Page 25 of The Love Audit
“Luckily for me”—I smiled, sidling up behind Jasmine—“mywife doesn’t mind a little sweat.” Wrapping my arms around her, I pressed her back into my damp T-shirt. “Do you, baby?” I leaned down and whispered in her ear.
“Oh, the sweat doesn’t bother me, sweetie,” she replied sweetly, making no move to escape my grasp. “The smell, though…” She wrinkled her nose, and I released her, trying to discreetly sniff my shirt.
“You two are adorable.” Kitanya chuckled. “I was just about to show your wife our founders’ collection.”
“What’s that?” My question earned a side-eye from Jasmine.
“A collection of documents from John William Pike, Donald Hodge, and Joseph Walker,” Kitanya explained. “Would you like to see?”
“Maybe another time,” Jasmine interjected. “I know Derek would love to finish his run and take a very long and very hot shower.” She smirked.
“Good to see you again, Derek,” Kitanya called to me before she disappeared inside.
Jasmine rounded on me, snatching her books before following Kitanya into the library.
“What’s the matter, wife?” I called to her retreating figure. “No kiss goodbye?”
“Maybe if you didn’t smell like someone boiled cabbage in a burning tire,” she shot back.
“This what a real man smells like,” I quipped. “You probably aren’t familiar.”
She held up her left hand before using it to open the door to thelibrary. At first, I thought she was flashing her ring at me, but I quickly realized that she was using the wrong finger.
After I got back from my run with Tora and my run-in with my “wife,” I took a longer-than-usual shower, wondering if my brother was right about the direct source of my stress. It was painfully clear—as evidenced by the half a bottle of body wash I’d just used—that Jasmine was getting under my skin. But that was only because I was letting her, right?
Jasmine hadn’t wasted any time acclimating herself to Miller’s Cove and its residents. She’d waltzed into town like she’d lived here her whole life, winning over the Pikes, charming the librarians, and even getting Tora to betray me with a wagging tail and adoring eyes. Meanwhile, I was over here feeling like I knew nothing about a town I was supposed to turn into a moneymaker. I needed to step up my game.
The truth was, I wasn’t exactly excited about waking up to face the day because, mentally, I was still riding the roller coaster of my first day in Miller’s Cove with Jasmine Morgan. Between waking up to her roasting me about my morning breath and ending the night massaging the soreness out of her feet while she screamed with laughter, something had shifted. Something I wasn’t ready to examine too closely.
I didn’t know if it was watching her in action at the Pikes’ place, learning that I might—just might—have been wrong about hermotives for this project, or seeing her curled up with my dog like they’d been besties for years. Hell, maybe it was the way her smile in the kitchen had knocked the wind out of my chest. Whatever it was, it was messing with my head.
The worst part? Not knowing how she felt. One minute, we were kicking it like we used to as kids, and the next, she was icing me out. Mixed signals from women wasn’t something I was accustomed to, and it was unsettling. I wondered if CJ was right about Jasmine being the one woman immune to my quiet, nerdy charm. Not that I’d call myself a nerd… but still.
I wanted to talk to Jasmine, to see where her head was at and what she was feeling. But I couldn’t even do that because I didn’t know where my head was at or what I was feeling. Another ingredient in this mess? We were competing for the same position. I shouldn’t have been anywhere near this woman, much less catching feelings.
I got dressed and headed out, determined to get my head back in the game and off Jasmine.
“Hey, Chief!” David greeted me as I walked into The Mill. His booming voice and easy smile were a welcome distraction.
“Hey, David,” I called back, reaching out to shake his hand. Instead, he surprised me by pulling me into a hug.
“Decided to stop by and grab some lunch,” I said, looking around the café. “But I’m wondering if I’m too late… or too early?”
“Nah, it’s Wednesday,” he replied, as if that should mean something to me. Seeing my confusion, he elaborated. “On Wednesdays, Eleanor and some of the ladies get lunch at the tea room, then theyget their hair and nails done. Sometimes they go shopping. It’s usually an all-day thing.” He shrugged. “I suspect your lady is with them.” He chuckled, clearly amused.
“Yeah, I ran into her at the library with Kitanya earlier this morning,” I admitted.
“Yup, she’s definitely part of the crew now.”
“So you just close up shop for the whole day?” I glanced around the quiet café.
“Well, not the whole day.” He leaned over the counter to pull two bottles of beer from the cooler. He handed one to me and popped the cap off his own. “Eleanor and I open up in the morning for the breakfast rush. Once the crowd dies down…” He shrugged and took a swig of his beer, leaving the sentence unfinished.
“You close up?” I guessed, taking the opener he’d handed me.
“Not quite,” he replied with a sly smile.
At that moment, the bells over the door tinkled, and a booming voice called out, “Young Blood! I was hoping I’d get a chance to take your money.”
