Return of the Jerk (Sweet Life in Seattle, Book 2) (8 page)

The question they always asked themselves about a guy was this: What kind of man is he? Is he a first or second man? Would he leave you behind or rescue you?

Tori sighs. “I don’t know why all the wrong guys keep asking me out.”

Blair’s luck with men hasn’t been too great, either. Of course, she wonders now if her feelings for Road have been getting in the way this whole time without her knowing it.

“Are you coming to my mom’s party on Saturday?” Tori asks. “Please, say yes.”

“I’ll come on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You have to come to one of my mom’s gallery events in a couple of weeks.”

Tori gets a stricken look on her face. “The cacti penises again?”

“Yes, she has a whole new series.” Blair can’t help smiling at Tori’s expression.

“I don’t know.” Tori bites her lip. “I haven’t quite recovered from last time.”

Blair invited Tori to one of her mom’s gallery events about six months ago. She’d never seen her mom’s paintings before and could barely look her mother in the eye afterward.

“Come on. I’m going to ask Graham to come, too. My mom always wants plenty of bodies at these events. And I haven’t told you the latest. Scott and Ashley are most likely getting engaged.”

Tori’s eyes go wide. “The Shopping Queen is going to be your sister-in-law?”

“Looks that way.”

Road comes over and tells her they should head out. Apparently, he has places to go and things to do, but she notices he doesn’t give any specifics.

“Need the keys to Isadora,” he tells her.

“I’d like to drive again.”

“Not this time.”

“I know the way back to my condo better than you do.”

Road puts his hand out. “Give me the car keys.”

“I’ll feel better driving. I really will.”

“Keys.
Now
.”

Blair sighs. She reaches for her purse, finds the keys and hands them to Road.

Tori is watching the two of them with amusement. “You two sound just like an old married couple.”

Blair rolls her eyes. “Very funny.”

“Now, is this so bad?” Road asks her after they leave Tori’s and are headed back toward her condo. “You look good sitting there, princess.”

Blair is quiet. She’s still processing the fact that Road was here only a year ago and no one told her.
Who did he stay with then?

Unfortunately, she can guess at the answer. There’s never any shortage of women who want Road.

He pulls into a gas station, right up to one of the pumps. She gets out and tells him she’s going inside the mini-market to grab a bottle of water.

“Would you mind paying for the gas while you’re in there?” He pulls a bill from his wallet and hands it to her.

She gets a sinking feeling when she sees that it’s another hundred dollars. “I don’t know what gas prices are like in London, but it doesn’t cost a hundred bucks to fill Isadora’s tank. Not yet, anyway.”

“That’s the smallest I got.”

She takes the bill and heads into the store, grabs some water, and pays for the gas.

Road is cleaning Isadora’s windshield when Blair comes back out.

“Here’s your change.”

“Keep it.”

She shrugs, sticks it in her wallet, and then leans against Isadora as she drinks her water. “So, you’re throwing hundred dollar bills around like confetti these days?”

He does a final sweep of the windshield before tossing the squeegee back into the bucket near the gas pump. “Wouldn’t say that. I have a few large bills in my wallet from traveling, is all.”

They both get back in the car, and Blair decides she’s going to get to the bottom of this right here and now.

“What do you for a living?” she asks when they pull out from the gas station.

“Thought I told you.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Why do you want to know so badly?”

Blair puts her bottle into the cup holder console she added to Isadora. It took her two months to pick out the exact one she wanted. Brody had to special-order it.

She crosses her legs and notices the way Road’s eyes glance over at them, can’t help feeling a tiny bit pleased. She already knows he’s a leg and ass man.

“Cut the crap, Road. Are you doing something illegal?”

His eyes are on her legs again, but then flicker to her face before looking out the windshield.

He smirks. “You’re probably better off not knowing what I do.”

Blair goes still. “Why?”

“If I tell you, I might have to kill you.” He grins.

She doesn’t say anything the rest of the ride home and is torn about what to do. Despite everything that happened between them, she’s still concerned for Road.

Okay, I’m in love with him and have been most of my life.

But this is insane.

After they get back to her condo, Road takes off with Isadora and is gone the rest of the afternoon. She wonders what he’s up to, but then figures he’s probably setting up his next place to stay—most likely with a woman.

Not that I care.

Blair tries to ignore her jealousy. He’s free to do whatever he wants, and she can’t have someone around who’s involved with drugs. She’s surprised Tori hasn’t tried to help him with this, or maybe Tori doesn’t know.

After making salad and spaghetti for dinner, Blair sets her computer on the kitchen counter and brings up the new website for La Dolce Vita. They recently had Tori update it so their customers could submit cake orders online. The change, along with the move to their new location and increased hours, has improved business so much they’ve been able to switch their two part-time bakers to full-time.

She’s eating spaghetti and working on a new list she titled “How to Help Road Get Back on Track with His Life.” When she hears the key in the front door, her pulse jumps with the familiar anticipation of seeing him.

