Page 19 of Tangled Up In You

He had a point. "I agree, but that will have to be down the road. I just got here last night. My friend, the previous owner, passed away and left me her business, but she was sick recently and everything fell apart. I'm going to clean it up and make it shine again."

He didn't say anything as he swallowed and then took a slug of soda.

"Where do your parents live, Drew?" she asked.

"My mom is dead. My dad lives in Denver."

"Oh, I'm sorry about your mom."

Her comment was met with another shrug. "What does your dad do?" she asked.

"He's a lawyer."

"Are you close to him?"

"No."

"You don't want to talk about him, do you?"

"No."

She nodded in understanding. "I get it. I used to hate when people asked me about my parents, mostly because I didn't have a dad, and my mom was not someone I was proud of."

Her words were met with silence as Drew finished his sandwich.

"Phoebe let me work here when I was an unhappy teenager," she continued. "I loved having a place where I could make my own money and not have to listen to my mother's next great idea that was sure to fail."

"My dad has shitty ideas, too."

"Like what?"

"Like me getting straightened out by some guy I haven't seen since I was eight years old."

"Is that the family friend you're staying with?"

"Yeah. He used to be a partier like I am now. But then he got his act together and became a cop. My father thinks I can learn something from him."

Her body tensed at his words. "He's a police officer? What's his name?"

"Adam Cole."

Her heart flipped over.This kid was living with Adam?

"Adam only agreed to my father's stupid plan, because he owes my dad" Drew continued. "It's not about me at all." Drew gulped down the rest of his sandwich and got to his feet. "I gotta go. Do you want me to work tomorrow?"

"It's Sunday, but if you want to help, I won't say no."

"I have to go on some stupid hike in the morning, but I can come around three."

"That's great. I'll be here all day."

The back door banged shut behind him, and she got up to lock it, her mind racing with what Drew had just told her.

Adam was supposed to straighten Drew out, because he used to be a partier, and now he was a cop. But what really puzzled her was what Drew had meant when he said that Adam owed his father.What was that about?

She'd spent most of the day forbidding herself to give the sexy cop one more minute of her time, but now she couldn't think of anyone else.

ChapterSix

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