Real Men Knit(21)
Erika looked past him and into the empty shop and then back at him, her smile brightening when she saw he was alone. “I was guessing that you probably had a long day and could use a little bit of company.” Her words came out as more of a statement than a question.
Jesse looked at her as his mind whirled over all the business he had just told himself he had to get done. There were notes he wanted to get to, plans to write. “Thanks, Erika, but it has been a long day; yesterday was long too. I’m kind of exhausted.”
Erika’s expression fell, and a bit of her bravado went with it. “Yeah, I’m really sorry I didn’t make it to your mom’s funeral. I figured I didn’t really know her like that, so it wasn’t quite my place.”
He looked at her, surprised that she would even consider it, since even though they had been sleeping together for a while, they hadn’t gotten as far as meeting people in their usual day-to-day. Their hookups thus far had been at her place and at motels up in the Bronx. She seemed fine with it. But now, with the look in her eyes and the way she’d looked around the shop, Jesse wondered just how fine she was. “It’s okay,” he said. “It was more of a family thing.”
Erika twisted her lips and tightened her grip around the bottle. Shit, even he could admit that was cold. He sighed. “Come on in. You know what, it’s been a long day but, um, you’re right, I could use some company.”
Erika looked up at him and smiled again, the brightness coming back into her eyes. She shimmied past him and he caught sight of what little there was to the back of her dress. Her behind was perfectly shaped, just like the bottle she was holding. Jesse looked around the shop once again and more than anything wanted to block it all from his mind.
He quickly closed the shop door behind Erika and made sure that the closed sign was still flipped. He put his hand on the small of her back and ushered her through. Past the cash register, the baskets of needles, and the displays of yarn. Past the farmhouse table and all the remnants of Mama Joy’s world. He led her up the stairs toward his own room, snagging a couple of glasses and a takeout menu along the way. “You hungry?” he asked close to her ear as she went up the stairs before him.
Erika turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. Pulling him in close to her full lips, she gave him a sexy smile. “That all depends,” she said, her voice low and husky. “What are you offering?”
6
If Jesse wasn’t up yesterday, then he probably was still in bed this morning too. Kerry knew his patterns, but she guessed sometime today they would have to have a talk about store hours and whether it was fine for her to be opening the shop, but in the meanwhile, with time of the essence, she didn’t have any of it to waste. If they wanted the shop back up and running quickly, they needed to get a move on. There was no time to wait on a sleeping beauty like Jesse Strong to arise at ten-ish or whenever he felt like it. By this time Mama Joy was usually up and almost ready to greet customers, if not already chatting with a few passing neighbors.
Making her way into the shop, this time Kerry quickly disabled the alarm, not wanting a repeat of the scare she’d had the day before. But then she turned and ended up in shock anyway over the state that Jesse had left things in both the work area and the kitchen.
Kerry felt her jaw clench tight as she tried her best not to out-and-out howl over the mess. Dammit, couldn’t he at least take out the trash? she thought while heading toward the coffeepot. Today was recycling day, not Kerry clean up and put out the recycling day. Yep, she was going to have to have a serious sit-down with him about her job description, because rinsing his empty beer bottles was definitely not going to be a part of it. Hell, she was doing them a favor, and him most of all.
She found herself stewing over all of this and then some as she rinsed. Shaking a bottle over the sink, she looked up toward the stairs and expelled air in a hard blast out of her nostrils. What did he and his brothers get up to after she’d left anyway? She knew they were distraught, sure, but this was not the way to start things off.
But then the image of the four of them sitting around drinking, all wishing they were together under different circumstances, pulled her up short. She let out a sigh as guilt grabbed her. She could empty a few beer bottles without complaint just this once if it was what they needed. At least they were bonding, and that was something. She hated to think of Jesse staying alone in the house upstairs without Mama Joy’s laughter to fill the empty spaces.
Just then Kerry heard the sound of steps on the back staircase to the residence. She smiled. Good. Sleeping Beauty was finally awake. She rinsed the last bottle and, despite her earlier thoughts, knew she couldn’t let Jesse off that easy and decided to still give him some ribbing for the mess and drinking so heavily with his brothers. “What the hell, Jes? Did you guys have a party over here last night? You could have at least invited me if you were going to leave all this crap for me to clean up,” she said, turning and fully expecting to meet his hazel gaze.
“Sorry, hon, but it was more like a private party. You know, just for two. I’m afraid you would’ve been a third wheel.”
Kerry froze as her eyes met dark-brown ones instead of the soft green hue she was expecting. This tall female bottle of sex was definitely not Jesse, and yes, she was right—Kerry knew immediately she would have been a third wheel. Though the woman finished her little speech with a smile, neither showing her teeth nor meeting her eyes, Kerry quickly caught her full meaning.