The Hookup (Moonlight and Motor Oil #1)(87)

“She always intending to stay up here?” Johnny asked.

Iz shook her head. “She just needed a break and to be away from there to make some decisions. She got up here and that was her decision but she couldn’t exactly make it unless she had a way to feed herself and her son. So she got a job and got Brooks in daycare in town and she does, actually, start Monday.”

“Margot can take care of Brooks and she’d be offended if Addie tried to pay,” Johnny told her, but she shook her head.

“She’d probably love it if Margot looked after him but she’d never let that happen for free.”

“And Margot would lose her mind if Addie put him in daycare when she’s got nothing to do all day but plan coven meetings and boss Dave around, and she’d lose her mind only a little less if Addie tried to pay.”

“Johnny—”

He used his arm around her shoulders to curl her into his front. “Let me talk to her to see if I’m even right and she’s willing to do it. Then we can take it from there. But at the very least, until Addie gets on her feet, she should consider letting someone with a kind heart lend a helping hand.”

She nodded before she told him hesitantly, “She’s gonna stay with me for the foreseeable future.”

This was not optimal and Johnny knew it was a dick thing to think, and it wasn’t even close to the same circumstances, but when he finally found another woman who he wanted in his life and his bed in what could be a permanent way, he wished she didn’t have a troubled sibling that took her time and attention from what they were building.

“I’m sorry, I see that—” she began, looking at him worriedly.

Johnny cut her off. “Nothing to be sorry about.”

“It’s just that, she has a little money saved but the attorney is going to cost a lot, and the grocery store doesn’t pay as much as she made in tips so she’s going to need a little help.”

She was going to get help.

This being Johnny paying for her attorney, if he could manage it, straight up. If she couldn’t hack that, then through a no-interest, pay-it-when-you-can loan. He was also putting her and Brooks in one of his properties when a tenant left. He had two small, nice, rental homes in town, closer to the grocery store, big enough for Brooks to grow up in, and when that happened they’d both have their own space.

But that wasn’t for now. They’d have that discussion later when there wasn’t queso dip to broil.

“She’s your sister, babe, and she got burned and bad. Do I want you all to myself? Yeah. Do I get it?” He pulled her closer and dipped his face to hers. “Yeah.”

She stared into his eyes and hers were filled with gratitude. “Thanks, Johnny.”

“Don’t mention it, Iz,” he muttered, going in to touch his lips to hers before he pulled away and started to curl her back around but stopped when both her hands that were resting at his waist started to grip him hard.

“Thank you too, for going in . . . I mean, when Perry showed, you went right up to him and—”

He interrupted her. “Don’t mention that either.”

“I . . . Johnny, that meant a lot. You didn’t even know who he was. You just felt the vibe and waded in. So it really meant a lot, honey. To both me and Addie.”

“I’m glad but I hope you paid attention, Iz, because I’m that guy too. For you and for Addie.”

Her eyes went round.

Then they started blinking.

“Oh no, I think I might cry,” she whispered, and true to her words, her eyes were getting bright with tears.

He pulled her even closer and whispered back, “Don’t cry. There’s queso dip to broil, wine to drink, my brother to charm and your friends here for me to make love me like everyone else does.”

He saw the bright leave as she started smiling.

So he kept going.

“It happened. It’s over. Like you said, baby, you Forrester women get shoved to your knees, you get right back up and keep on keeping on. It’s time to keep on keeping on with good company, food and booze, even if there’s a danger someone’s gonna get their eye poked out by a crystal.”

Her head twisted and she gasped, “Oh no! Are they hanging too low?”

He put his hand to her jaw to turn her back to him. “Teasing, sp?tzchen.”

“Oh,” she breathed.

He kissed her. Not the kiss he wanted to give her but it wasn’t a touch of the lips either.

Then he turned her toward the table, but as Charlie and Deanna set it up for Toby to join them, Toby striding off toward the shed, probably to get himself a chair, Izzy and Johnny went into the house.

Izzy put the queso dip under the broiler.

Johnny grabbed another six pack from the fridge to take it outside and put the bottles on ice.



“And then . . . then . . . then he said, ‘That’s the way of it when a badger is in the mix,’” Addie spluttered the end of her story through giggles and everyone burst out laughing.

Including Johnny.

“A badger in the mix!” Deanna hooted and the waning laughter waxed.

But this time, not Johnny’s.

Because right then, it hit him like a boulder in the chest.

The sun had set.

The Christmas lights, candlelight and moonlight were dancing off the crystals. Charlie had hauled some curlicue plant stand out and put the drinks bucket on it so they had more room for the diners.