“I like your accent,” Violet said and giggled.
And Spencer smiled. “Well, I like yours.”
Ivy’s eyes were narrowed as she stared at the woman at the table. “Did you like the necklace?”
Alex’s knees buckled and she braced a hand on Violet’s shoulder to steady herself. Could this get any more awkward?
The woman was smiling big now, holding out a delicate hand to Brent. “I’m Penny.” Her accent was American. “And that necklace was for my daughter. She does love it.”
Alex worked hard on breathing properly. Damn, it was worse. He had kids.
Brent stared at her hand like he didn’t know what to do with it, then he enclosed it in the grasp of his big hand and shook it gently. “Nice to meet you, Penny.”
“Lovely town you have here,” she said, her tone not condescending, which made Alex angrier. She wanted this woman to be a stone-cold bitch. But she wasn’t. Her smile was genuine, her eyes warm.
“Spencer bring you for a vacation?” Ivy asked, her voice even.
Penny’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows lifted. “A vacation? Oh no, I work with Spencer. But maybe we’ll take some time off and enjoy all the sites Maryland has to offer, right, Spence?”
Spence. She called him Spence.
Alex curled her hand at her side into a fist.
Spencer’s gaze was back on Alex and he muttered, “Sure.”
And Alex had never been good at keeping her mouth shut. “I hope hospitality on this visit is just as nice as it was on your first visit.”
Spencer’s eyes widened slightly. Ivy’s head whipped to Alex, and Brent’s brows furrowed.
“What does hospitality mean?” Violet asked.
Alex knew her face was red, that her voice had been bitter. Penny’s gaze was ping-ponging between Spencer and Alex, something like understanding dawning on her face.
It was time for this to be over.
“Well, we should be going—”
A man arriving at the table cut her off. He bent down and kissed Penny’s cheek, then sat down at an empty chair Alex hadn’t even noticed was at the table.
Penny laid a hand on his shoulder. “This is my husband, Nick. Nick, these are some Tory residents Spencer met when he was here.”
The man took a sip of his water. “Nice to meet you.”
Penny was married. To a man who wasn’t Spencer. Which meant her daughter was . . . not Spencer’s? Alex shifted her gaze to Spencer, who was watching her steadily, if a little smugly. She wanted to wipe that look off his face.
Instead, she tugged on Ivy’s arm, then Ivy pulled on Brent. “Well,” he said, “I gotta get my girls home. Good to see you again, man. Let me know if you have any more car issues.”
Spencer nodded and Brent slung his arm around Ivy’s shoulders. As they walked out of the restaurant, Brent said, “That guy is so nice, right?”
“Right,” Alex and Ivy said in unison.
Alex couldn’t get home to her empty apartment fast enough.
Chapter Six
ON MONDAY, ALEX was back at work and still fuming.
Even Jack steered cleared of her, when he heard her banging around in the back room, swearing about Gabe drinking all her creamer.
Ivy had called her Saturday, and Alex had spent an uncharacteristic hour getting out . . . feelings about Spencer. Which she guessed was a good thing. She felt marginally better. Now she was just swearing about Gabe drinking her creamer, not actually murdering him over it.
She considered that an improvement.
Alex wiped her forehead and tried to focus on the engine she was rebuilding. But her mind couldn’t stop wandering to the conversation she’d had with Ivy. Her sister had said Spencer had come into Delilah’s, buying jewelry for a friend, and then talked as if he couldn’t imagine Tory could support a high-end consignment shop.
He was probably regretting the night they spent together already. Which made Alex clench her jaw until it cracked. Why did he have to come back? Because now there was conflict and exactly what Alex didn’t want to deal with.
She needed to forget about it. What did it matter if he regretted it or if he didn’t?
It didn’t matter.
It didn’t matter.
She tried to tell herself that, but Robby’s words, said in his hate-filled voice, filtered into her brain, words said against her sweat-slick skin as he held her against the wall, his hand between her legs. This is all you’re good for, and you’re just lucky I’ll put up with your bullshit because I like how you moan for me.
