The Slow Burn (Moonlight and Motor Oil #2)(86)

He slid his arm with whiskey glass in hand around me, and his gaze unfocused as he went back to Johnny.

“I don’t know. She just said she wanted to explain. She knows Dad’s gone. I didn’t give her a lot of opportunity to talk.” Pause. “Yeah.” Another pause, and again lower, “Yeah, we’re gonna have to tell them. Tomorrow. Who knows what she’s up to or is willin’ to do. She might go to them, and Dave’s gotta know so he can protect Margot.”

Shit and damn.

I pressed closer.

His attention came back to me.

“Right,” he said into his phone. “I’m down with that. But call me, she shows at yours.” Pause. “Right.” Pause. “Right.” Pause, “Yeah, love you too, Johnny. Later.”

He disconnected, I heard his phone clatter on the granite countertop of his island then he transferred his bourbon from the hand at my back to his free one, lifted it to his mouth and downed half of the healthy dose I’d poured him.

“Honey,” I whispered, pressing closer.

He looked down at me. “I can’t help you put the appetizers together before going to work. But I’ll bring the stuff to yours before the party. First thing in the morning, Johnny and I are going to Margot and Dave’s.”

I had the summer sausage, cheese and mustard I was going to put out at my place for snack boards that Toby was going to slice up and arrange for me.

The ingredients for the cheesy spinach filling for the puff pastries Tobe was going to shove in some muffin tins, bake and fill at my pad were at his place. The filling I was going to make in the morning.

I was going to slather the brie and cranberry on fresh cut bread when I got home.

That was just apps.

Tomorrow was totally going to be a Monty Python explosion.

I nodded to my man.

“You okay?” I asked.

He lifted the glass of bourbon to his lips and drained it.

Well, that answered that.

I pushed closer. “Honey, what can I do?”

He looked down at me.

Then he leaned into me to put his glass on the counter.

After he did that, he cupped his hand on my jaw.

He said not a word through any of this.

“Toby, baby, what do you need from me?” I whispered.

“Thought you’d take a bite outta her,” he murmured, his eyes moving over my face.

“Tobe—”

“I wanted to shout in her face, you holdin’ on, I didn’t give too much away. I could play it cool.”

“You did. Justifiably angry but dismissive. You were awesome,” I told him.

“I wanted to let loose. I wanted to tell her she destroyed any possibility of my dad ever bein’ happy. I wanted to tell her witnessing that wounded something I thought would never heal in me. But she couldn’t have that. It would have given her power.”

“You’re right, and you didn’t do that and that’s good.”

“I didn’t because you had me.”

“You didn’t because you’re Toby.”

“No, Addie, I didn’t,” his hand on my jaw pulled me up to my toes, “because you had me.”

I loved he thought that.

However . . .

“That was all you, baby,” I said gently.

“It was me because I have you. Toby of a year ago would have torn into her. Your Toby does not give that first shit outside the fact I don’t want her bothering Johnny and Izzy, and I seriously do not want her anywhere near Margot.”

I slid my hands up his back. “You’ve always been this Toby.”

“No, I’m only this Toby with my Addie. I’m a better man around you. I’m a better man for you. I don’t care if that sounds like it’s from a movie. As you say, romancelandia. It’s just fuckin’ true.”

God.

I totally, absolutely and completely loved it that he thought that.

“Honey,” I breathed.

He bent his head and kissed me.

He lifted it when he was done.

“I wanna fuck you, do it hard, and do it right now. But Johnny’s gonna call if she shows, and I don’t wanna be buried deep in you and get that kind of call from my brother and not have my head with him.”

That was disappointing.

But understandable.

So I nodded and said, “But let’s go to bed. You wanna take up another glass of bourbon?”

“Only warmth I need is my Addie.”

God, I loved him.

I moved my arms from around his back to around his shoulders, pressed my face in his neck, pushed close and held him in a tight hug.

“I’ll take tomorrow off,” I told him.

He gave me a squeeze I read as he wanted my attention, so I pulled away to give it to him.

“You can’t do that,” he said when he caught my gaze. “Marlon’s probably already called your references, but if he hasn’t and he calls Michael, and Michael tells him you bailed on the busiest day of the year, that won’t be good. You haven’t accepted the offer yet, so nothing is official. And she doesn’t get to fuck our shit and interfere with our lives. We got a plan. We stick with that plan as best we can. Hopefully, she’ll go away. If she doesn’t, we’ll deal.”

I did not like this.