Zoey And The Nice Guy (Big Girl Panties #1) (26 page)

She laughed and folded her napkin. “You’re a great person, but I think we both know this date is over.”

He was shaking his head before she finished. “Beverly, you are exactly the kind of woman I need. Listen to yourself. You’re calm, reasonable, thoughtful. You’re a damn fine woman, and I wanna get to know you. You gotta give me another chance.”

She reached across the table and took his hand. Her eyes sparkled with humor and kindness. “I think if we’d gotten together a month ago, we’d have hit it off great, but you’re in love with Zoey. And for that reason, I’ve lost all respect for you.”

He grinned, then he dropped his head and laughed. “Shit,” he said. He leaned back in his seat and signaled the server for their bill. “You know, Bev, I’ve got about a dozen funny bad-date stories, but as far as I know, I’ve never been the subject of one.”

“Until tonight,” she said.

He nodded and handed over his credit card.
 

“Yes, sir, I’m going to be telling this bad-date story to a lot of people. A lot of people we both know.”

“I feel that’s your right as a victim of the bad date. And I’m deeply sorry. If I’d seen all this about myself, I would never have called you.”

“Well, it was a free meal, for me, and a good one.”

“At least there’s that. I’ve always had to pay for my bad dates.”

The server returned and Kellen signed the receipt. He stood and held out his hand to Beverly, taking her elbow and leading her toward the exit.
 

He drove her home and apologized once more. He didn’t want to go to his empty house, so he drove out to Jayce’s bar. Rick, thankfully, wasn’t there. It was crowded, so he’d likely be drinking in peace. He ordered a shot and a beer. Jayce gave him a funny look, since whiskey was rare with Kellen.
 

The bar noise was composed of pool balls cracking together, women laughing too loudly, men shouting and telling dirty jokes…typical sounds. Kellen let himself zone out on the noise. He didn’t want to do much thinking. He kept a buzz going until around midnight and then switched to water.
 

The crowds died down and Jayce made his way to the end of the bar. “Date didn’t go well?”

Kellen glared at him. “I’m in love with Zoey.”

Jayce showed no reaction.

Kellen took a drink of water. “My life as a bachelor is over. She’s it for me. I just gotta figure out how to deal with all her crazy.”

“Something wrong with Beverly?”

“No. She was perfect. But Zoey’s my girl. I love her. I don’t even have any interest in the perfect woman. Guess that makes Zoey better than perfect.”

“You got it pretty good, Kel. All you gotta do is go get her. You love her. You want her. You go get her. Pretty easy indeed.”

“Best of all, she remembers making out with me.”

Jayce grabbed a handful of peanuts and flung them at him. “Asshole.”

Kellen laughed. “I’m sorry. I can’t stop thinking of how you looked. And Maya sitting there trying to remember.”

“Glad you got a laugh out of it. Never mention it again.”

“Wounded your ego, did she?”

“Ya think? How the fuck would you feel?”
 

“Pretty crappy, I guess.” He thought about it some more. “God, that would kill me. It was hard enough when I wasn’t sure I could get her to go out with me. Now—shit, I don’t know what I’d do if this was more important to me than to her.”

Jayce had gone expressionless, again and Kellen realized he was being insensitive. “Hey, I’m sorry,” he said.

Jayce waved him off. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got Janice. Shake that hot ass, Jan!” he shouted.
 

The blond waitress across the bar flashed him a smile and did a little shimmy move for him. Jayce nodded in appreciation.
 

“Nice,” Kellen said sarcastically. “You are aware she’s sleeping with Don down at the bank.”

“No problem. That woman needs more than one lover.”

The door to the bar opened and Addy came in, looking way too classy for Jayce’s bar. Expensive clothes, expensive haircut, and already she was learning to wear that air of condescension that her mother had spent so many years drilling into her. She perched next to Kellen, but it was Jayce she spoke to. “That scotch you bought me? I need to know something about it so I can sound smart when I talk to Grey—I mean, Dr. McDaniel.”

“Hmm,” Jayce murmured. “I’m not a scotch man. I’ve got a book back in my office.”

“Perfect,” Addy said.

“Man the bar?” he asked Kellen.

Kellen nodded and Jayce slipped down the hall toward his office. After he was gone, Kellen turned back to Addy. “How’s she doing?”

