knows what it is. He probably doesn’t even know it himself.

Someone needed to invent a Jeopardy game where all the categories were about Road. She’d break the bank. Of course, Road wouldn’t watch it because he doesn’t like game shows.

They sit on Tori’s back deck where there’s a table with four chairs and an umbrella set up. She brings out the lemonade and cookies. Eddie and Duff both flop beside them, and Blair reaches down to pet Duff. Tommy Lee trots out to sniff around Tori’s yard.

The three of them chat for a while. Tori peppers Road with questions about his flight and if his jet lag is bad. They talk about their mom, their mom’s awful new boyfriend, Garth, and all their endless cousins as Tori catches Road up with the latest gossip.

Road leans back in his chair, eating a cookie. “I have some stuff for you. It’s on the counter at Blair’s. Can’t believe I forgot to bring it. I’ll give it to you at Mom’s on Saturday.”

“You forgot! What did you get me?” Tori gets up to pour each of them some more lemonade.

“T-shirt from London and some chocolate.”

“Yay! I hope it’s the same kind as last time. That stuff was the bomb.”

He nods. “Same stuff. Remembered you liked it.”

Blair thanks Tori for refilling her glass. There’s something peculiar about their conversation though and a strange realization is dawning on her. “When was the last time you guys saw each other?”

Road puts his glass down. “A little over a year ago.”

“What?” Blair is confused. “But I thought you haven’t been back in five years?”

“No, course not. Where did you get that idea?”

“From Tori.” Blair turns to her. “You never told me Road was in Seattle before.”

Tori’s expression is pained as her eyes flash to Road, who’s feeding one of the dogs a cookie, and back to Blair again. She looks uncomfortable. “My mom and I thought it was best not to tell you. We knew you didn’t want to hear about him.”

Blair blinks as she takes this in. “How long did he stay?”

“Not long,” Tori says. ”A couple weeks.”

“Where did he stay?”

“I don’t get it. Why would you not want to hear about me?” Road glances up from feeding Eddie the cookie. Duff gets up when he notices it and Tommy Lee comes racing in from the yard.

Blair and Tori’s eyes meet. Then Blair turns to Road and decides to be honest. “Because I was unhappy with the way you left me years ago.”

Road is quiet, watching her.

“And I never heard from you, not even a postcard,” Blair adds.

“Princess . . .” He slowly shakes his head. “Figured you’d want to put it all behind you, that you were better off.”

“And yet here you are, staying at my place.”

A smile plays around his mouth. “Yeah, that’s right. Here I am.”

Blair doesn’t say anything more. It’s true she didn’t want Tori or anyone else to talk about Road. As obsessively in love with him as she once was, her obsession to avoid anything to do with him ran just as deep.
Ironically, none of it worked. I’m still under his spell, even after all this time.

“Are you moving back to Seattle?” Blair asks him.

“Looks that way.”

“Where have you been living?”

“Various places. I’ve been in London the past year.”

Blair blinks in surprise. “You’ve been living in the same location for an entire year?”

Tori is watching her, clearly unhappy with this conversation.

Blair takes a deep breath and exhales. “At least now that you’re here, we can finally get divorced.”

“What’s the rush?” He chuckles. “Ironically, our marriage has lasted longer than a lot of people’s.”

Blair doesn’t want to hear anymore. She stands up. “I need to use the restroom.”

Tori gets up to follow her.

“Alone,” Blair tells her pointedly, not that Tori listens. She follows her right into the bathroom and stands there while Blair pees.

“We were trying to protect you. That’s why my mom and I never told you when he was here for a visit.” Tori bites her lip. “You’re not exactly reasonable when it comes to my brother.”

Blair is silent for a long moment, then gets up and flushes the toilet.

“You said you didn’t want to know anything about him. You insisted,” Tori continues. “So, we didn’t tell you.”

Blair washes her hands in the sink. “It’s okay, it doesn’t matter. None of it worked anyway.”

Tori is watching her in the mirror. Her pretty face has a look of concern. She looks a bit like Road, since they both take after their mom. Lori was a beauty queen in her youth, though a life of partying has given her a hard look now that she’s older. Tori and Road’s dad left when Road was five and Tori was only three, so they didn’t see him while they were growing up.

“What do you mean?” Tori asks.

“I’m still in love with him.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Tori lets out her breath. “Are you sure? You’re probably just mixed up a little from seeing him again.”

Blair dries her hands on a towel, thinks about the color green she painted Isadora. She had that done well over a year ago. “Yes,” she says. “You’re probably right.” In her heart, though, she knows the truth.
I’m as crazy in love with him as ever.

Tori shakes her head in annoyance. “My brother is so dumb. All those Skank Factor X bitches combined aren’t worth one of you!”

“Does he still date them?”

“Probably. I can’t say for sure since I haven’t met any of his foreign girlfriends. He dated someone from Spain for a while, but I couldn’t tell if she was nice or not.”

“So, you really didn’t send Road to stay with me?”

“No, of course not! He asked for your address, but I didn’t know he was planning to show up at your door yesterday. That was all his idea.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure it’s only for a day or two, though.”

Blair meets Tori’s eyes, and she knows what’s being left unsaid. Tori was amazingly understanding when Blair confessed the truth about what she did to her brother, and why he had to marry her. But at the same time, Tori believed it was wrong, so she never entirely blamed Road when he left.

They head out to the backyard where Road is throwing a tennis ball as the dogs all frantically chase it. Surprisingly, little Tommy Lee gets it the most.

“Oh, God, I didn’t tell you. Chase called and asked me out again,” Tori tells her.

“What did you say?” Chase was this guy Tori met at a flea market and went on a date with recently.

“I told him no. He’s nice-looking, but he’s kind of young for me.”

“How old is he?”

“Twenty-four.”

“That
is
kind of young.” Both she and Tori were turning thirty-one this year.

“Plus, he’s a total player. After one date, I could already tell he’d never pass the Bandito Test.”

Blair nods. The Bandito Test was something Blair and Tori gave all the men they dated. It was based on a movie they watched years ago where this woman was kidnapped by a group of banditos and her fiancé refused to rescue her because of the danger. Instead, his second in command, a man who’d also wanted to marry the woman but had been turned down, rescued her instead. He didn’t care about the danger, he simply wouldn’t leave her behind.