Page 2 of Saving Shepperd

The part about not sleeping well was one hundred percent true. I never did. Plagued with night terrors most of my life, I adapted to function on as little as two or three hours of sleep each night.

I used to talk to my parents about the bad dreams when I was little but stopped sharing what I suffered through by the time I was ten. They knew something was terribly wrong with my psychological and emotional health, though, but were at a loss with how to deal with me. Because I was twenty-two, they couldn’t force me to seek professional help even though we all knew that was what I needed.

Joy gave me a sweet but brief smile. “I get it. Don’t worry about it. Let’s get some coffee.”

The girl was just a year or two older than me and had been working here close to a year. She had naturally curly hair that fell in perfect spiral ringlets down her back. She was taller than my five-foot-six-inch height and was the poster girl for office-casual in linen trousers and a white T-shirt.

When the air conditioner kicked on, like Daryl made sure it always did, she’d throw on the denim jacket that rested over the back of her chair and looked like she’d stepped out of an ad for the Gap.

“So,” she said while we stirred our cups, “are you seeing anyone?” She looked a little sheepish after asking and quickly followed up with, “There’s a reason I’m asking. My boyfriend’s best friend is fresh out of a long-term thing.” She took a sip from her mug, keeping her eyes pinned to me over the rim. “He’s been moping around, driving us crazy,” she said with a solid eye roll, “So I was wondering if you would want to double some time?”

I lifted my cup to my lips, even though it was way too hot to drink, just to buy some time to come up with an excuse. I was definitely not the girl for her goodwill mission. Whatever was going on with Law was way too new to consider him my boyfriend, but I definitely didn’t want to deal with a rebound guy.

The grin that spread across my lips couldn’t be helped. Every time I thought of that man, I felt like someone turned up the heat suddenly, and I got flushed and breathless.

Joy tilted her head and matched my smile. “Honestly, he’s a really nice guy. I didn’t do a good job of selling him just then, did I?” She lifted her shoulders in a quick shrug and added, “But it’s true, he’s driving us a little crazy. His ex really did a number on him. And he’s a good guy. Totally didn’t deserve what she did to him.”

“Cheated?” I asked. Keeping her on the topic of her friend was better than my having to explain my own relationship status.

“You guessed it. Why are some people so heartless?”

I was hardly an expert on relationships. Of any kind. But I did have some experience with being heartless. Although, that didn’t seem like the right information to inject into the conversation.

“It’s probably better it happened now than, say, after they got married. Right?” I offered. “Or brought kids into the world.”

She nodded and said, “So true. The whole thing has been so scandalous in their friend group because she got together with another close friend. So not only did he lose his high school sweetheart but a close friend too.”

“Ouch.” I winced. “That definitely makes it worse.” I finished my coffee in record time, rinsed my mug, and grabbed some paper towels to dry it. “Guess we should get back,” I bemoaned.

“Yeah, I suppose.” Joy sighed. “That stuff isn’t going to enter itself,” she quipped.

I liked this girl, and lately that takeaway was getting rarer and rarer.

The rest of my shift went quickly. About twenty minutes before quitting time, I messaged Law to see what the plan was for the night.

Leaving in about twenty minutes.

Hungry?

If he only knew.

So far, one of the best things about this guy was that he didn’t give me shit about my eating habits. He was totally into working out and looking his best. Not one single comment about being too thin or an under-the breath remark about my needing to eat more.

Sure. I could eat. Want to meet somewhere?

I was thinking I’d cook for us.

I don’t want to put you out. Are you sure?

I enjoy cooking. Especially for a beautiful lady.

Sounds great. Can I bring anything?

Just your sexy self. I’ll send you my address and see you soon. XO

Hmmm, that XO at the end kind of threw me for a second. This guy was not the cutesy, lovey-dovey type of guy. At least I didn’t think he was. Not to mention, we were only on our third official date. Interesting that he went with that sign-off.

But I decided not to overthink or overanalyze it like I normally did with things. Despite what everyone in my family thought, I was trying to improve myself every day.

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