“Hey, babe.” He comes over, carrying his backpack and puts it on the chair in the kitchen next to where she’s sitting.

“There’s spaghetti if you’re hungry.”

“Nah, I’m good. Already ate.”

“Where were you?”

He gets a glass down from the cabinet and fills it with water from the fridge. “Just taking care of things.”

Blair watches his throat work as he drinks.

“Have you figured out where you’re going to be staying after you leave here tomorrow?”

He stops drinking and lets out a breath. “All figured out, princess. No worries.”

Road puts his glass on the counter. “Would you mind putting that in the dishwasher when you’re done with it?”

“Sure.” A grin tugs on his mouth.

“Also, if you wash clothes again, I’d like the detergent kept right next to the fabric softener.”

“I’ll make sure and remember that.” He gives her a full-on grin. “Anything else?”

“That’s all for now.”

He comes closer and tucks his phone into the front of his backpack, glancing over at her computer. “What are you doing?”

“Just stuff for work.”

“Is that the site Tori designed for you guys?”

Blair nods. “She recently updated some things for us.”

“Can I see it?”

“Sure.”

Road leans in close behind her. Looking over her shoulder, he angles the computer a little. She hears him sniff. “You smell good.”

Blair only nods her reply. He smells good, too. Crazy good. She closes her eyes and immerses herself in his smoky scent.
Thank God he’s leaving tomorrow. I don’t think I can take much more of this without going insane.

“Tori did a nice job.” His head is right next to hers as he’s clicking through the different pages for the bakery’s site.

She watches his hand on her computer’s touch pad. His hands are big, but oddly graceful and well-made for someone who worked as a mechanic. His nails are clean and short. She remembers all the times she stared at Road’s hands, wanting things from them.

He suddenly stops surfing the bakery’s website and remains still.

“What is it?” The side of his face is so close, she could kiss him if she leaned forward.

“How to help Road get back on track with his life,” he reads, staring down at her notebook. “What the hell is this?”

He turns to face her, and for some perverse reason Blair doesn’t move her head back, so their faces remain close.

“It’s a list I made.”

“I can see that.” He turns to look at the list again.

“I don’t know what you’re involved in,” she says quickly, “but I think you’re on the wrong path.”

Road’s eyes come back to meet hers. He’s close enough she can see how some of his eyelashes are tipped blond.

“You going to save me?” he asks softly.

“If I have to.”

He smiles a little as his eyes drop to her mouth. “Think I’d like that.”

A yearning blooms within her, a terrible yearning. And it’s bad. The worst ever. She tries to force it away, yet the yearning persists.

His gaze flickers from her mouth back to her eyes.

Blair’s breath hitches. And just when she’s ready to damn the consequences, Road pulls away. He turns his head and is studying her list again.

“Who’s Mia?”

“What?”

“Call Mia and ask her advice about Road and trouble with the law,” he reads aloud.

Blair leans away from him and lets out her breath. “She’s the lawyer I hired after you left.”

His brows go up. “To divorce me?”

“Yes.”

“But you didn’t go through with it.”

“No, not yet.”

He nods slowly.

“Now that you’re here, though, it’ll be easy,” she says. “We don’t have any property or
children
.” She stops talking and nearly chokes on the word children.

Road is watching her. He doesn’t speak for a long moment, and when he does, his voice is quiet. “It wasn’t anybody’s fault what happened. You know that, right?”

Blair nods. She never lets her thoughts stray there, to the reason Road agreed to marry her in the first place. She swallows, trying to push back the sadness which, on a bad day, still haunts her. “I know that.”

“It just wasn’t meant to be, is all.”

“I know that, too.” She looks up at him and when their eyes meet, Blair is surprised by what she sees in his. She always thought Road didn’t care when she lost the baby, that he was relieved and that’s why he fled so quickly, but for the first time, she isn’t sure.

He takes a deep breath and exhales. “Need to hit the sack, princess. Got a million things to do tomorrow, and I still have jet lag.”

Blair turns away, staring at her computer, trying to recover from their conversation. “You have to sleep on the couch tonight,” she tells him.”

“Can’t. Too bright out here, remember?”

“I have to be up early for work tomorrow, so I need my sleep tonight.”

His eyes cut to hers. “You have a problem last night?”

Obviously, she can’t admit how she was so affected by him that she barely slept at all. Especially when—annoyingly—she could hear his deep, even breathing and it was clear he wasn’t having the same issue.

“No, no problem at all,” she says, trying to make her voice haughty.

There’s a mewing sound and Road glances down. Mr. Maurice is twining around his legs. “Hey, pal.” Road bends down to pet him for a few seconds then stands. “Okay, going to crash then.”

Blair watches him head down the hall to the bedroom with Mr. Maurice trailing behind. She closes her eyes.
Thank God he’s leaving.