Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

Fox

“This is ridiculous,” I grumbled to myself while pulling the knot of my tie up in the mirror. The last time I’d put on a suit was a year ago, for a funeral. They definitely weren’t my thing. Back in my playing days, the team had gotten dressed up for travel, and a lot of the guys liked it—wearing flashy name-brand shit that designers sent them, hamming it up for the camera as they strutted to the bus. But even back then, I wasn’t into it. My teammates would bust my balls because I wore the same two suits every week, a navy and a gray. I was currently wearing the navy one and questioning whether my mother was wrong and Le Pavillion was too fancy for a first date. But the steakhouse and two other places I’d tried that were nicer than the Inn, yet didn’t require a monkey suit, were all booked up.

I’d also gotten the truck washed and the inside vacuumed, and even stopped for flowers on my way home from work. I was starting to remember why I hadn’t dated these last few years—it was a lot of damn work. Certainly more trouble than going to the bar a town over with a condom in my wallet and talking to the first pretty woman I met.

At seven, I left my truck in the driveway and walked across the grass. I could’ve driven and parked in Josie’s driveway, but this town had enough to gossip about, so I figured discreet was best.

At the door, I wiped my palms on my pants—apparently it was warmer than I’d realized—and knocked. Josie answered with a smile. But when she got a load of me, it wilted. “Oh my gosh.” She looked down and put her hand on her chest. “I’m underdressed.”

I was going to kill my mother.

Josie looked gorgeous, wearing a pair of jeans and flirty white ruffled top. She smelled pretty damn good, too. But I felt like an idiot.

I shook my head and started to stomp back next door. “Sorry. I’ll get changed.”

“What? No!” She grabbed my arm. “It’s my fault. I didn’t realize we were going somewhere fancy. I’ll change.”

“It’s fine. This was stupid…” I pulled from Josie’s grip and went back to walking toward the house.

“Fox, wait…”

I kept walking. At least until her voice turned to a screech.

“Fox!”

I froze but didn’t turn around.

“I’m going upstairs to get changed right this minute. So if you go next door and come back with jeans or whatever, you’re going to make me look overdressed. Can you please just come in and not make this into a thing?”

I felt like a damn fool, but I took a deep breath and sucked it up.

Josie grinned when I got back to the door. “Wow. Whadda you know? He actually listened…”

“Go get your ass changed.”

She looked down at the flowers I’d forgotten were in my hands. “Are those for me?”

“Yeah.” I held them out. “Here.”

She chuckled. “Come in. I doubt Mrs. Wollman left a vase, but you can look around for something to put them in while I get dressed.”

“Fine.”

Josie disappeared upstairs while I stood in the middle of the kitchen, wondering what the fuck I was doing. Meanwhile, the damn duck waddled across the living room, catching me off guard.

“Jesus,” I mumbled. “You’re still here.”

It quacked at me and kept walking, settling into…was that a dog bed? There was a TV that looked shall we say vintage set up on the floor, playing cartoons. The duck made itself at home across from it in a pink orthopedic bed. I shook my head and looked around the kitchen. Three rows of festive Christmas cards hung along the wall. Underneath those, six different paint-sample squares had been taped up.

Between wearing this suit for a date and this place starting to feel normal, Josie wasn’t the only one who needed counseling. But I was here, and I still had the stupid flowers in my hand, so I figured I might as well do what she’d asked and see if I could find something to put them in.

A search of the cabinets turned up nothing, but I found a green plastic watering can in the garage and filled it with water.

Josie came back down as I was not-so-delicately stuffing the stems inside. I reached for the collar of my dress shirt, as it suddenly felt too tight around my neck.

She bit her lip. “This is the only dressy thing I brought. I’m not even sure why I packed it. And with heels, it’s a little on the short side.”

I was going to have to stay close behind her, especially if she dropped something. And it wouldn’t be easy to control the urge to punch every guy whose head turned, but spending the next few hours with her wearing that was totally worth the effort. The woman had enough leg to be six-foot tall, especially in those stilettos.

I might be thanking my mother instead of killing her after all… I swallowed. “You look gorgeous.”

