She’d fallen in love with the foal, and he seemed to be as enamored with her as she was with him because he’d started making noise when she’d left the day after he was born.
I’d jokingly said he had a thing for Adrienne, so Jay, one of the hands, had said we should call him Rocky because of the scene in the movie where he calls her name. Addy had loved the idea, so that’s how we’d gotten Rocky.
“I have a call with Gramps coming in about things here, but I’d love it if you’d stay with me until after it, and then I’ll take you over to see him.” I rubbed my hand up her denim covered thigh, smiling when her muscles twitched.
“I can do that, but you’d better make it worth my while with a cup of coffee.”
“That’s not a problem for me, but I still don’t see why you can’t just buy the same pods.”
“I did, but it doesn’t taste the same as when you make it.”
I rolled my eyes as I stood up, but I could admit I’d make her a cup whenever she wanted it. It’d never be a chore and always be a pleasure to make her something that made her smile like the coffee did.
Picking up one of the reusable pods for the Keurig, I packed it with the ground Starbucks Pike Place coffee, then popped it in the machine and waited for it to brew.
Some people liked the reusable filters, others didn’t. I was the former because the coffee I wanted didn’t always come in a pod, and I didn’t want to crowd the place with different machines just to get it.
I was also a “coffee asshole,” according to Remy, because each time I made myself a cup, I had to look at my options and then decide instead of settling for the same thing all the time. Finding these reusable pods that I could pack with the type I wanted just made life easier.
As soon as she had the cup, she took a mouthful and leaned back in the seat, smiling happily up at me. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“Aren’t you worried about burning your mouth?”
Lifting a shoulder, she took another sip. “Nope. I’ve been addicted to coffee since I was a teenager. After I signed with my agent and people began requesting me by name, I became even more reliant on it because I was working at least sixteen hours a day after I moved to LA.”
She’d never explained why she’d moved from San Diego to LA, and glancing at the clock, I knew we didn’t have time right now to get into it because Gramps would be calling in two minutes.
“I just need to get the paperwork out for the meeting. Are you sure you don’t mind hanging around?”
Smiling softly up at me, she shook her head. “The caffeine gods appeased me. You go and make your call while I offer up my gratitude back to them.”
Snorting, I kissed her quickly and then moved behind my desk, just as my phone began making a noise. Hitting the screen to answer the call, I put it on the holder on my desk that kept it up high and freed my hands up to work while I was on a call.
“Hey, Gramps. How’s Grams?”
“Doing good and giving me hell as always. How are you doing, son?”
Raising my eyes from the paperwork to where Addy was happily watching what was going on outside the office window, I couldn’t help but smile.
“S’all going great.”
“That’s what I hear. What’s this about you having a female in your life now?”
My eyes cut back to the screen just as Addy’s head swung in my direction.
“You heard right, and no, I won’t send her to stay with you for a couple of weeks so you can get to know her.”
Glaring at me, Gramps bit out, “Our family isn’t for the faint-hearted. If your girl can spend time with your cousins and not freak out or run or have a breakdown, then she’s strong enough to survive us.”
Dropping my pen, I gave him a rundown. “I met Adrienne the night of Jackson’s bachelor party. A fight broke out next to her, and she would have gotten hit in the head if I hadn’t moved her out of the way. After that, I almost ran her dad over with my truck when I saw her again. He now hates me and plots my murder whenever he sees me.
“Her grandmother likes me but insists on speaking in weird English to Addy to get under her skin. A few days ago, she watched Gibraltar give birth and managed not to throw up, even though it was a close call.”
Gramps dropped his face into his hands and groaned until I added, “And Remy talks around her, so I figure that’s as good a sign as I’m ever going to get.”