She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. On her to-do list was scheduling an extra therapy session this week. When Robby’s words replayed in her head, she knew she needed to get them out or they’d consume her. She stomped into the back room, threw open the refrigerator door, and threw her bag onto the shelf. When she turned around, Brent was leaning casually along the wall.
She jumped and braced herself on the fridge. “Fuck, you scared the shit out of me, you asshole.”
He grinned. “Sorry.”
“No you’re not.”
“You’re right, I’m not.” He took a bite of his banana. “What’s got you all angry?”
“Nothing.” She walked over to the coffeemaker and poured some of the coffee into her favorite mug she kept on the counter.
“Nothing?”
“Don’t you have my sister to bug now?”
“But you’re more fun to irritate. Irritating her means I get laid less.”
Alex groaned. “Please stop talking.”
“No can do.” He took another bite of banana and said with a full mouth, “Are you over your shit fit about the creamer? Because Gabe just pulled in and I know we’re not worried too much about stains around here, but we draw the line at blood.”
Alex pointed a finger at Brent. “Tell him to buy me creamer to replace what he used, okay? I can’t talk to him about it or I might smack him.”
“I will make sure he gets the message.”
Alex huffed out of the room.
GABE SCRATCHED HIS head and watched Alex’s fingers as she worked on a Honda’s engine. He was doing a decent job today of not staring at her tits, which she considered a highlight. Oh, how low her expectations had fallen.
It was almost quitting time, which was great, seeing as she’d had about enough of babysitting Gabe. Not that he was a bad guy, but she’d always preferred to work alone. In silence. But Jack had asked her to let Gabe shadow her, and after all that Jack had done for her since she moved, she’d do just about anything he asked.
He watched them now, from the doorway to the office. An unlit cigarette dangled from his lips, his arms crossed over his wide chest.
“Boy!” his voice boomed across the garage.
Gabe’s head shot up.
“You leer at her one more time and I’m going to stick your head in a vise, you get me?”
Gabe nodded vigorously. “Sorry, Jack.”
The big man only grunted in response and then ducked inside the office.
Alex blushed, thinking while the guy’s delivery could use some work, he meant well. He was kind of like the father she never had.
Gabe grinned at her sheepishly, blinked his long lashes over liquid brown eyes. “Sorry, A. You’re hot.”
She laughed. “Thanks, Gabe. I really work hard on this grease monkey look.”
He looked relieved she hadn’t slapped him. So she straightened up from her position over the hood of the car and cracked her back. “I think we’re done for today, what do you say?”
Gabe nodded. “Yeah, I got tow truck duty tonight too, so I need to head home and grab something to eat before my shift starts.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll continue going over the engine,” she said. “Sound good?”
“Yup. Uh, thanks a lot. For, ya know, helping me out.”
“No problem.”
She cleaned up the tools area, knowing Jack liked everything in its place. Brent liked to screw it all up just to rile up his dad, but Alex wasn’t interested in pissing off the boss. Sometimes, she even got a smile out of him. Cal and Brent had already left for the day, so once Gabe pulled out of the parking lot, it was just her and Jack. He walked over to where she stood at the tool bench. “Go,” he said.
She jerked her head up. “Why?”
“Because I said so.”
“I told Cal I’d get some cleaning done.” And this was her MO now, finding odd jobs to do around the garage to avoid going home.
Jack’s gaze slid to the sky outside. It wasn’t dark yet, and really, as much as she appreciated Jack’s concern, she was a grown woman.
Jack opened his mouth, but Alex cut him off. “You go home. Or go spend time with Asher or something. I got this, okay?”
His teeth clacked shut and he frowned at her. She waited him out, until finally he grunted and strode away. “Fine, I’m going home then.”
“Good,” she called after him.
Jack had been gone ten minutes when a red car pulling into the parking lot caught her attention. She tightened her fingers on the hoses she was coiling and dropped them on the tool bench. She leaned back against it as the Mercedes bypassed the parking spaces and pulled right into the empty garage bay where she was standing.
She crossed her arms over her chest and waited, working hard to maintain an impassive expression. She hoped she succeeded because inside, her nerves were rioting.