“Zoey? She’s fine. She’s an independent, modern woman. She doesn’t need a man to be happy.”

Kellen chuckled. “That what she said?”

“Says. Pretty much every time I see her. Between you and me, though, I think she’s been happier.”

Kellen nodded. “I’ve been happier, too.”

“Easy problem to solve.”

“Yeah. That’s what I was thinking.”

Jayce came back and handed a book to Addy. “Here you go,” he said. “You’ll either get really educated on scotch or else discover the cure to insomnia.”

“Thanks, Jayce. You’re the best.”

She stood and kissed Kellen on the cheek. “Good luck. I’m really hoping it works out. Honest-to-God, she’s never been as happy as she was with you.”

After she left, Kellen sat in silence for a while, deciding how he was going to go about getting back into Zoey’s life.

Kellen went shopping for groceries the next day. He got a bunch of pantry stock items, such as macaroni ’n cheese and instant oatmeal…stuff Maya and the kids would need. Then he took it all to Zoey’s house. When he knocked on the door, it was Tracy who answered. Her smile turned lascivious when she saw him.
 

Here we go.
“Zoey home?” he asked.

“No, she’s at court.”

Ah, the angry Christmas shopper. He did the mental math and realized it was, indeed, her court date.
 

“Come on in anyway, if you want,” Tracy said, stepping aside.

“Thank you. I told her I’d help with groceries while Maya and the kids are here.” He walked past her into the kitchen. Maya was there making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He set the bags down and took her in his arms. “Maya, there’s not enough of you to hug. You been eating?”

“I have, but stress sucks the calories right away.”

Kellen unpacked the groceries into Zoey’s pantry. Then he took a breath and turned to the bar where Tracy was sitting. He had no idea how his stomach was going to handle this, but his plan was to flirt with her to get her to do what he wanted. He leaned against the bar on his palms and smiled. “How are you doing, beautiful?”

She sat up taller and beamed at him. “Just dandy. It’s been quite a restful vacation.”

He nodded. “Good. I’m sure you needed that. I noticed your car wasn’t in the driveway. Is there anything I can do to help you get it back?”

Tracy stuck out her bottom lip and twirled her hair. She could have spared herself the victim act, Kellen had already resolved in his mind to do whatever Tracy needed just to relieve Zoey of some of her burden. “It got impounded,” she said. “We can’t afford the fee, and they charge twenty-five bucks a day on top of it.”

Kellen bit back his irritation. They were racking up an even bigger fee by not getting it out to begin with. “Does Zoey know?”

“Nah, I didn’t want to bother her.”

Kellen nodded, as though he could possibly understand. “What’s the fee?”

“Total, today, it’s five hundred.”

“What? Are you serious?” He couldn’t disguise his surprise. But then, it made sense. The vehicle had probably been towed a week ago. Their fee doubled because they wouldn’t take the time to deal with the problem right from the beginning.
 

Tracy just shrugged as though there was nothing she could do.

“Alright,” Kellen said. “Well where’s Mark?”

“Sleeping.”

It was nearly noon. “Okay, well you go wake him up, and me and him will go get your car back. Sound good?”

He was glad when Tracy went to get Mark. He was afraid she’d want to go with him herself, but he really didn’t want to be alone in a vehicle with her, even for the short drive to the car lot.
 

Mark finally came around and they retrieved the car fairly easily, aside from the hit to Kellen’s bank account. He took Mark to a gas station and filled up the tank for him, because apparently they didn’t have enough money for even that. Kellen’s goal was to get them into a position where they could leave if they got the itch. He’d give them just enough money to get them far enough down the road that they forgot all about Zoey for a while. Then he’d make sure that they never stepped foot in her house again.
 

Back at Zoey’s house, he found Maya in the basement watching television while the kids played. “Any word from Zoey?” he asked.

“Yeah. She paid a fine and has, like, two weeks of probation or something. She’s on her way home. Should be here in about thirty minutes.”

He nodded. “Great. Let me see what I can do about getting Tracy and Mark out of her bedroom.”

He turned to leave, but Maya halted him. “Hey. How do you propose to do that?”

He shrugged. “I’ll use my never-ending supply of charm.”

