He caught my glare, the scowl left his face and he grinned at me.

Then he bent and brushed his lips on mine, pulled back and said, “Buford’s lonely.”

I had no chance to reply because Rich offered, “I’ll walk you to your room, Emme.”

Jacob and I looked to his dad.

“It’s down the hall, Dad,” Jacob pointed out. “I think she can make it there unaided.”

“Yeah. I know. She’s still gettin’ there with me,” he returned.

I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

“She gets there, she gets there good to go back to sleep,” Jacob warned.

Clearly, Jacob was thinking it was bad.

“Already told you I’m done bein’ an ass,” Rich replied.

“See that’s true so my girl can sleep easy,” Jacob ordered.

I wasn’t breathing easy then. Father and son were in a stare down. I didn’t exactly know why since it seemed everything had worked out so I didn’t exactly know what to do.

What I did know was that Jacob wasn’t wasting any time “taking my back” with his dad.

Which made me feel all mushy.

But me, being me, also didn’t let it go on for the time it appeared it was going to (that was, eternity), so I waded in.

“I started my day with sawhorses, utility knives and sheets of drywall. So I should probably rest up so I’ll have the energy to eat pancakes tomorrow in whatever form they come to me.”

This worked. The stare down ended. Jacob wrapped an arm around my waist, gave me a squeeze and bent to give me a kiss on the side of my head before he let me go.

I moved to his dad, doing it looking over my shoulder and saying, “ ’Night, honey.”

“ ’Night, Emme,” Jacob murmured then his eyes went to his father. “Dad.”

“Deck,” Rich replied, his lips twitching.

I made it to the door. He moved out of my way and we both moved down the hall. It wasn’t a long distance but we did it in silence so it felt like a football field.

I stopped at Jacob’s door and heard Buford’s quiet snoring.

I got a handsome, tall, strong, affectionate man who was a genius and didn’t snore.

Total score.

But he came with a dog who hogged the bed and did snore, even though it was quietly.

This was a tie. It forced me to cuddle with Jacob, seeing as I had no room to move, but then again, I had no room to move. And snoring—dog, man, Martian—was no fun. Still, Buford was droopy cute and liked me so I shouldn’t complain.

I pushed these thoughts aside and turned to Rich.

“Well, thanks for walking me,” I said lamely.

We were in shadows but I still saw the white flash of his teeth before he replied, “ ’Night, Emme.”

“ ’Night, Rich,” I mumbled, moved into the room, put my hand on the door and was about to close it when I stopped, seeing Rich was still standing there.

This indicated to me we weren’t done.

I braced and it was a good idea.

“That other one, she did a number on him,” he told me quietly.

“I know,” I said the same way.

“I was worried.”

That was sweet.

I pulled in a breath, forced what I hoped was my last fake smile for the next year and said, “I’m sorry. And I’m sorrier I did something stupid to make you worry.”

He accepted that with a nod but noted, “You two are goin’ fast.”

“I know.”

“He’s in deep.”

He’s in deep.

I said nothing but I felt everything. Too much of it. Too much to breathe.

“Deck, he doesn’t like simple,” Rich continued. “Never did. Doesn’t have the patience for it. He likes complicated. The more complicated the better. But, see, Emme darlin’, some puzzles, they don’t have solutions. He’s lucky, he’s never found one he couldn’t solve. Doesn’t mean he won’t find one. And my son, the way he is, the way his mind works, if he encounters that, he’ll keep searchin’ for the solution until it drives him crazy.”

I didn’t know what he was driving at so I took a wild guess. “I… do you think I’m a puzzle, Rich?”

“I think there’s a reason my boy’s in deep. I think that’s because you’re complicated. That doesn’t mean he won’t be happy when he finds the solution. I’m just hopin’ whatever it is can be solved.”

I shook my head. “I’m not a puzzle.”

“Three girls I met today, Emme. One didn’t care enough to remember to meet her man’s parents. One was stiff and nervous. One was soft and sweet. That’s all I know. I don’t know about a puzzle. I just know that’s complicated.”

I didn’t want to go over that day, again. I also didn’t want to remind him he had a part in it going bad.

So instead, I warned him carefully, “I’m not sure this discussion will give me sweet dreams.”

At that he leaned in so suddenly it stunned me.

“Be that girl,” he whispered fiercely. “Be that girl who just gave my boy sweet. Please be that girl, Emme.”

Startled, I whispered back, “I am that girl, Rich.”

“Deck, that other woman, he was in so damned deep. Like his dad, he finds what he wants, he gives it his all. She wasn’t worth it. Be the girl that makes it worth it.”

It wasn’t his business just as it was, unfortunately, and we were suddenly having an intense conversation about important things, also unfortunately, so I shared, “I’m in love with him.”

“So was the other one,” he replied.

My hand tensed on the door. His comment beyond annoying and not a little out of line, I was unable to think of what to say.

Then I thought of what to say. “I’m not Elsbeth. Not even a little bit.”

He leaned back, I heard him pull in a deep breath and his voice was less severe when he stated, “I’m his father. I’m going to want the best for him.”

“And I’m the woman who loves him. I’m obviously going to want the same. But, no offense, what I don’t want is his dad intimating that is not me. I understand you love him and want to protect him. But I made a mistake. It annoyed Jacob. It upset you. You were both entitled to those reactions because it was a big mistake. But now it’s over. Can I ask that tomorrow, when we wake up, we start over?”

He studied me through the dark a long moment before he agreed, “I can do that, Emme.”

“I’d be grateful, Rich.”

“Now, just to say, I just came on strong and Deck’s right, I’m nosy, especially when what I’m nosin’ around matters. But we just made a deal. I don’t go back on what I say, so even though we had these words, tomorrow, as I said, we’re startin’ over. So I want you to sleep easy.”

Like that would happen.

“Buford’s good at keeping me company,” I assured him on a fib. He was, just not when he was sleeping. “I’ll be fine. But thank you for saying that anyway.”

He held my eyes, nodded and murmured, “ ’Night, darlin’. Tomorrow will be a better day.”

“Thanks, Rich, I’m sure it will. And good night.”

He hesitated before he moved away.

I shut the door and moved to the bed.

As I settled in bed, Buford woke up long enough to roll to his other side, stretch out and start snoring again.

Back to the door, eyes open, I went over the day. And again. And repeat.

It made me all kinds of uneasy.

There were obvious reasons why.

And there were some that were not obvious.

Therefore, I stayed awake for a long time, turning it over in my head, trying to relieve the unease.

But I fell asleep before I could.

Luckily, I did it before Jacob joined me.

Chapter Fourteen

Game Changer

One week later…

I sat in the salon chair, hair in foils, celebrity gossip magazine forgotten in my hand, eyes on my face in the mirror.

This is a game changer, Emme.

Jacob’s words from last night assaulted my brain and I closed my eyes.

A game changer, Emme.

I opened my eyes and jumped when I felt a light touch on my shoulder.

I tipped my head back and looked at Dominic, stylist to practically anyone who lived in the county who had the money and good taste to go to him. He owned Carnal Spa. It wasn’t too far from Gnaw Bone but even if it was five hours, every six weeks I’d make the trip in order to have him give me a cut and highlight. He was that good.

“You okay, girlie?” he asked, his gaze moving over my face.

“Fine, Dom,” I assured on a complete and utter lie. “Just have a lot to do this weekend and prioritizing it in my head.” This was another lie.

Dom knew it, I could tell. But Dominic was a g*y man who spent his days around women and their problems, so with one look at my face he knew better than to push it.

He smiled, lifted his hands to my hair, checked a foil and murmured, “Five more minutes, darling.”