“What’s wrong?” She noticed the worry on my face. “Are we taking the motorcycle after all? Do I need to change?”
“No. Yes. No.”
Her brows drew down, so I explained. “No. We’re not taking the motorcycle. Yes, you need to change.”
She looked down at her outfit. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“Absolutely nothing. It’s perfect.”
“But—”
I raked my fingers through my hair. “Except that I had this recurring fantasy of you wearing all white.”
She smiled. “That’s sweet. Like I was an angel?”
My mouth spread into a wicked grin. “Not exactly.”
Her cheeks blushed. “Oh.”
I chuckled. “You don’t have to change. But you should know, if I’m quiet on the ride to my place, it’s because I’m replaying that fantasy over and over in my mind.” I winked.
There was a red suitcase next to the door, so I grabbed it.
“I just need to get my purse.”
Mutton was rubbing at my leg, wanting attention. “And Mutton’s leash. I don’t have a big yard like you. We’ll have to walk him.”
Aubrey turned around. “You want to bring Pixy?”
“Of course. We’re a family.”
It was like the damn goat understood what we were talking about. He nuzzled into my hands and let out a soft “Baaaa.”
“That’s right, buddy. It’s just going to be me and you and Mommy.” I scratched the top of his head. “You like that, don’t you.”
“All set.” Aubrey returned with her purse and the leash. “I just need to stop at Philomena’s and tell her she doesn’t need to take care of Pixy.”
“Philomena’s?”
“My neighbor. She takes care of Pixy when I work late sometimes. When I went over to ask her to take care of him yesterday, she raved about my gardens. She said she would love to steal you from me. Then she went on a tirade about the mailman delivering her four Magic Bullets that she didn’t order and insisted I take one home with me.” Aubrey pointed to an unopened box on the counter. “She’s a bit on the odd side but very nice.”
“Magic Bullet? Is that like your magic wand? You still playing with that?”
“No! It’s a blender…for smoothies.”
It was normally a two-hour drive from Temecula to Hermosa Beach, but the rush hour traffic made it almost double that. I didn’t give a shit, though. The sun was shining, I was free, and my girl was coming to my place for the weekend. Since I couldn’t do what I really wanted to do with her, I decided to show Aubrey what a normal weekend with us together would be like. We both knew we had chemistry, but something told me one of the things holding her back, aside from trust, was she wasn’t convinced we had more than chemistry.
Adele was still at my place when we arrived. She pretended to have been running late, but I knew she really wanted to meet Aubrey.
“Sorry. I was hoping to be at Harry’s by the time you got home. I was just cleaning up a bit.”
Aubrey looked at me in disbelief. “Harry?”
“I shit you not. First day out, I come home and find some bloke in his boxers ironing at my kitchen counter. He tells me his name is Harry.”
Aubrey and I both laughed. Adele didn’t get the joke, but was smiling from ear to ear anyway. My sister extended her hand. “I’m so glad to meet you, Aubrey. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Aubrey and Adele stared at each other for a long moment. I had no idea what was going on, but something strange seemed to be taking place. Then the two practically collided, wrapping each other in their arms for a hug. It was like they were long lost best friends. They didn’t let go for the longest time.
Watching it, I became a bit choked up. Both women had tears in their eyes when they separated. I heard my sister whisper, “We both lost a lot. I’m finding my way back. I hope you do, too.”
I cleared my throat and hugged my sister goodbye a few minutes later. She was carrying an overnight bag to spend the weekend at Harry’s. “I stocked the cabinets with your essentials.”
“Snags, Tim Tams and Pixy sticks?”
“Of course. And I got this guy here some treats, too.” She gave Pixy a good rub before leaving.
When it was just the two of us, I gave Aubrey a tour. My place was an old converted warehouse. It had high ceilings and a wide open floor plan. There were three bedrooms, but I’d converted one into an art studio. My sister was using the other one since she came to stay with me. When I told her Aubrey would be staying in the guest room, she sounded like she didn’t believe me but prepped it for a guest nonetheless.
I stopped at my bedroom first. “This is our bedroom.”
“Chance—”
“I know. Not tonight. But if we decide to live down here near the beach, this will be our room.” The fucked up thing was, I already thought of it as our bedroom.
“It’s very nice. Is that a Klimt painting?”
I smiled. Love my dirty girl. “It is. It’s the Three Ages of Women. See, we have a lot in common. We both like women’s breasts in paintings. Although when we’re in here, I won’t notice anything but those babies.” My eyes pointed to her great rack.
“You’re a perv.”
“And you love it.”
I gave her the rest of the tour, regretfully dropping her bag in the guest room. The last room on the tour was my art studio. I hadn’t made anything in a long, long time. There were canvas drop cloths covering most projects I was working on before my life became a clusterfuck. I flicked on the light and meant to pass the room right by, but Aubrey wandered inside.
“Did you make that?” She pointed to a large motorcycle made of recycled parts. It had been in a few art shows, but now there was an inch of dust covering it.
“I did.”
“Wow. It’s…incredible.” She walked around, inspecting it carefully. “Everything on here is junk?”
“I don’t use any purchased materials. Only recycled objects that I find.”
“You’re really good. I’m not sure what I expected. But this seems to tell a story.” I smiled. Of course, she totally got it. I always felt every individual piece that I collected could tell a different tale. The way they all blended together was sort of like reading a book to me. I walked around to the other side of the bike and pointed to a few different things, telling her where each piece had come from.
If it were possible, I fell just a little more for her right then.
That night, we ordered in Chinese food and ate straight from the cartons. Aubrey fell asleep with her head on my lap as we watched a movie. Keeping to my word, I covered her with a blanket and went to my own bed to sleep.
The next morning, she was still sleeping when I slipped out to take Pixy for a walk. But she was awake when I walked in carrying two coffees and an assortment of overpriced crap from Starbucks.
“Morning.”
She sat up on the couch and stretched her arms over her head. Her shirt pulled up, exposing her beautiful soft skin. I wanted to fucking bite it. I had to turn the other way.
“You get some strange ass looks when you walk a goat.”