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"I can tell already I'm really going to like this new town, and I can't wait to see how things play out. Something tells me it's going to be fun as hell to watch."
I wasn't sure I agreed. Then the feeling that someone was watching me pulled my attention back to where Kati was sitting. Instead of those piercing green eyes gazing my way, it was a different set looking me over. And the owner of them looked curious. I wasn't sure what to make of that.
Would the young man still be curious if he knew the thoughts that filtered through my mind about his mother earlier in the day?
My first instinct would be hell no.
CHAPTER FIVE
Kati
My first full day off after coming off a night shift was normally when I would get a whole list of things done. My routine was flawless.
Drive home from work, take Lucien to school, then sleep all day until he came home. We would go out to eat that night because obviously sleeping all day meant I didn't have time to make dinner and be back to bed by ten p.m. so the next morning I was refreshed enough to get shit done.
Except that didn't happen yesterday. Clearly my sleep was interrupted because I was the idiot who forgot to set an alarm. Dinner was a disaster, and I barely ate after Easton walked in. Not that I can blame it on him, since he looked to be on the receiving end of the same small-town shenanigans as me.
Either way, I had barely picked at my club sandwich and then last night I’d tossed and turned so much that by the time I finally fell into a fitful sleep, it was time to wake up again.
So instead of starting my day with a pep in my step after dropping Lucien at school, I was dragging my ass and resenting all the chores I had to do. One of them being the call to Willow Creek Security that I needed to make.
As I stopped at a red light, I dropped my head back onto the headrest and groaned. Why did I have to be the worst at first impressions?
Seriously, the worst. The number of times I've embarrassed myself when meeting someone new was starting to get ridiculous. There had to be some Guinness Book of World Records that I've surely met at this point. If not, then I was close.
The sound of a horn blaring from somewhere behind me pulled me from my pity party. Of course, the light would have the nerve to turn green while I was in the middle of a mini meltdown. That's just how my morning was going. It didn't matter that the timer for the light was the same every day, all day. Just once couldn't it be a smidge longer, for my benefit?
I looked at the buildings along Main Street and decided at the last minute that this morning called for something a little extra. I was just pulling in front of Wickedly Delicious when my phone rang.
I didn't even need to look at the screen to know who it was.
"Morning." It was the same greeting I gave Lyla every day when she called around the same time. Some might consider our co-dependency unhealthy. Those people could pound sand.
"Did you sleep well enough last night that you're going to stop being dramatic this morning?"
Okay, so maybe having a best friend who called me out on my shit wasn't great some days. Today would be one of them.
"If you must know," I sassed back. "I slept like shit, but thanks for asking."
Lyla's laughter filtered through the speaker of my car and only further pissed me off. "Being a drama queen doesn't suit you. Last time I checked, those were the kind of girls we used to laugh at in high school."
I pulled into a parking spot and dropped my head back onto the headrest for the second time that morning. Lyla was right. I wasn't a drama queen. In fact, I was the opposite. I rolled with the punches life threw at me.
"I blame it on the lack of sleep."
"Now that, I can believe. Lucien isn't the only Whitlock who hates mornings and needs his beauty rest."
I joined Lyla in her laughter. It was crazy how one conversation with my best friend could change my mood so quickly.
"People who survive off less than five hours of sleep are evil."
"I've never once argued that I'm not," Lyla quipped.
It was our running joke because if there was anyone who was the opposite of evil, it was Lyla. She was one of the nicest people in the world. She would give the shirt off her back to her enemy and think nothing of it. The number of times Lyla had gone out of her way to help someone, me included, was astronomical.
"So are you going to suck it up and stop at the security place this morning or what? Do I need to leave my studio and drag you down there?"
I huffed out a sigh. "Dragging isn't necessary. I'm actually on Main Street now. I'm going to grab breakfast at the bakery and then head over."