Maya smiled. “Next question—why?”

He looked into her. “You know why.”

“Say it anyway.”

“Because, I love Zoey.”

Maya folded her hands over her heart and squealed. Kellen rolled his eyes and went upstairs. He found Tracy in the kitchen, digging through Zoey’s secret candy drawer. He steeled himself for the disgusting task, swallowing down the nausea that crept up his chest.
 

He went up behind her and braced his hand on the counter next to her, leaning over her. “What is that scent?” he asked, smelling her hair. God, he hated himself.

Tracy leaned back against the counter and used her arms to press her breasts together. Her shirt was two sizes too small already, he didn’t need any assistance in viewing her cleavage. “Herbal Essences shampoo. You like it?”

“I do. You’ll have to let Zoey use some.”

“I thought you two broke up.”

“We did. I’m getting her back, though. I wonder if you could help me out with that?”

“Sure, baby. What can I do for you?” She trailed her fingertips up the side of his neck and along his hairline.
 

“It’s kind of a big favor.” He dropped his eyes to her chest and let his gaze meander its way back up to her eyes. She was fully blushing, now.

“Anything for you, Kellen.”

He grinned. “See, I’ve got this old back injury from football in high school. Last time I slept on that hide-a-bed downstairs, I could barely walk the next day. I’d really like to show Zoey a good time. You think we could have the master bed? Just for tonight?”
 

He wanted so badly to just kick her and Mark out of the room, but he reminded himself that he was focusing on making Zoey’s life easier. Since it was important to her that she not hurt her mom’s feelings, he was having to act like a slut to get what he wanted.

Tracy, still touching him, smiled lustfully. “I’ll bet that flimsy hide-a-bed would completely give out with what you’re planning to do tonight.”

“You know it. So—can we have the bed?”

She laid her hand along his cheek and gave him a pat. “Sure, baby. Just for tonight.”

“Thanks, Tracy. You’re an angel.” He kissed her on the cheek and then got the hell away from her.
 

Just for tonight? No, it would be for much longer than that. Tracy and her stripper boyfriend wouldn’t be stepping into that room ever again. He helped her move her things to the basement so he could get the sheets changed and ready for his ‘wild night’ with Zoey.
 

In actuality, he was planning on tucking her into her own bed and sleeping on the couch. He didn’t have a back injury. He’d flat out lied. He felt no remorse whatsoever.

Zoey drove home, drained of all energy. She hadn’t put up a fight. In fact, she’d even apologized to the man she’d kneed in the balls. She felt defeated but also better. She wasn’t angry that the man had pulled her hair before she’d taken action against him. She could have been, but she wasn’t. Instead, she was relieved. And tired.

When she pulled into her driveway, there were two vehicles that shouldn’t be there. One was her mom’s car. The other was Kellen’s truck. He’d parked on the street so that she was able to get to her garage. Her heart rate kicked up as she stepped inside her house. He was lounging in a recliner, reading a book and sipping coffee. Maya was in the other recliner sleeping. She could hear the kids in their room.

Kellen looked up at her and smiled. He stood and dropped his book in the chair. “Come here, I’ve got a surprise for you.”
 

She frowned and kept just standing there. So he came toward her, took her hand, and pulled her back to her bedroom. He closed the door behind them. “What kind of surprise is this?” she asked skeptically.

“I got you your room back. Nice, isn’t it?”

It looked exactly the same, except that Tracy and Mark’s crap wasn’t spread out everywhere. He jogged to the bed and pulled back the covers. “Clean sheets. See?”

She stared at the bed. Then she stared at him.

He pulled the covers all the way back and ran his hand over the sheets. “Mmm. Nice and cool. Don’t you just wanna get naked and climb in there.”

She still couldn’t work up a reaction. “Yes,” she numbly. “Yes, I do.”

“Well, go ahead. It’s all yours.” He came behind her and pushed her toward the bed. He helped her out of her coat and draped it over the footboard.
 

She stared down at the bed, feeling like she should be asking him something. But she couldn’t quite think of it, and that bed did look amazingly inviting. She reached down and touched it. Then she bent over and pressed her cheek to the sheet. “Hello, old friend.”

Kellen laughed and patted her back. “I’ll be here when you wake up. Have a good nap.”