Page 28 of This Time Around (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #3)
She shook her head and grabbed another napkin off the table behind her.
“I don’t want you to leave on account of me.
” She made another attempt to mop at her arm, which only seemed to spread the sticky liquid around.
“We’ve been here less than thirty minutes.
Surely you want to spend time reconnecting with everyone. Really, Jack, I can just catch a cab?—”
“Allie,” he said, leaning close enough for her hair to tickle his nose. “The only person I give a shit about reconnecting with is standing right here, dripping wine on my shoes. Now let’s get out of here.”
Allie had planned to have Jack run her back to the B&B so she could pick up her car and head home alone for a shower.
But things unfolded a little differently.
“Where did she say those cat pills were?” Jack asked as he rummaged around in her grandmother’s kitchen cupboard.
My kitchen cupboard now , Allie amended silently as she picked up her phone to scroll through messages. She found the text she’d gotten from Skye a few minutes ago and read through it again.
“The cupboard right next to the refrigerator,” she said. “Top shelf.”
“Got ’em.”
Jack pulled the bottle out of the cupboard, along with the object Skye had described in her text as a “pill rocket.”
“You don’t have to do this, Jack,” she said. “I’m the one who told her to go ahead and stay out all night. I’m the one who agreed to pill the cats.”
“And you’re also the one who dealt with my crazy sister-in-law.” He set the pill supplies on the counter and folded his arms over his chest. “I could pill a hundred rabid cats and still not make up for tonight.”
“You had to deal with her, too,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but I’m dry. You, on the other hand—” He gestured to her still-sticky dress. “Go shower, Allie. I’ll take care of this.”
“But you shouldn’t have to?—”
“I mean it,” he said. “You have a change of clothes here?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been keeping some stuff in the Laurelwood room. I thought it would make it easier to get work done around the place if I can stay the night sometimes.”
“Then go get cleaned up. Seriously. I have this handled.”
Allie hesitated, then nodded. “Thank you.”
She turned and walked down the hall, stifling a giggle as she heard Jack’s deep baritone crooning, “Here, kitty-kitty-kitty ...”
The coaxing was followed by a howl of feline protest and Allie paused in the hallway, straining to hear if it was Maestro’s shrill screech or Maggie’s.
“You’re officially a crazy cat lady if you can distinguish one cat from another by its voice,” she muttered to herself as she stepped into the bathroom and pulled the door closed behind her.
Stripping off her wine-soaked dress, she wondered what Skye and Wade were up to.
She’d practically had to order Skye to go ahead and stay out as late as she wanted, even after the cat caretaker had admitted her reluctance to cut the night short for a round of cat pilling.
Was she having fun? Was Wade on his best behavior?
Allie had to admit, she’d never seen her best friend looking so smitten over a woman.
True, Wade and Skye had only just met, but there was a certain spark between them that went beyond the romance of an “opposites attract” chemistry.
Allie plucked her phone out of her handbag on the bathroom counter and sent a quick text to Wade.
Got Skye’s message about staying out a little late. You’re treating her well?
There was no immediate reply, which made sense if they were getting along as well as Allie suspected.
Well, maybe that was good for both of them.
Lord knew Wade could use a kindhearted woman in his life, and Skye—well, Skye was a sweetheart who could probably benefit from dating a stable guy like Wade. The rest was none of Allie’s business.
She climbed into the shower and let the water sluice over her, rinsing away the sticky Pinot Gris residue and all the goop Skye had used to style her hair. By the time Allie had stepped out of the shower, there was a new text from Wade.
Skye’s perfect. Treating her like the goddess she is. Holy shit, Albatross. Where have you been hiding this woman?
Allie smiled, then noticed she had another text from Skye.
Thanks again for taking care of the kitties. And for introducing me to Wade. Kinda diggin’ this guy ...
The message trailed off there with a bunch of hearts and a couple emojis that looked like praise hands or sausages or ... well, maybe it was best not to look too closely.
Allie finished toweling off her hair, then pulled on a pair of yoga pants.
She started to don one of her tank tops with a built in-shelf bra, which would give her the luxury of not wrangling herself into underwire, but she wasn’t ready to be braless in front of Jack, so she hooked her lacy La Perla and wriggled her arms through the straps.
