"I'll get my bongos," Alec says, and I smack his shoulder. This sounded so much better in my head when Theresa showed up with coffee. I've been working since eight this morning, and I'll be here until we close. Maybe an entire month of sleep deprivation has something to do with my insanity.
A tap comes at the employee door, and Alec gets up and cracks it open.
"Hey," Jace says, and Alec lets him in. Theresa's smile fades somewhat and she starts gathering the candy wrappers we've accumulated since I went on break.
"What're you doing here?" I ask Jace, tucking my polo into my khakis. It's almost time for me to clock back in.
"Landon wanted me to drop this off." He holds up the bag of groceries-okay, it's probably just twelve boxes of mac and cheese-but I'd told Landon to grab them today while he was out.
"He has to stay late again?" I ask, taking the bag with a pout. "But it's Halloween."
"Yeah. It wasn't the best day of shooting." He scratches the back of his neck, and I notice he's got a slice on his arm.
"That's a good makeup job," I joke, nodding to the cut.
"Hurt like hell. Got cocky with one of the prop shovels."
"Oh!" Theresa says, leaping to her feet. "Blood chant. We can get your dress with that."
"What?" I laugh, as she grabs Jace by the arm-the non-injured one-and pulls him to the center of the room.
"We'll chant around him. It'll work."
"Are you pulling this out of your ass?" Alec asks, stepping up next to me.
"Of course not," she lies. But hey, I'm willing to try it. I've looked like an idiot in front of my friends before. Maybe I should add my parents' visit to the blood chant as well.
Theresa slides up Jace's sleeve, being careful around the cut, and then positions his arm out. He's laughing, flexing his muscles for her, but she just smacks him.
"Should we all start singing 'Balls,' like on The Proposal?" Alec asks, and I snort.
"You've seen that movie?"
"You made me watch it!"
Theresa starts chanting unintelligible noises, and then pushes Alec and me to move circles around Jace.
"Winter sale!" she shouts, making me laugh so loud I scare Jace enough to jump. We're able to keep it up for about two more rounds, but then I break formation, hunch over, and clutch my side. Alec bumps into me, then Theresa into him, so of course Jace hops on all of us, and my ass hits the concrete floor.
"Y'all get off of me!" I shout, but no one takes me seriously since I'm near peeing myself. It feels good to laugh this hard. I've been so wound up about everything it's nice to know I don't need sex to make it better.
Though … it wouldn't hurt.
A phone alarm goes off, and Jace says, "Shitshitshit," and weight is lifted from our sandwich pile.
"Hey, gotta run," he says, shoving his phone into his tattered jeans pocket and fixing his messy brown hair. "My current lady wants some of this." He gyrates his hips, and Theresa smacks his shin.
"Your lady?" I ask, finally freeing myself from the tangle of my friends.
"Chantal."
"When did that happen?" I swear Landon doesn't tell me anything, and with working so much I've been out of the loop.
"Like three days ago," Alec answers. "He's already got it bad."
"Jace has it bad for someone?" Theresa says, opening her mouth in mock shock. "I never thought I'd see the day."
"And I'm ditching you guys now." Jace grins and fixes his shirt. "See you at the party tonight, yeah?"
We all nod and wave him out. Alec sighs, helping Theresa to her feet. "Guess I better turn into your boss," he says to me, tucking his own polo into his pants.
"Boo."
He hands me my time card, and Theresa grabs her jacket. "I'll see y'all later," she says, and shares a hug with Alec-which shouldn't seem so weird, but it does now. So instead of sticking around, I slide out, clock in, and get ready for the second half of my very long shift.
Chapter 16
"Hey, all you Bed Bath & Beyond shoppers. Doors close in T-minus fifteen seconds. And I'm so beat I'll lock you in here. Don't worry … there are display beds for your convenience. But if you sleep in it, you buy it."
Alec grins from across the store where he's mopping invisible dirt from our invisible customers. "You're fired!"
