Page 50 of Seeing You

And that was a bitter freaking pill to swallow.

Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a long breath. “So what the hell do I do now?”

“For such a smart guy, you can be incredibly stupid,” his father sleepily mumbled.

“I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was dozing, but then I heard you mumbling over there. You want my advice? Get up off your ass and woo the girl like she deserves.”

“Woo? Did you seriously just saywoo?” he asked with a short laugh.

“Yup. Now hush. I’m trying to sleep.”

It wasn’t the worst idea.

Now he just had to figure out how, exactly, to woo.

Chapter Nine

If Marcus was still in town, she hadn’t seen him.

The only problem was she couldn’t decide if she was happy or mad about it.

Ugh…what is wrong with me?

It was Thursday afternoon and Billie was finishing up for the day. The idea of going home and soaking in the tub sounded like absolute bliss.

Taking her apron off, she tossed it in the breakroom hamper before washing up. Grabbing her purse, she was about to walk back through the kitchen when Jade came to find her.

“Okay, don’t freak out, but…he’s here,” she blurted out.

“He’s here? He who? Marcus?”

“Yup! Mom’s out there waiting on him, but he’s kind of looking around like he’s…well…looking for someone. I’m guessing you.”

“That doesn’t seem likely,” Billie told her. “And if he is, it’s probably because he doesn’t want to see me. I’ll just hang out back here until he’s gone.”

“Oh. Oh, okay. That’s probably best.” Smiling and nodding, she turned and headed to the door. “I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”

“Thanks.”

The kitchen was spotless and everything was wiped clean. With nothing to do, she took out her phone and scrolled through Instagram and all the baking accounts she followed, hoping to find some inspiration. When Jade walked back through the door a few minutes later, Billie figured it was safe to leave.

“He asked for you,” she said, seemingly unsure if this was a good or a bad thing.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Bill. I didn’t ask. All I know is that he seems pretty set on staying.”

“Didn’t you tell him I wasn’t here?”

“At first, but then I kind of let it slip that you were back here, so…”

“You know what? This is ridiculous. I’m a grown woman and he is simply my ex. Plenty of people run into their exes and don’t hide, so…fine. I’ll go out there and see what he wants.”

“Okay, okay…do you want to give me some sort of signal? You know, like you can do something, and I’ll know to come and save you.”

“You’re sweet, but I’ll be fine. I’ve survived walking away from him multiple times—mostly in the last month. What’s one more, right?”

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