“Hmm?”
“Fin, don’t get in your head about this. I’m on it. You. Do. Not. Worry. About. This.¿Comprende?”
“Aye, Addie, I understand. Goodnight.”
“Bye, Fin-Fin. I love you.”
“I know.” His standard response to her declaration of love fell flat without the usual smugness he interjected.
He lay there, spent. The quiet humming of the air conditioner unit in the background soothed his senses. Fin’s eyes fluttered closed, then popped open again as his phone dinged with a text message. He smiled as he read Alex’s brief note about handling the food. He closed his eyes again and slipped into the sleep of the emotionally exhausted.
Chapter5
Sunday
Alex spentSunday morning cleaning the house and doing laundry. For lunch, she reheated leftovers from Friday night’s supper with Eddie and Gabe, then ate while she made her grocery list for the week.
When Alex had first moved into her own place, she had tried to manage her kitchen the way her mother ran the ranch house back home. Mom kept a fully stocked kitchen with certain staples always on hand, ready to whip up a meal for ranch hands and visitors at a moment’s notice.
She learned quickly this approach didn’t work for her, when her frequent business trips resulted in wasted food. She now planned meals week to week and had an arrangement with Gabe where he could make use of all perishable items in her kitchen when she was out of town.
After cleaning up her lunch dishes, she checked in to see if Gabe needed anything for tonight’s dinner with Fin. She received an amused no and headed to the carport.
Yesterday, the boys had taken over planning for the meal tonight and she’d happily let them, still reeling that she had a date with a movie star. She’d worried about having a strange man over to her house, and asked the guys to chaperone. Of course, they’d been delighted to be included, but she hadn’t updated Fin on the additional company. She hoped he wouldn’t be upset about the change of plans. Alex shrugged as she unlocked her Nissan Juke. Better to ask forgiveness, than permission.
She slipped behind the wheel of the little black and red car. The Jukester, as she affectionately called it, was the NISMO edition, modeled after the Nissan Motorsport racing car division. The cute compact car came with a manual transmission, and its peppy engine made it super fun to drive. Nissan no longer made the Juke, so she constantly received offers to buy hers, which she politely declined each time.
She made a quick run to the store and got everything she needed, plus a few things she didn’t. Who could resist cookie dough ice cream on sale? Back at home, Alex unloaded the groceries. As she put away the last bag, she glanced at the clock. She still had a few hours to fill before Fin arrived, so she sat down at her laptop and worked on her project plan for the new PMO department.
Just after five, Eddie walked in after giving a single knock. Upon seeing her at her desk, he stopped short and bellowed, “What in the Sam Hill are you still doing in your gym clothes? You only have an hour and a half until he arrives!”
“Geez, Eddie, it only takes me thirty minutes to get ready. Calm your tits,” she replied patiently as she saved her work. “Did you need something?”
“I came to check on you and bring over this hair clip my sister left the last time she visited. I thought it would go perfectly with the outfit you chose. And don’t tell me to calm my tits. I hate when you say that,” Eddie sulked.
“Well, I wouldn’t say it if your tits didn’t need the occasional calming.” She laughed at Eddie’s mock outrage. “Oh, that’s pretty,” she exclaimed as she crossed the room and reached for the clip.
He handed it over and pushed her gently towards her bedroom. “There ya go. Now go get ready. We’ll see you in a bit.”
“Thanks, Eddie.” Alex headed off to shower and dress for her date.
An hour later,Alex left Eddie’s side of the duplex through the back door after checking with the guys that everything was on schedule. Her stomach twinged and she pressed a hand against her abdomen, hoping to calm her nerves. She rarely invited strangers to her house and, despite knowingwhohe was, she still didn’t know him. She hoped he wasn’t too upset that she’d included her friends.
As she walked the short distance to her back door, a black sedan pulled into the driveway. She tracked the vehicle as it drove around to the lot behind their house. Fin emerged from the backseat and waved the driver on. She watched as he glanced around and took in the compound. Wow. His casual attire of jeans and a blue long-sleeve t-shirt showed off his physique and played up his striking blue eyes. His damp hair hinted at a recent shower.
His eyes swept over the flower bushes, landing on her. Fin moved toward Alex, smiling. “Hello,” he greeted her cheerfully.
“Hello, yourself,” she answered as she led him to her side of the duplex. “This is my side of the house. Come on in and I’ll show you around.”
Fin followed her through the door, where Felix welcomed him with a loud meow from the top of the clothes washer in the tiny utility room to the right. “Hello there, cat.” He reached over to scratch behind Felix’s ears.
Alex grinned and introduced the two males. “Felix likes to inspect all new arrivals. He’s open to bribes of rubbing and petting. Sorry for bringing you in the back way, but we’re not very formal around here. You are now officially a backdoor guest.”
“Nice. Who’s ‘we?’ Just you and Felix?” he asked as gave the cat a final rub and followed Alex to the heart of the house.
“Mmm, yes, only Felix and I live here, but I was actually referring to me and my neighbors. We’re all connected via the parking lot in the back and treat each other like a bunch of grown siblings. In fact, we are dining with my landlord and his partner tonight. They live next door,” she explained as she pointed to the southern wall of her living room.
She noticed the frown that appeared on Fin’s face. “Don’t worry, they’re harmless. And Gabe is a premier chef at one of the hoity-toity restaurants in town so the food will be fantastic.” She assumed he was worried about being exposed, especially at the mention of her gay friends. One of Fin’s critically acclaimed films was about a homosexual couple trying to adopt a child. The film had catapulted him to the top of the gay community’s favorite stars list. The frown cleared from his face, followed by a slight shrug, then he shifted to look around her home.
