A Curvy Girl for the Cadet: A Perfect Fit Novella (6 page)

“Thank you, Alex. I appreciate that.” She walked away with him.

Maggie pinched him.

“What the hell was that for?” He rubbed his arm.

“When were you going to let me know you had a thing going on with my friend?”

“I don’t have a thing going on with your friend. I didn’t even know she was your friend. In fact I’ve never heard you mention her name before.”

“She shops at my store and supplies the fresh flowers Alex uses on his wedding cakes. Maybe we aren’t friends but we’re friendly and by the way you were looking at her so are you.”

“Looking at her like what?”

“Like she is a bottle of water in the middle of a damn desert.”

He shook his head, slightly annoyed by his sister’s observation. “She’s my neighbor and we’re friendly. I didn’t even know her name until I went into her flower shop. And I’m looking at her that way because she is hot and I’m not dead and I can look at her any damn way I please.”

“She is hot,” Maggie said thoughtfully. “I didn’t think she was your type.”

“What’s my type, Maggie?”

“You know blonde haired, blue eyed, Swedish looking but all American girl types. You know, kind of how you looked before you went all Grizzly Adams and grew all that gross hair.”

“My hair is not gross. I wash it every day and my type is hot. Plus we don’t have a thing going on.”

“No?” She raised her eyebrow and tipped her head to the side. “You want me to hook you up? I’d bet she would go for you. She doesn’t even seem to mind that you look like a caveman.”

“Maggie.” He grasped her shoulders. “You remember when you were nine and I called you a pain in the ass and then you ran and told Mom?”

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“Well, I think you had better get your phone ready because I’m about to call you a big pain in my ass again.”

She grinned up at him. “Now there’s the big brother I used to have. Welcome back. I’ve missed you.”

*

“Are you sure you want to go, Aubrey? Because if you’ve changed your mind, I’ll call up Kenya’s mom and tell her you want to stay home.”

“I want to go, Mama,” she said softly. “Kenya’s mom is going to make us tacos for dinner and then we are going to watch movies and then tomorrow we’re going to the science center because we don’t have school because the teachers have professional development day and you forgot all about it. And I would have to go to work with you tomorrow at the flower shop.”

“All of that is true, but you’ve only slept at Nonna Loretta’s house before and I was just making sure you were ready to sleep over at your friend’s house.”

“I’m ready, Mama. I’m going to sleepaway camp this summer with Kenya. I need to practice.”

“Practice what, Cookie?”

“Being away from you.”

“Oh, knife in my heart, kid. No mama wants to hear that their baby wants to be away from them.”

“Oh, Mama.” Aubrey climbed into her lap. “I love you.”

“You’re smart. Giving me snuggles before you leave me.” She kissed her cheeks a half dozen times. “Next thing I know you’ll be telling me that you want to go to boarding school.”

“Do you want me to stay home?”

Yes!
“No. I want you to have fun and see new things and meet new people. I’m proud that I’m raising a very smart independent little woman.”

“I’m glad.”

A car pulled up in front of their house and she knew it was time to let Aubrey go.

An hour later she was standing over her stove making a grilled cheese sandwich for herself when she heard a knock at her door. She turned off the oven, removed the sandwich from the pan and went to answer the door. Daisy had finally learned how not to burn down her kitchen. She probably held the record for most kitchen fires in a year and at this point knew how to put out every type of fire including electrical. Danny used to laugh at her. He joked that she should have joined the fire department. Of course he never attempted to cook either. They ate out a lot.

She reached the door only to see Clayton there and she felt a little rush of excitement, just like she had when she saw him earlier today. When he had brushed his thumb over her tattoo and wrapped his long thick fingers around the back of her neck, when his eyes traveled to her lips as she spoke, when he stood so close to her that she felt the heat of his body burn through her clothes.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” He stood there in a black tee-shirt and jeans, his hands in his pockets and for once he was completely free of paint. “You said something about biscuits for dessert.”

“Oh shit. I did.”

“You forgot.”

“I did, but come in anyway.” She stepped aside. “Aubrey sprung a sleepover on me when I picked her up from school and I got all mixed up and kind of depressed. She’d rather have tacos, watch movies and go to the science center than hang out with her old aunt. Anyways, I didn’t even feed myself, but I can feed you. You like grilled cheese?”

“Those were a lot of words in a row.”

“Your brain too small to keep up with them all?”

He grinned at her, his eyes growing crinkly in the corners and causing her heartrate to speed up just a bit. “I think it can handle them without exploding. Let me process them one at a time. Why are you depressed about the sleepover? Isn’t that what kids do?”

“Yes.” She turned around and led him to the kitchen. “It’s why I let her go. I was the irresponsible sister, you know. I went to college in New Orleans and I nearly flunked out because I went to more parties than classes. My first serious boyfriend was a biker who owned a tattoo shop and had a record longer than my leg. You think I would have learned my lesson, but I married a guy whose idea of a quiet night was only going to two bars. I partied hard. I drank too much. I woke up in places I didn’t recognize and then somebody from social services called me up and offered me a kid. Suddenly my whole life revolved around that kid. I thought I would feel resentful or stifled, but I never did, because she needed me. I got into huge fights about it with my husband, because I replaced him as the most important thing in the world to me. And now she turned seven and she wants to go to sleepovers with her friends and camp in another state. She doesn’t need me like she used to. I know that sounds kind of pathetic, but it is what it is.”

“It doesn’t sound pathetic. I’m thirty-four and my mother still laments over me growing up. Your husband didn’t want you to take her?”