She pulled on a mint-green fleece zip-up she’d left here earlier in the week. It wasn’t fancy, but it was comfy. Hadn’t she earned some of that this evening?
Her phone buzzed again, and Allie picked it up expecting to see more news from Wade or Skye.
Instead, it was a number she didn’t recognize.
She opened it up to see a sea of emojis that put Skye’s earlier collection to shame.
There were smiley faces, clapping dogs, flowers, and a string of colorful donuts.
The colorful emojis were followed by a few simple words:
My dad gave me your number so we could plan our shopping. So excited!!!!!!!!!!
Ah, it must be Paige. Allie smiled to herself, then glanced at the clock on the wall. It was after eight, and she wondered if the girl was already snuggled in bed or if she got to stay up late watching movies or playing games with her grandma. She typed out a quick reply:
I’m excited, too! Can I look at my schedule and talk to your dad and text you some possible times tomorrow?
The little bubbles popped up on screen to tell her the girl was typing a reply.
YES!!!!!!
The word was in all caps and followed by a string of more colorful emojis.
Allie smiled and tucked the phone in the pocket of her fleece.
She hesitated at the door, listening for the sound of howling cats.
It was silent, and she wondered if Jack had finished and slipped out to go home.
She hadn’t actually invited him to stick around, and he’d probably be eager to get back to his place and tuck his daughter in for the night.
As she made her way down the hall barefoot, she realized she was psyching herself up to find him gone.
She turned the corner into the kitchen, simultaneously relieved and annoyed by her relief at seeing those broad shoulders hunched over the counter.
His tie was rolled up on the counter with his cufflinks at the head of the coil like a pair of snake eyes.
He’d tossed his suit jacket on a chair in the corner, and rolled up his shirtsleeves to reveal impressively muscled forearms.
“Hi, Jack,” she said, smiling a little as she remembered the shared joke they had in high school.
He turned and grinned at her. “Hijacking is illegal,” he said, and held out one of her grandmother’s good Riedel wineglasses. “So is allowing a woman to have white wine dumped over her head but never letting her have a glass for herself. Here.”
He tipped up a wine bottle and filled her glass nearly to the brim with pale straw-colored liquid.
Allie leaned back against the counter, a dark chocolate granite her grandmother had picked out when she’d remodeled eight or nine years ago.
The cupboards were original, and Allie had helped her grandma paint them a honey-hued off-white just a few years ago.
God, it felt weird to be here so much without her.
“You thinking about your grandma?”
Allie blinked, then nodded. “How did you know?”
“This kitchen reminds me of her. All the antique copper over there and the vase of dried roses.”
“I always thought it was the prettiest room in the house,” she said.
“It is. I think that’s why it reminds me of her.”
A soft warmth spread through her, and Allie lifted the wineglass to her lips. “Wow. This is terrific.” She took another small sip, feeling her shoulders relax for the first time all night. “Where’d you find it?”
“The backseat of my car.”
“The backseat of your car must be a different place now than what I remember.”
He laughed, and Allie felt a faint flush creeping up her neck and into the cheeks. It was probably the wine, or maybe the realization that she’d fallen back into the habit of flirting with Jack Carpenter without even realizing it.
But he was smiling at her and didn’t look uncomfortable with it, so Allie relaxed and took another small sip.
“True enough,” Jack said at last. He lifted his own wineglass in a mock toast to her. “Actually, I picked up my wine club shipment earlier today. Just hadn’t gotten the chance to take it home yet.”
Allie caught the bottle by the neck and turned the label toward her. She recognized it as the same one adorning the wine he’d brought the night she’d hosted him for dinner.
“Amy worked on a documentary with these guys.” She turned the bottle to show Jack the label. “The film was about women in the wine industry, and Sunridge Vineyards is managed by a woman. Several women, actually. I think it’s a family-run thing.”
“I didn’t know that.” Jack took a sip of his wine. “Some buddies and I did a golf trip near there a few years ago. Joined the wine club on a whim, so I get shipments a couple times a year.”
“Nice.” Allie sipped from her glass. She knew a bit about Oregon vineyards, enough to be aware that a bottle like this cost a lot. She thought about remarking on it, but decided against it, not wanting him to think she was hung up on money.
Suffice it to say, Jack must be doing very well.
“Amy must be doing well for herself.”