Page 8 of Stuck with Me

“Excuse me?” I ask with a grunt.

“No offense, boss, but do you have a death wish? Going to bat against Rosie? She’s a badass. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you will soon enough.” He uses the towel to dry some glasses before putting them on a glass shelf and I haven’t missed the fact that Rosalie has been smirking the entire time.

“Yeah? Well, I’ll be stuck with her for a few days, so I guess that means I’m gonna learn all the things that make her tick.”

She shoots a scowl at me, but she can’t hide the fire burning behind her eyes, like maybe she doesn’t find the idea of that the worst thing ever. In fact, I think she might be a bit intrigued.

“Oh, Rosie didn’t tell you?” Jones interrupts our heated stare. “You’ll be stuck with me too. And a few others. It’s been a tradition of ours to go to the cabin every New Year’s.”

Great. So not only will I be stuck with stick-up-her-butt-Rosalie, but I’ll also be stuck with her obviously protective friends. How am I going to convince her to sell me her share of the cabin if she’s got the support of her friends?

It dawns on me that I might need to play nicer if I want this to work in my favor.

“She didn’t tell me. But that’s fine. I’ll try to stay out of your way. I mostly just want a chance to check it out.”

“A chance to check it out? That’s not how you made your intentions sound when we talked on the phone.”

I shrug. “We can talk about it more right now if you want. Have you had dinner yet?”

She pinches her dark brows together, and she tilts her head. She’s skeptical.

“Rosie eats here almost every night,” Jones says, offering up some of her secrets for free.

“Good. Then why don’t you join me? We can talk about the cabin, the week, we can talk about whatever you want.”

After a long moment of obviously battling with a decision, she relents and hops onto the stool across from me. “Better bring us another round, Jones,” she says with a flick of her wrist and a roll of her eyes. “It’s gonna be a long fucking night.”

I nearly intercede and decline another beer since I’ve already had two. But then I remember, it’s early. And I’m not driving. I have zero plans for the rest of the night or tomorrow. Getting drunk sounds like the best idea since I arrived in Maple Ridge.

“Put it on my tab,” I say.

I expect an argument over this. Rosalie gives off the vibe that she usually doesn’t let a guy pay for her drinks. Not only does she allow my offer, but there’s something like satisfaction on her lips. They twist and tease me. Before I know it, I’ve conjured up a vivid image in my mind of kissing those tempting red lips. Which quickly leads to an image of them wrapped tightly around my cock.

I’m a screwed-up mother fucker.

“Alright, start talking,” she demands, snapping me out of my fantasy.

“What do you wanna know?” I guzzle what’s left of my beer before the next round arrives.

“What do you want with the cabin anyway?”

I pretend I’m considering her question. But the truth is, I already know the answer. The cabin is the only thing linked to my granddad’s past before my grandmother. It’s a sign that he didn’t do everything expected of him. As pathetic as it sounds, it gives me hope that I can make my own path too. Just like my granddad did. Or tried to.

I force myself to not think about how things turned out for him. Sure, he met my grandmother, had a couple of kids, and took over the family cattle farm. But he never seemed content or settled. I want to know why. And if the cabin had anything to do with that.

“Half of the cabin belonged to my granddad, meaning that half now belongs to me. As a partial owner, it’s only fair that I get to see it. And use it too.”

“Fair? None of this is fair.” There’s thick emotion blanketing her voice.

She chugs her beer like a trucker at a dive bar. It’s unladylike. And it’s sexy as hell.

“I guess we can agree on that.”

She pushes her lips into a thought. “That’s the only fucking thing we’re gonna agree on.”

A server stops by the table, setting her dinner down in front of her.

“Why don’t you tell me about your friends who are coming to the cabin?”

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