“I didn’t give him a choice in the matter. When they called me I went running. He didn’t want kids and I agreed, but what was I supposed to do? My parents were dead. My sister had just died. Aubrey was all I had left and he was mad at me for taking her, for changing our lives without even asking. And I was mad at him for not understanding why I had to. I think that was the first thing that drove a wedge between us.” She stopped and turned back to look at him. “I don’t even know why I told you that. I’ve never told anyone that.”

“I guess I have one of those faces that make people want to spill their guts.”

“I think you have the exact opposite of one of those faces, but still I find myself over sharing with you.” She smiled self-consciously at him. “I bet you want to run for the hills right about now?”

“No,” he said and she felt relieved. She hadn’t realized how much she didn’t want to be alone that night. “You said something about grilled cheese. I don’t think I can leave without it.”

“Oh, good. Now that you’re here, we can experiment.”

“Experiment?”

“Aubrey is pretty great when it comes to trying new stuff, but the girl likes her grilled cheese with just cheese. I can make you a grilled provolone with red pepper pesto. Or I make one with Bartlett pears. Or there’s one I’ve been thinking of trying that has apple, cheddar and bacon.”

“You said bacon. Bacon is the magic word.”

“A man after my own heart. Grab an apple. I’ll start on the bacon.” She reached for the freezer, but he grabbed her hand causing her to stop.

“Oh, no, no, no. I make the best bacon in town. You grab the apple. I’ll make the bacon.”

“Okay,” she said hoping she didn’t sound as breathless as she felt. His hands were huge. He was huge and hard and he made her feel small which was hard to do considering that she was the average height and weight of a man. “I have high expectations for this bacon. You better not let me down.”

“I won’t.” His eyes swept her face before he let her go.

He turned out to be more competent in the kitchen than she had expected. After she had peeled and sliced the apple he took over completely, frying the bacon and assembling their sandwiches which looked beautiful when he sliced them in half. “I have to get my phone and take a picture of this.” She grabbed it out of her bag.

“You’re one of those people,” he groaned. “Do you take a picture of every meal and post it on the Internet along with every single thing you have done for the day?”

“No. I take pictures mostly of cake and I keep those just for myself to gaze at longingly when I’m having a bad day. I’m taking a picture of this because no man has ever cooked anything for me. It’s an experience that might not happen again so I should get photographic proof.”

“No man has ever cooked for you?”

“No. My first serious boyfriend’s name was Scar. I would have been lucky if he cut open a can of beans and let me eat out of it. As for Danny, he was the youngest boy in a large Italian family. You think he ever had to lift a finger to feed himself? His mother treated him like a king.” She put her phone down and took a seat at the table beside him.

“Did that cause problems between you and his mother?”

“Oh, hell no. I thank God for that woman. You’ve met her. She was the woman in my shop who was hitting on you when you came in.”

“You still work with her?”

“She’s the reason I became a florist. She gave me a job the summer I finished college. I met Danny working in her shop.” She bit into her beautifully toasted sandwich and moaned, oozy cheese and buttery bread, combined with the fresh tart apples and the perfectly cooked bacon. It was… damn good.

He made a soft noise in his throat and it was then she noticed he was staring at her.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “My brother-in-law is always feeding my sister and I just got why this very moment.”

“What?”

“Never mind.” He picked up his sandwich. “Eat,” he ordered, just before taking a bite. “If you started out working for Danny’s mom, how did she end up working for you? You own the shop, right?”

“Sometimes I ask myself that same question. I was surprisingly good at it and after a while people started requesting me to do their arrangements and our business changed from people wanting flowers for their wives to doing large scale events and supplying very large arrangements for businesses. And then I got Aubrey and decided that I wanted more than to work for somebody else and live in a two bedroom apartment. I wanted to own something that I was proud of. So I bought the business from Danny’s mother and we moved it here to Durant almost a year ago.”

“You weren’t born here? You seem like you belong here.”

“You think so? I’ve never really fit in anywhere. I was born in Maryland to a pair of highly intelligent scientists who were incredibly permissive parents. They figured we could raise ourselves and for the most part we did. Jane was more like them. She was super smart, and structured and she always did everything by the book. I wasn’t. I was average in a house full of geniuses so I never really fit in with them. We weren’t a close family. It seems like the opposite of yours. Maggie adores you.”  

“Does she?”

“She’s so proud of you. ‘My big brother went to West Point. My big brother is a war hero.’”

“She tells people that?” He looked uncomfortable. “She makes me sound like a prig.”

“No, she doesn’t.” She touched his thigh and almost regretted it. It was rock hard and made her want to slide her hand all over it. “Who wouldn’t be proud of your service?”

“Are you proud of Danny’s?”

“Of course I am,” she said knowing that it was a difficult subject. Aubrey’s appearance in their life wasn’t the only thing that caused a wedge. Danny’s PTSD had too. He was angry about getting hurt. Angry about being medically discharged. Angry because his life was so wrapped up in being a tough marine and when he couldn’t serve anymore he felt like less of a man.

“What’s wrong?” He placed his hand over hers. It was still on his thigh. She hadn’t realized she hadn’t moved it yet.

“Nothing.” She shook her head. “Tell me something about yourself that no one knows.”

“I was thinking about getting a cat.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Everybody thinks when you’re a big guy who works with his hands and has been to war that you should get a big dog like a German shepherd because they are tough manly dogs. I just want a cat I can chill with and pet sometimes. He can go his way when he wants. I can go mine.”

“So get a cat, Clay. Why should you give a shit about what people think of you?”

“I don’t. But I was offered a job overseas and I know I couldn’t take a pet with me if I decided to go.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know why she felt disappointed to hear that. She barely knew him. She wasn’t even sure she could call him a friend yet. “If you want a cat you should get one. And if you go away I will take him or her for you so that you know it’ll have a good home.”