“Don’tbe! I need flesh, not rubber!”
Therewas a witty quip dangling at the tip of my tongue, as I caught a smolderinggaze burning a hole through the glass. A pair ofemeraldgreeneyes shouldn’t have been allowed to look so seductive, and no manshould have been permitted to look so dangerously good.
“Gracie?You there?”
Ihadn’t realized that I’d been stopped in my tracks until my sister’s voicesliced through the miles separating us.
“What?Sorry,” I muttered absentmindedly, smiling at the stranger in the pub window.
“Iwas just saying that toys can’t replace—”
“Rosalynn,”I hissed, cutting her off with her full name. “I wish you could see this guyright now. He’s maybe the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in person.”
“Oh,shit! Is he wearing a kilt?”
“Howam I supposed to know? I can’t even see the lower half of his body,” Iwhispered loudly, blushing as I offered him a little wave. He waved back,grinningbroadlyand showing off a set of perfectlystraight teeth. “Oh, my God, I bet he smells so good.”
“Gofind out! Where is he?”
“Inthis pub. And oh, Lord, he has the most beautiful green eyes I’ve ever seen.But, fucking hell, my flight is in the morning and I— “
“Oh,no, no. Gracie. You need this. You deserve it. Go have a drink with a hot Scot,maybe make out a little, and then, go back to the hotel. Yougottado something to forget you ever knew Matt.”
Themention of his name was enough to pummel my gut with nausea, and images of himscrewing Alison clouded the view of the unreasonably attractive man in thewindow.
Noone would describe me as a daring woman. I never tookrisksand I didn’t kiss strangers. But that was before the man I had loved, the manwho I had promised my heart and soul to, stole away my chance of comfort andsecurity, when he and his best friend’s wife decided to destroy both of theirrelationships. He wasn’t sad about it. He hadn’t cried or yelled when I kickedhim out of our house. So, why was I now wasting a trip on my grief? I was free,and I was going home tomorrow. Those green eyes were full of promises for agood time, and why shouldn’t I jump at the chance to be happy?
“I’mgoing in,” I told my sister in a rush, holding up a finger to the stranger. Hegrinned in reply and patted the seat beside him. “I’ll call tomorrow morningbefore I get on the plane.”
“Yes!”Rose cheered. “Go get some Scottish dick.”
Snorting,I reached for the handle of the door and swung it open to be hit with thecacophony of laughter and drunken singing.
“I’llsee you tomorrow!” I shouted over the racket, making my way toward the table bythe window, where I found my green-eyed stranger waiting with a smile so warmand welcoming, it almost made risk taking seem worth it.
“Seeyou soon!” Rosie replied. “And be safe!”
“Don’tworry,” I said, sliding onto the chair beside him to find that he did, in fact,smell good. Like scotch and leather. “I will.”
CHAPTER ONE
ROSIE
WhenGod invented teenagers, He clearly did so with the intent of them being a testof patience and wills for the adults forced to deal with them. So, at the verymoment I pulled out of the driveway to go and pick up my own test of patiencefrom his father’s house, I said a silent prayer to the Almighty, that my sonwould be in one of his good moods today. Just the thought of sitting in a carwith him for an hour to the airport, while he complained and reminded me ofeverything I did wrong in my life, was almost enough to make me call my sisterand tell her to find someone else to give her a ride home.
Drummingmy fingers on the steering wheel to the tune of Collective Soul’s “December,” Ireminisced on the days when my sonactually likedme,days when I could more easily tolerate him. It felt like an eternity ago, whilesimultaneously feeling like it was just yesterday. What hurt the most though,was how I could never think of exactly where Tom and I had gone wrong. We hadalways been great parents, even when we weren’t a great couple. We were fairand honest, always respecting him and his freedom to be an individual. We werealso cool, or at least I thought we were. But now, I wondered if there reallywas such thing as a cool parent, or if that’s just a mythical creature we allstrive to become, all while secretly knowing it can never be. Simply because itjust doesn’t exist.
Likeunicorns and men who don’t lie.
EvenTJ was already lying. Every little white lie he told was another weed, andbefore I know it, our entire lives will be full of their parasitic overgrowthand all the flowers that I’ve so meticulously planted with love and care willdie.
“Wow,that’s grim,” I muttered aloud, shaking myheadandtaking a deep breath.
Mymood was foul. I needed to cheer up before I was the one to sour the car rideto the airport. But it wouldn’t be easy. Not when I had just gotten into anargument with him over the phone, but I had to try. For both of us.
Pullingup to the house, I found TJ standing on the porch, his head bowed and coveredwith a hood. His arms were crossed, his stance was wide, and there wassomething about it that clearly read intimidation and standoffishness. Icouldn’t help but feel like Tom and I were to blame for him being so mean.
“TJ!”I heard Tom call from the driveway, where he was busy washing his car. “Mom ishere!”