“Thank you.” Josie smoothed the hem of her sparkly dress with a shy smile. “You look very handsome yourself. I’m sorry I was underdressed. There aren’t too many fancy places in town so I just figured…”

“My fault.”

She looked over at the flowers. “They’re really pretty. Thank you.”

I nodded.

Josie smirked. “I have to admit, I pegged you all wrong. I never would’ve guessed you’d show up for our date in a suit with flowers.”

“How did you think I would show up?”

“In a pair of jeans, maybe a button up. To be honest, I was expecting more like us going to the diner and you mauling me in the car when we got there.”

My face fell. “Wait. Hang on—is that an option?”

Josie laughed. She grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the door. “Come on. I don’t know where we’re going, but you look too handsome to be late.”

Across the street, Yvonne Craddox was dragging her garbage pails out to the curb. She stopped when she saw me and Josie walking down the driveway. I ignored her and kept my head down, trying to minimize the damage, but she was still gawking when I opened the passenger door for Josie and chanced a look back. The phone lines in this town would undoubtedly be burning up in thirty seconds.

“So where are we going that’s so fancy?” Josie asked as I backed out of the driveway.

“French place two towns over.”

She nodded. “Are all your first dates so formal?”

I glanced over at her. “We don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.”

“Oh no. I’m excited. I haven’t had a reason to get dressed up in a long time.” She shrugged. “I was just curious, I guess.”

She waited for a response to her question. But it wasn’t an easy thing to answer.

I kept my eyes on the road. “It’s been a while since I had a date, so I don’t really remember where I went last time.”

Through my peripheral vision, I saw Josie’s brows dip down. “How long is a while?”

“I don’t know. Three years?”

Her eyes bulged. “You haven’t had sex in three years?”

“Didn’t say that. Said I haven’t dated in that long.”

“Oh.”

She went quiet for a while.

“What’s going on in that wacky head of yours?” I asked.

“You know, it’s not polite to call my head wacky. Most people get offended when you make light of mental-health struggles.”

I looked over at her. “Do you?”

“No, but that’s not the point.”

“Then I’m not sure what the point is. Because I’m not talking to most people. I’m talking to you.”

“So…what? You just round up women and have sex then?”

I felt my brows knit, confused at the sudden topic change. I guess we were back to my dating history. “I usually only round up one.”

Josie shifted in her seat to face me. “So is it a one-night thing then?”

“What are we discussing here?” I asked. “My dating history or us?”

“Well, both, I suppose. Were the women you’ve been with one-night stands?”

This was a dicey conversation. In my experience, when a woman brings up you having sex with another woman, it generally doesn’t end well.

“Does it matter if it was once or four times?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d like to know what to expect. You’re right next door. I’d rather things not be awkward between us.”

“They won’t be.”

“How do you know that? Wasn’t it ever awkward to run into a woman you’ve slept with once?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, so that’s what I’m trying to avoid here. If we set expectations now, there’ll be less disappointment.”

“It’s not the same, Josie.”

“Why not?”

We came to a red light, so I turned to look at her. “Because I don’t want to just fuck you once.”

“How do you know that? We haven’t even done it yet.”

My eyes dropped to her body, to that skimpy little dress and her shapely legs. “Trust me. I know.”

“How?”

“Because I didn’t come looking for you to help me work something out of my system. Just the opposite. I tried to steer clear of you, keep as much distance as I could.”

“Why would you do that?”

My eyes locked with hers, and I tapped my chest. “Because I felt you in here, not in my dick.”

Josie blinked a few times. When what I’d said seeped in, a goofy-ass smile spread across her face.

“What the hell are you grinning at?” I said.

“You like me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, Jesus. Let’s not let it go to your head.”

“And here I thought you just wanted to have sex with me.”

“If we’re setting expectations, let’s get something straight, doc. I am going to fuck you. And I’m hoping that happens tonight—maybe as a reward for wearing this dumb suit. All I’m saying is that it’s going to happen more than once.”

“More than once tonight or more than once total?”

My lip twitched. “Both.”

She smiled. “Okay.”

“So we’re good? No more dumb questions about dumb shit from my past?”

