“That son of bitch owner said he got an inspection before putting it up for sale, and then acted so astounded that the whole building had to be tented. If my neighbor hadn’t found termites flying around his bathroom, I’d have never known.” She snorted. “Until my bathtub crashed through the kitchen ceiling or something.”
“The exterminator said this kind of damage takes years. He had to have known.”
“Well, he can take his lease-purchase and shove it, now. I’m afraid of even going back inside to move out. And where am I going to go?”
“You’ll stay with me. There’s plenty of room in the garage for all your stuff.” I’d had time to think this through, and liked the idea of Jensen sharing my roof–not that I was ready to share that bit of information with her. This was the total antithesis of how I envisioned asking her to move in for the foreseeable future.
We were still flying along the freeway, but I had to know. I risked a sideways glance; she was chewing on her bottom lip. “Take all the time you need to find the right place. And Lita loves Angus.”
“I hate to impose.”
“This is coming from the same the person who invited herself to stay with me for a week?” I laughed.
True to form, she smacked my leg. “Just roommates, then?” She sounded doubtful.
“Very friendly roommates.” That earned me another smack higher up my thigh, but this time, she left her hand there.
“My mom was bugging me to move closer,” Jen said as she stole another chunk of sausage from the pizza on my plate. “The whole time I was there, she kept on me about my dad’s failing health.”
“I thought he was fine.” I slid the plate a little closer to my side of the table. We’d ordered an extra-large and there was still half of it left for her to pick at.
“Oh, he is. They’re getting older, though, and I think they’re beginning to feel kinda mortal.” She flipped back the top of the box and began stripping a slice. “It was all this time he’s okay, but…”
“So why don’t they move here, where you are?”
She sighed and stuffed a wad of cheese into her mouth. I probably shouldn’t have been aroused by that. “Retiring to Phoenix was their goal for years. They’d feel like they failed or something.”
“You’re still not far away.”
“I know… but now, with my condo deal collapsing, that afternoon slot in Phoenix is beginning to look like an option.”
She did not just drop that on me.
“I mean, between that and my dad, it’s like the universe is trying to tell me that that’s where I should be.”
My racing heartbeat thundered in my ears, even while I reminded myself that she was just tossing around possibilities. “Indigestion and termites are not signs from God, Jen.”
“BK said the offer stood until the end of the day tomorrow. I really should think about this seriously, Tack. It’s like a puzzle coming together at last.”
She didn’t have to come right out and say that I wasn’t one of the pieces.
Later, when we cuddled up in my room, watching TV until she fell asleep with her head on my chest, I couldn’t believe my blind luck at finally finding the only woman I wanted to do this with. And I wondered what I’d done to piss off the heavens that they might scheme to take her away from me.
***
Scratch the might.
“You what? When? I never saw you talking to the boss–we were together all morning.” Nice bomb-drop, baby. And such timing, while we’re clearing space in the garage to make room for everything you own.
Jen put her hands on her ass, arching her back to get the kinks out. I was too stupefied to enjoy the view. “I sent an email to BK right before the end of our show. I have to report there in two weeks.”
“I don’t believe this.”
“Becca and I are doing her last week as a twosome.”
“Who the hell is Becca?”
“The jock in Phoenix who is leaving radio to stay home with her kids.” Jensen cocked an eyebrow at me. “The person who currently has the timeslot that I’m taking over,” she said, very slowly like I was the idiot. “Tack, quit focusing on the irrelevant minutiae and listen to me: We have two weeks. We should make them count.”
Oh, sweetheart, I intend to. Because you are not leaving—you just fucking got here.
But I didn’t say any of that. I was too focused on growling and shoving an entire stack of boxed crap to the back wall.
By dinnertime, I knew The Almighty hated me. He said, Here you go, Tack. I present you with a woman who won’t take your bullshit, isn’t fazed by the personality you put on for the public, nor by your charm, is smarter than you, nicer than you, and has the face of one of my angels. She keeps you on your toes, keeps you interested, and is built like a pole-dancer in a high-end strip club. Now, have you set aside everything you’ve believed to be true about yourself and let her see the real Tack Morgan that nobody knows? Fantastic. I’ll be taking her away now.