"No, I'm not. You love me," I say into the intercom. Olivia laughs from the plunger section as I swing my legs over the register counter and tread lightly on the mopped floor to lock up. We've had probably two people all night, since most are out at parties or trick-or-treating with their kids. Olivia and I strapped pillows to our bellies and ran into each other for about an hour.
I go to twist the lock, but there's a woman jogging through the rain, straight for the doors. When she lifts her head, I throw the doors open and meet her.
"Mom!" I squeal, and toss my arms around her neck.
"Hi, sweetie!"
"I thought you weren't coming till next week."
"My last open house fell through, so I caught an earlier flight."
I pull her inside so we're not shouting over the rain, and then I hug her again. She smells like home. Like lemon meringue pie. Man I could go for a slice of that.
"Uh, Liz?" Alec asks as he looks at his freshly mopped floor that my mom and I just puddled.
"Oh, sorry! I'll clean it up." I walk around him to the mop bucket. "Alec, this is my mom. Mom, this is Alec. He's Landon's best man."
They shake hands, and then Mom fixes her blond wavy hair under her hood. Her cheeks splash pink and I laugh under my breath. Yes, Alec is adorably hot. Dirty blond hair, lean and tall, and one dimple in his cheek.
And yes, that is Mom's type, even if she is twenty-five years his senior and married.
"You've known Landon and Liz awhile?" she asks awkwardly. I push her foot with the mop and she bats at me.
"I met Liz when Landon introduced us a few years ago. Landon I've known since I was four."
"They grew up across the street from each other," I add, nudging Alec with the mop now. "Alec hired me when I was basically living on Theresa's couch."
"I'm also her personal chauffeur right now." He winks to let me know he's not really bothered by giving me a ride to and from work every day. "So I'd let her off early if she had a way to get you both home. Unless you want to use your cab?" He nods out the window.
I can't afford a cab, and I'd hate for Mom to pay. But Landon's last check was stretched to its limit, and we're living on mac and cheese and SpaghettiOs.
And chocolate for me, which I need to stop. My jeans have been a bit snug of late due to the frosting, candy bars, chocolate chips, instant brownies, and fudge bingeing nearly every night before Landon and I go to sleep. Or I should say, before we go to bed. Both of us are still tossing and turning, and Landon's pillow is so beaten up the feathers are starting to poke out.
"We can take my cab," Mom says, already holding a finger up to the cabdriver. "If you're sure you don't need her to stay and close up."
Alec shakes his head, and I hand him the mop. "Sweet. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"You're not coming to Jace's party?"
"I'm going to hang out with my momma." I give Mom another squeeze and get my side soaked. "Landon might stop by, though."
" 'Kay. Head out there before your driver takes off. I'll clock out for you."
I tell him thanks, and Mom gets all flustered again as she waves goodbye. I'm laughing as we run through the downpour and slide into the backseat.
"Where's Dad?" I ask after we tell the driver my address.
"It's just me this time around. He thought he'd save his visit for Christmas."
I raise my eyebrows. "What about meeting Landon?"
"Apparently … he's already met him."
"What?"
"Landon called your father about a week after your engagement. They spoke on the phone for nearly an hour."
"About what?"
"He apologized for not asking Dad for your hand, then he officially asked, and then they talked about the horror stories from working at a call center … who are you talking to?"
"I'm texting Landon a death threat. He doesn't tell me anything!"
Mom chuckles as she watches me type: You're in trouble. Then I add a flaming red-faced emoticon and hit send.
We catch up on the rest of the drive. Mom's client list is so packed she hardly has any time to herself anymore, but she loves putting people in new homes, and they've been thinking about buying property and building their own house. I frown a little at her because that means they'll sell the one I grew up in, and she grabs my lip and says, "I'll put a hook in it," just like she always does when I give her the pout.
Mom pays for the cab, knocking my hand away when I reach for my purse. I'm glad, because I couldn't even pay for half of it, but I'm also upset, because I should be able to take care of myself if I'm trying to prove I'm ready for marriage. So instead of focusing on my feather-light pocketbook, I drive all attention to Landon.
"I hope you like him," I tell her as we get out of the elevator.