“Actually I have one more.”

I lifted my chin toward the light. “That’s been green for a long time. So make it quick.”

“Do you have condoms? Because I don’t have any.”

“Bought a whole box at the drugstore next to the florist today.”

Josie’s eyes flared. “A whole box? How many times in one night can you…”

I leaned so we were nose to nose. “Until you’re sore, baby. Until you’re sore.”

***

The thought of putting on a suit and driving two towns over to some pretentious restaurant had been balanced by the fact that one—Josie would more than likely wear a dress. I hadn’t expected it to be as skimpy as the one she had on, so bonus points there... And two—it was unlikely I’d run into any of the local Laurel Lake motormouths this far from town. Apparently, I was only running fifty-fifty.

Opal’s eyes widened bigger than the dinner plates when she caught sight of me and Josie at our table.

“Oh fuck,” I grumbled and put my fork down.

“What? Is your steak not cooked right?”

I shook my head. “I wish. My life is about to go to hell at work.”

“What are you talking about?”

I didn’t have to answer. Opal swooped in to do that for me.

“I thought that was you two.” Her eyes sparkled. “My, my, my, look at you, boss. All dressed up in a tie.”

“Go away, Opal.”

“Fox!” Josie’s eyes narrowed. “Be nice...”

Opal waved her off. “Oh, honey, that is Fox’s version of nice. Didn’t you notice he didn’t use a cuss word? He must be in a good mood.”

Josie laughed. “It’s nice to see you, Opal. Isn’t it, Fox?”

I sulked. “No.”

“Fox…”

“Whatever. Yeah, great.”

I mostly zoned out while the two women made small talk—something about dresses and the restaurant, I think. But my attention snagged when I heard the name Frannie.

“You’re here with Frannie Newton?” I asked.

Opal nodded. “It’s her birthday. We treat each other to our favorite meal every year. Frannie likes the slugs in shells they serve here. Me, I never understood escargot.”

Great, just damn great.The only mouth bigger than Opal’s was Frannie Newton’s. She worked at the post office, holding people captive while she sold them stamps and doled out other people’s business. Her distribution network was equivalent to the daily mail. I had no doubt that by ten AM tomorrow, the only people who wouldn’t know what I’d done tonight were the people away on vacation. And she’d fill them in when they came to pick up their held mail.

“Is this the first time you two have been here?” Opal asked.

I said no at the same time Josie said yes.

Opal looked between us, seeming amused.

Josie put her hand on her chest. “It’s my first time here.”

“Get the crème brûlée for dessert. It’s orgasmic.”

While I threw up a little in my mouth from hearing Opal say a word close to orgasm, Josie didn’t seem freaked out at all.

She smiled. “Thanks. Maybe I will, if I’m not too full.”

Opal leaned in and lowered her voice. “Did you hear that Sam from the home-improvement store put his house up for sale?”

“Oh? I hope everything’s okay?” Josie said. “Sam is so sweet.”

“He’s dating Rena Arlo. She asked him to move in with her. They’re looking at buying a condo in Florida and being snow birds with the money Sam gets from the sale.”

“Good for them. I haven’t met Rena, but Sam seems really nice.”

“Sam’s having a garage sale next weekend. His wife, God rest her soul, collected those Hummel figurines my sister who lives in Georgia collects. So I’m going to go early and scoop some up for her. I can pick you up on the way. I’m sure Rena will be working the sale with him.”

“That sounds great. I love garage sales.”

“You’re welcome to come, too, Fox,” Opal said.

“No thanks. Not a fan of looking through used shit people don’t want. I got enough shit of my own I could get rid of.”

“Then you should have a garage sale. I can come over and help you price things…”

I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do less than open the door for the entire town to come in. I held up a hand. “I’m good, thanks.”

Opal ignored me like I wasn’t there, continuing to yap at Josie. “Heard you ran into your uncle Ray?”

Josie squinted but then a look of understanding crossed her face and she nodded. “I was at Lowell’s, earlier today. Sam pointed him out and introduced us. I expected my uncle to be different than he was. He was actually very soft-spoken and sweet.”

