Goody Two Shoes (Invertary 2)

As Caroline swayed in place, he went to find her shoes.

When he returned to the kitchen, Caroline was explaining her problem with champagne to his mother. “I thought it was like lemonade. So easy to drink. You forget there’s alcohol in it.”

“Champagne is like that,” his mother commiserated. “Whatever you do, don’t try any of those chocolate liqueurs. It’s like drinking candy. One minute you’re thinking, this is delicious, next minute you’re face down in your own vomit wondering what the heck happened.”

Caroline shuddered. “Thank you. I’ll steer clear of those.”

“Here’s your bag and shoes.” He knelt down before her and helped her step into her shoes.

“Thank you.” Even with a hangover, her manners were impeccable. She patted him on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, Helen.” She turned to go.

“Oh, hell no.” Josh grabbed her arm and swung her back round towards him. She squealed. “That is not how you say goodbye to your man.”

His lips clamped down on hers as he threaded his fingers into the hair at the back of her head. After a thorough kissing, he released her. She wobbled on her feet.

“Bye, Caroline.” His mum’s tone was heavy with amusement.

Caroline touched her lips, then blinked hard as though to clear her head. Josh smiled knowingly. Maybe now she would regret this desire to be away from him. She mumbled something about needing time alone as she wobbled to the front door.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Caroline had forgotten that Josh’s father was camping out in her living room. Her tiny house was full of brooding, grumpy man. She couldn’t even hide in her bedroom and pretend that her life hadn’t been invaded, because there was still no door to her room. Instead she’d taken a bottle of water, a strip of aspirin and a box of chocolate chip cookies to bed and spent the night listening to Andrew McInnes snore and fart.

It was delightful.

Since the centre had been shut for the rest of the week, Caroline found herself without a purpose. She’d wanted to curl up on her couch and read some trashy romance novels in the hope of forgetting about her life, but Andrew had beaten her to it. The man had been going through her books, sticking notes to the pages and jotting down anything he thought was important in one of her notebooks. Every now and then he’d grunt or bark a laugh. Once he shouted, “You’ve got to be kidding me! These women are sick! Who writes this crap?” Then there was silence again.

By mid-afternoon Caroline had had enough of being overrun by McInnes men, and was on her way into the living room to tell Josh’s father that he’d overstayed his welcome. Instead the back door opened and Josh walked in like he owned the place.

“Go away,” Caroline told him. “But not before you take him with you.” She pointed in the direction of the living room, in case there was any confusion.

Josh walked straight over to her and wrapped her in his arms. Caroline froze for a minute.

“Hey.” He looked down at her. “What did I do to get the freeze-out?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t decided why I’m mad at you yet. I’m pretty sure everything is your fault, but I need to put it together logically.”

She felt him shake as he silently laughed at her. Against her better judgement, she rubbed her cheek on the cotton of his blue T-shirt and gave in to a sigh.

Josh’s dad came rushing out of the living room and ruined the moment. Thankfully, he was fully dressed. The man might be in great shape for his age—heck, for any age—but he was going to be her father-in-law, and watching him trot around half naked was just yuck. She shuddered at the thought.

“Get in here, you two. I’ve figured everything out.”

He disappeared. Josh looked as confused as Caroline felt.

“Do you think this means he’s ready to leave?” Caroline whispered.

“We can only hope,” Josh said.

“Hurry up,” his father yelled.

Josh dragged Caroline into the living room. There were three pieces of paper taped to the wall beside the TV. Andrew stood in front of them as though ready to give a presentation. There was a pile of romance novels on the table beside him.

“Sit on the couch.” They did as they were told. “Right. I’ve been reading through all this crap that Caroline has been stockpiling.”

“Hey!” Caroline said.

“Sorry.” It looked like he was struggling not to roll his eyes. “What do you want me to call it?”