Free Crave: A BWWM Romance by Sadie Black Page B

get. If we’re not ready to go it’ll be an earful and probably a billion dollars in bullshit fees. We are so close to finishing. Can we please just get this done?”
    “I know I know. Hey, I’ve been working in here. This is the last of the plates. Then I’ll help you with the glasses, we’ll give the place a sweep, and we’ll be golden.”
    I still had the tears of laughter in my eyes when Mom returned with the peanuts. She paused and gazed at me suspiciously.
    “Been making fun of me have you?” She lifted my chin with her fingers, the way mothers do.
    “Not me. Kaila.”
    “ Thanks sis,” we could hear from the farther room.
    “That’s what you get for wasting time,” I called back.
    “Whatever. Laugh all you want. I’m moving in with the man I love. You can’t bring me down today.”
    I glanced up to apologize and caught the smile playing on her lips. It was such a perfect, small smile. Her face was like the Mona Lisa, happy with a secret, happy but not caring who knows, not showing it off, just experiencing it. Her happiness wasn’t the kind of happiness I recalled from late nights out with Sonia or exchanging quips with Kaila. It wasn’t even the kind of happiness I recalled from the other night when Cole had me bent over a counter. It was the kind of happiness that lasts, a contentment, a profound joy. Suddenly, I was incredibly jealous of my Mom’s happiness. I couldn’t judge her. I wasn’t even in the same league as her when it came to living life.
    There was a knock at the door. The moving truck was here early. Shit. I put down the glass I was holding and firmly instructed my mother to finish the packing while I made my way to the door. All the while, I was preparing a speech about how rude it was to be too early. Didn’t these guys work on a timetable? I was all ready to begin scolding when I opened the door to my mother’s condo and saw Cole Saunders standing on the other side.
    “What are you doing here?” I blurted out. I immediately felt the heat of embarrassment wash over me for having been so blatantly rude.
    “What am I doing here? I’m right where I’m supposed to be.” Cole paused, checked the apartment number, checked a pad in his pocket, and turned back to me. “Do you live here?”
    “No. My mother does. Look, I don’t know what is happening here, but it can wait until tomorrow. My Mom is moving today and we’re expecting the truck any minute.” I made a show of glancing over his shoulder, as if the moving truck might be waiting behind him, and he was blocking it with his big, annoying body.
    Cole chuckled and rested one hand on the frame. Leaning over me like a greaser from the fifties might lean over a lollipop chick in a poodle skirt. I was acutely aware of his presence. All of the feelings of Friday night came back in waves as I locked eyes with him. Even the low down feelings. I squirmed a little, embarrassed by the idea that he might guess what I was thinking.
    “Sweetheart, I am the movers.”
    “Oh.” I scanned him for evidence of this. He wasn’t wearing a moving uniform. He was dressed the same way he dressed to work on the restaurant, faded jeans and a t-shirt. “You’re not wearing a uniform…and hey . You told me you couldn’t work today because your Dad was sick! Using your Dad as an excuse so you can sneak a second job as a mover is beyond pathetic. Why do you need this job anyway? You charge me an arm and a leg.”
    I broke off at the sight of his grin. I wanted to smack it…then kiss it. I wanted to pull at the tendrils of hair that were falling in front of his eyes, twirl them around my fingers, and drag him in close.
    “You done?” He asked, breaking the spell. “I don’t work for the movers. I’m here for my Dad.”
    As if on cue, an older gentleman in similar attire as his son, walked up to the door with a wide smile and an open hand. He introduced himself as Francis Saunders. I shook his hand numbly, slowly assembling the mystery