Opal and I exchanged glances. Then our waiter came by with the second glass of wine Josie had ordered. Most people would take the interruption as a segue to say goodbye, but not Opal. She stood there, continuing to yap while my food got cold. I waited a few more minutes, but she still didn’t stop. Frustrated, I picked my fork back up and waved it between my date and my employee.

“You think you could finish this conversation while shopping for used socks next week? Our food is getting cold.”

Josie frowned. “You don’t have to be rude.”

Opal smiled and waved me off. “Eh. He doesn’t bother me. But I should get back to Frannie anyway. You two enjoy your evening.”

“You, too, Opal,” Josie said.

I grunted and stuffed a piece of steak into my mouth.

But Josie didn’t resume eating her meal. She sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “Why are you like that?”

“Like what?”

“Rude. You act like everyone in the world annoys you.”

“Not acting.”

“Opal is just being friendly.”

“She was over here spreading gossip. And that’s what she’s going to be doing about us in thirty seconds, when she gets back to her table.”

Josie shrugged. “So? What could she possibly say? That we ate dinner together?”

“I like my business kept my business.”

Josie shook her head. “There’s a guy who takes out my garbage cans and puts on a suit for a date under that grumpy exterior. If you’d let him out more, you might be happier.”

“Who says I’m not happy?”

She searched my face like she was looking for something. “Were you always like this?”

“Hungry with a dislike for cold food? Yeah.”

“You know what I mean. Were you always grumpy? Or did it change after…”

My eyes narrowed. “After what?”

“After you lost your fiancée.”

“She’s not lost. She’s dead. And this is who I’ve always been.” The legs of my chair skidded loudly against the tile floor as I pushed my chair back. Standing, I tossed my napkin on the table. “Excuse me. I need to use the men’s room.”

In the bathroom, I splashed some water on my face. Maybe this was a dumb idea after all. Josie wasn’t a woman who would take what I could give and be happy. The fancy restaurant and flowers were only the beginning. Soon she’d be expecting me to pour my heart out. And go with her to dumb garage sales. Probably liked to spend hours talking after sex, too, instead of rolling over and getting a decent night’s sleep. I looked in the mirror and shook my head. What the hell was I thinking?

Back at the table, our plates were gone. Josie gestured to the missing place settings.

“I asked them to heat up our food.”

I took my seat across from her. “Listen, Josie, maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”

“What? A date?”

I nodded.

“Why?”

“Because it’s going to set an expectation I can’t live up to.”

“What are you talking about? What expectation do you think I’m going to have after one date?”

I shrugged. “It’s just not a good idea.”

“Because I brought up your fiancée?”

My jaw clenched. “You want more than I can give.”

“Seriously? I thought I was getting diner food and mauled, and I was okay with that.”

“Maybe today, but…” I shook my head. “Down the road you’ll—”

Josie put her hand up. “I’m going to stop you right there, even if interrupting someone while they’re speaking is rude. You can’t possibly have any idea what I’ll want down the road. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t even know what I want. A few months ago I thought I wanted to be Mrs. Noah Townsend and cure cancer with miracle drugs. Now I’m happy planting flowers with the grumpy neighbor while staying in a town with a population smaller than the number of people in my building back in New York. I’m considering signing up for a knitting class, for God’s sake. The only thing I know for sure about my future is that I’m going to make decisions based on what makes me happy instead of what the right thing to do is and what others expect of me.”

I frowned. “Sorry.”

The waiter came back with our plates, but Josie shook her head. “I apologize. But do you think you can wrap those up, so we can take it to go? Something’s come up.”

“Of course. Just give me a minute.”

I felt bad for ruining the evening. “We don’t have to leave.”

Josie picked up her napkin from her lap and set it on the table. “Yes, we do. Because you’re miserable wearing that tie, and honestly, this isn’t what I want either.”

I figured she meant going out with a grumpy asshole like me. It wasn’t like I could argue she was wrong. So I nodded. “Okay.”

She leaned over and lowered her voice. “Let’s just eat the food on the back porch with a beer and go have sex.”

All the breath left my body. “You want to have sex?”

She grinned. “See? You really have no clue what I want.”