Page 68 of Kiss Kiss Bang
“Where’s Joey?”
Her daughter liked Joey. That much was obvious. He’d been gone for the last few hours, but he’d texted at least half a dozen times asking about Sophie. Every time he asked, the emotions she felt for him bubbled up to the surface. She didn’t want to think about him and how perfectly he fit into their lives. None of these things she wanted to think about, but all of them were constantly running through her mind.
Telling him her secrets had felt oddly refreshing, as if unloading all that onto someone else took the big burden off her shoulders.
Connor.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him since his name had come up during the lineup at the police station.
After all these years why would he want anything to do with her? No reason. Which is why she was sure he didn’t have anything to do with anything going on. Why would he want to hurt her? They had been best friends at one time. They’d loved each other, of that she was certain. But she knew firsthand how drugs could change a person, and that worried her.
“Why don’t you set the table?” Olivia instructed Sophie as she brought down three plates and three sets of silverware and glasses and placed them on the table. “Carefully.” Her daughter perked up, loving the task.
“Is Joey almost home, Mommy?”
Home? How was she going to explain it to her daughter? This was not his home. Even if he hadn’t left and for the last month, since meeting him, they’d been practically attached at the hip.
“I’m not sure, sweets. But, we’ll save him some food, okay?”
“Okay.”
The front door opened and closed and her heart rate immediately picked up.
“Hey, baby,” Joey said from behind her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Her stupid immature ridiculous heart was going to come out of her chest.
“You hungry?” She turned around in his arms.
“Yes.” He leaned in and looked over her shoulder. “Smells good. Thought you only made frozen lasagna?”
“Har har. I can cook a few other things. This is Sophie’s favorite.”
“How’s she doing?” He placed a bag from the pharmacy store on the table. “I got her everything that I found at the drug store to help with allergies.”
I love you! I love you! I love you!
She wanted to scream it! Shake him and make him understand how sweet it was that he’d done that.
But it was too soon, and she wasn’t even sure it was love or just an intense attraction.
He smiled and then heard “Joey!” as Sophie ran to him as if she hadn’t seen him for a month. He released Olivia, and oddly the casualness of him holding her in front of her daughter didn’t make her feel weird or uncomfortable. He lifted Sophie up and flung her up. “Hey, freckles. How are you feeling?”
“Better.” But she wiped her nose with the back of her hand as she said it and probably got snot all over Joey, who didn’t seem grossed out in the least.
He put her down and then looked closer. “Is that a new freckle?” he pointed to her cheek.
“Noooo, silly.” She giggled hard and then took his hand and pulled him. “Look. Look. I set the table,” she said excitedly. “You sit here. Mommy sits here, and I sit here.”
“Thank you, m’lady,” he said as he sat down and Sophie took the napkin and instructed him to tuck it into his shirt like a bib.
“Soph, why don’t you sit so that I can serve you.” Once her daughter was seated Olivia scooped pasta and sauce into her plate, then did the same with Joey’s and lastly with her own.
She noticed that Joey hadn’t started eating until she’d sat down to eat. He’d been waiting on her to sit, which made her almost swoon. He reached over and helped Sophie spoon the spaghetti with the fork.
“This is delicious, Livie.”
“Mum makes good chocowate cake, too,” her daughter said, slurping spaghetti into her mouth. “Mum, can we have cake?”
“She does, does she?” He looked up. “So you bake?”
