Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

" D id you get home at like one-thirty last night?" Quinn asked as he glanced up from the kitchen table late the next morning.

"Ugh. Yes," she groaned. "I forgot how late the double feature at the drive-in lets out."

Bailey turned from the counter where she was mixing… something. "Ooo, did you go with Corey?" she asked, looking excited.

Since Bailey and Quinn were so in love, Bailey wanted everyone to be equally smitten. Josie hated to disappoint her but that wasn't going to happen. At least not with her and Corey.

"No," Josie said in answer to Bailey's question. She saw the surprise on Bailey's face and the judgmental lift of Corey's brows.

"Who did you go with?" Bailey asked, looking almost hurt that Josie would go to the movies with someone who wasn't her or Corey.

"Kirk," Josie answered as simply as she could.

Her brother's dark brows flew up again. "The kid who cuts the lawn?" Quinn asked.

She was not getting into this now with them. She was too tired for this shit.

Spotting the steaming cup of tea Bailey must have just poured for herself, Josie grabbed it and turned to go back to her room. "See you two later. I've got work to do."

She didn't need Quinn's judgmental glares any more than she wanted Bailey's romantic tendencies to give her false hope about anything lasting with Corey. She'd already learned that lesson the hard way years ago. She knew better.

Last night Corey might have shown that he could be really good at playing the over possessive Neanderthal male in her life. She my woman. She not yours . But she knew from experience he was not a relationship person. And she was determined to be okay with that this time around.

Forewarned was forearmed.

Although, she wasn't sure she was built to be a player. Sleeping with one guy and going on a date with another was proving to be more complicated than she'd anticipated.

Something had her ducking away from Kirk's arm on the back of the passenger seat at the drive-in last night. Turning her cheek at the last moment when he came in for a good night kiss when dropping her off.

In spite of the vow to herself that this time with Corey would just be a summer of fun—no strings, just pleasure—being in a physical relationship still meant something to her.

Obviously to Corey too—only to him it meant he thought he could order her around and tell her what to do and whom to do it with.

That wasn't going to happen. He'd better learn that lesson right now. She intended to lay it all out for him when she saw him today.

The Jacobs's car pulling into the driveway caught her eye through the window. Perfect. She could straighten this out right now. Let him know he didn't get to question her.

But Corey didn't get out of the car. His mother did. Alone.

Since it was summer, and her cheap parents never had put in central air conditioning, all of Josie's bedroom windows were wide open to let in air through the screens. Since the houses on this street were set pretty close, she could easily call out to his mother now.

"Hey, Mrs. Jacobs."

The woman paused on her way inside and shaded her eyes against the sun. "Josie? Where are you?" Her gaze scanned all the windows on that side of the house.

Josie raised the sliding screen and waved. "In my room. I just wanted you to know I'll be getting that link to you for the ticket sales today."

"You are such a blessing to us. Thank you."

"No problem. Um, is Corey home? I, uh, had something to talk to him about."

"He didn't tell you?" she frowned.

"Um. No. Tell me what?"

"He's on his way back to his base. In Florida. I just drove him to the Amtrak Station in Albany."

"Oh. No. He didn't mention it."

Maybe he had an appointment with the military doctor there? Or his commander or… something. That seemed like an awfully long way to travel just for an appointment, but what did she know about the military? Quinn never told her anything

"Do you know when he'll be back?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. He didn't say he would be. I think he's hoping to get approved for active duty. If the doctor clears it, of course."

"Of course." She had to get out of this conversation. Now. "I'd better get back to work setting up the web page for those gala tickets."

"Okay, sweetie. Thanks again." With a wave Marie went into her house.

Josie collapsed onto her bed.

He hadn't even said goodbye.

As much as she'd pretended she was prepared for this—for him leaving once again—she realized she'd been lying to herself.

She wasn't prepared for how this felt. She might be older but the pain was no less intense than it had been when she was a teenager.

And that's what she got for letting herself fall one more time for Corey Jacobs.

The text message alert had her jumping up off the bed to look for where she'd laid her phone.

The first thought to enter her head was Corey .

She was ready to slap herself for that vain hope and the resulting disappointment when she saw the name on her display was instead Kirk .

Forcing her breathing to slow, she swiped the screen and read the text.

Kirk

Had a great time last night! Dinner tonight? Wings at the Muddy River?

She didn't even have to think about her answer, only how to word it.

Thanks but working. Tons to do for the gala. Gonna be tied up until then.

It wasn't a lie. She did have a To-Do list as long as her arm. She would be busy from now until this event was over.

What she left out was that she was actively trying to keep herself as busy as possible with work because it was the only way she knew how to keep herself from descending into that dark hole of misery she'd fallen into the first time he'd loved her and left her.

Kirk was cute. And nice. Fit and tan. The kind of guy who'd turned girls' heads last night at the drive-in. And he seemed to really like her.

He was everything that she should be attracted to. Interested in. Great boyfriend potential. Except for one thing…

He wasn't Corey.