Page 53 of Bad Habits
“He’s a good guy,” Dade said, dispensing two cups of coffee from the machine. “I just hope your boyfriend won’t be pissed that I brought him along.”
We hadn’t told Dade we were a thing at the bar, which meant Knox must have filled him in. Or Auden. “If you’re talking about Knox—”
He chuckled. “Who else would I be talkin’ about, sugar? You have another boyfriend I don’t know about?” He passed me one of the coffees before snagging a bottle of iced coffee from the fridge. When I raised my eyebrow, he shrugged, “Thought your sister might need the caffeine fix.”
Before I could respond, Dade pulled out a bill to pay the cashier and the woman’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God,” she whispered, looking from her left to her right, “You’re Dade Jarvis, aren’t you? My husband and I are huge fans.”
His smile was tight as he nodded, probably hoping his admission wouldn’t turn into a free for all for autograph seekers. “Thank you, ma’am.” He passed her a twenty. “Keep the change.”
Her silver curls were bobbing as she nodded fiercely. “Thank you.”
“Does that ever get old?” I asked, knowing that my friend was a low-key guy who usually preferred gliding under the radar, whenever possible.
“People like that are the reason I get to do what I do, so I can’t complain.”
I couldn’t just let it go, so as we stepped back on the elevator, I asked “Did, uh, Knox say anything to you about us?”
He smiled. “He didn’t have to. Knox and I have been friends a long time. I can read him pretty well. It was obvious he was worried about you, and thinks the world of your dad, but it was the things he didn’t say that tipped me off.”
“Meaning?”
He waited until we were off the elevator before he said, “He was just talking about how important you were to him, how he’d do anything to help your old man. I know you guys are close, but he sounded like a man in love to me, Cece.”
A smile tugged at my lips when I realized Knox wasn’t any better at hiding this than I was. I wondered what my daddy would say when I told him Knox and I were a couple? If I knew him, he’d probably growl ‘it’s about damn time’.
Dade cleared his throat to interrupt the little tête-à-tête between Auden and my sister. It looked pretty cozy. I didn’t care, but judging by the frown on his face Dade seemed to.
“Here you go,” Dade said, passing the iced coffee to Charli. “I thought maybe you could use a little caffeine.”
She smiled, popping the same dimples I sported. “Aren’t you sweet? Thank you, Dade.”
She wasn’t flirting, Charli was just being herself, but I could tell it was making Dade all kinds of crazy as he glanced at me before closing his eyes for a split second. “Uh, my pleasure. I guess we should hit the road, Auden.”
Auden jumped to his feet. “You got it, boss.”
Dade gave me a hug before leaning in to hug my sister as well. “I hope you’ll call if you need anything.”
Charli looked at me over Dade’s shoulder and I could tell she was thinking,WTF… is this really happening right now?
We said our good-byes and watched both men walk away before I turned to face Charli. “You met the man up close and personal and didn’t lose your shit. I’m proud of you, kid.”
She rolled her eyes. “Would you give me some credit? He’s just a man. Puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us.”
I gave her theyeah right, side eye. “You talk a good game,” I said, when we re-claimed our seats. “And I’ll admit, you were convincing, but tell me you weren’t on the verge of wetting yourself when you saw him step off the elevator.”
She bumped her shoulder against mine, fanning her face. “There are no words. I mean, there’s hot…” She held her hand flat before raising it higher. “And then there’s that man.”
I giggled, thinking it felt nice to talk about something other than Daddy’s situation for a minute. “He does have a certain charisma, doesn’t he?”
She snorted while uncapping her drink. “I believe they call that panty-melting, mouth-watering, magic.” She held up her bottle. “Can you believe he actually touched this?”
I laughed. “At least you waited to go all crazy fan-girl. I appreciate that.”
“Never let it be said I’m not a good actress.”
Our smiles slipped when Mama walked out of the hospital room looking wrung out. We both jumped to our feet, rushing her. “Is everything okay?” I asked, gripping both her hands. “Daddy didn’t have a setback, did he?” Tears burned my eyes just thinking about the possibility.
“No sugar, nothing like that,” she said, squeezing my hands before releasing them. “I just spoke to the doctor though and it looks like your daddy is going to need that triple bypass.”
