Page 30 of Holding On to a Hero
“You’ll have to wait. He’s in the shower.” I realized my mistake as soon as one elegant eyebrow started to lift. “Not like that. We all got dirty with the sheep.” The other eyebrow went up. “Shit, not like that! Dammit!” We were both laughing.
“Okay, well at least tell me how it’s going.”
“Good, I think.” I eyeballed the hallway. I couldn’t tell from here if the guest bedroom door was still shut. I crouched down behind the kitchen counter. “I think he’s a little nervous, but he seems to be having a good time. I told him the ugly truth about my past, Godfrey and all that.”
“That’s good, Cole. You need to make yourself vulnerable so he can feel more comfortable with you.”
My knees were starting to protest my squatting position, so I just sat on the floor, leaning against the cabinets. “I hope it’s working. He’s really great.”
“So what’s next? Candlelight dinner?”
“Umm, dinner at least. I’m not sure we have any candles.” Shit, candleswouldbe nice.
“What about flowers? Do you at least have flowers? How is that man supposed to know you’re trying to woo him?”
“Woo? Who sayswoo?”
Before she could answer I saw a pair of legs in my peripheral vision.
“Cole?” Shit.
“Oooh, is that him? Let me see him!” Trixie shouted. I cringed as I met Will’s eyes, but at least he seemed to be amused. Shit, I was on the floor.
I scrambled to my feet and pressed the phone against my chest. “Um, sorry, Will. Um, Trixie, my PA, would like to say hi to you if that’s okay.” We could both hear Trixie’s muffled voice shouting, “My name is Tracey, you asshole! At least tell him my real name!”
I laughed. “This jerk studio executive kept calling her Trixie, and I thought it was funny, so that’s what I’ve called her ever since.”
A delightfully wicked smile lit up Will’s face. “That sounds like something I’d do to my sister. And of course I can say hi to her.”
I moved next to Will so Trixie could see both of us. Conveniently, I needed to put my arm around him so we could both be in camera range. “Hi, Tracey. It’s nice to meet you,” he said formally.
“Well, hi there! Aren’t you cute? Are you one of those freaky Texans with the guns and the pickup truck?”
“Uh, I have a pickup truck. But no gun. And I’ve only lived here for a little over a year. I’m from Colorado.”
“Thank goodness. I don’t know what Cole and Jason were thinking, moving there.”
“Trixie hasn’t come to visit us once since we’ve been here,” I told Will.
“One of you would have to be on death’s door to get me to set foot in that crazy state.”
“Austin’s not that bad,” Will countered. “You could stay in town. It’s pretty liberal.”
“It’s not worth the risk. I like my nice, safe California, where I only have to worry about wildfires and earthquakes.”
Jason wandered into the kitchen at that point. He came up behind me and Will, putting his arms around both of us and sticking his head in between ours. “Trixie, my love, we miss you terribly,” he told her.
“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes. “You’ve got your new friend Will here to occupy yourselves with. I think you’ll be just fine without me.”
We chatted with Trixie for a few more minutes before hanging up. I set the phone down, but Jason kept his arms around me and Will. “Turn around,” he told us. “I haven’t kissed both of you together yet today.”
Well, now, that wouldn’t do.
* * *
After dinner, cooked by yours truly – possibly with the help of our housekeeper who left a ready-to-go casserole in the fridge – the three of us ended up on the couch in the living room again.
“Movie?” I asked Will.
