She’d never gone to college.
Aubrey’s path had crossed Melissa’s a few times here and there. After all, Tammy worked at the same salon. But Aubrey and Melissa had never talked about that night, which had changed Melissa’s life forever. But this morning, Aubrey had driven by the salon and got lucky, finding Melissa there early working on stock, and she brought up the past for the first time in all these years.
Melissa had told Aubrey that not too long after she’d broken her arm, her parents had cut her off because of her partying ways. It’d been a wake-up call. She’d gotten herself together, gone to beauty school, and was now running her own hair salon. She swore up and down that she was actually grateful for the path she’d ended up on. And happy.
Happy…
Aubrey shook her head in marvel. But Melissa had been sincere. She’d hugged Aubrey and told her to come in for a cut sometime and they’d talk about old times.
“Wow, she smiles.”
Aubrey stifled her startled shriek. Ben stood in the doorway, propping up the doorjamb with a broad shoulder, arms crossed over his chest. A casual pose.
But there was nothing casual about the assessing look he was giving her. “I smile plenty,” she said, irritated at herself. Just the sight of him used to remind her of her mistakes. Now the sight of him reminded her that he’d kissed her.
And he kissed amazingly…
That knowledge was damned distracting. She needed to find a way to get rid of it, but she couldn’t. She thought about it every waking moment. And also during her sleeping moments, what few there’d been.
Meow.
Gus had gotten up for Ben. He never got up for Aubrey, but there he was, on all four legs, rubbing up against Ben as though he were catnip.
She was beginning to see how it was that Ben might have gotten cat hair on his pants.
Ben crouched low and gave the cat an allover body rub that had Gus rolling in ecstasy on the floor, the low, loud rumble of his rarely heard purr filling the room.
She rolled her eyes and then realized Ben was looking at her, really looking at her, and she went on guard. “We going to talk about it?” he finally asked, straightening.
“No.” Hell, no.
He gave an almost smile, as if that had been the answer he’d expected, and yet there was a flash of something else as well. She dismissed it, because there could be no way he wanted to talk about it, either.
Another man came up behind Ben in the doorway. “Knock, knock,” he said, rapping his knuckles on the doorjamb. “Am I interrupting?”
“Pastor Mike.” Aubrey immediately looked around herself guiltily, as if she’d been caught doing something wrong. She stopped herself and added a mental head slap. Good Lord, woman, get a grip. “No, you’re not interrupting anything. How can I help you? Do you need a book?”
“No, I don’t need a book,” he said. “But thank you.”
Aubrey didn’t know what to make of this. People came here for books. Or, in Ben’s case, to drive her crazy.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Pastor Mike said, his smile casual. Easy.
“I’m…” She didn’t dare look at Ben. “Good. Thank you.” She had no idea why he was really here. Were there AA rules she didn’t know about? She hadn’t signed up for anything. She’d been careful not to make any commitments that night. She hadn’t wanted anyone getting into her business.
And she especially didn’t want Ben getting into her business.
Mike looked at Ben and held out a hand. “Good to see you home safe. There were lots of candles lit for you. Your aunt Dee lit one every week.”
Ben shook Mike’s hand. “She likes to hedge all her bets.”
The pastor smiled. “It worked. Heard you were sticking around this time. You helping our girl out?”
Ben’s mouth quirked at the “our girl.” “Yeah. So you and Aubrey are close?” he asked Pastor Mike.
Aubrey jumped in before Pastor Mike could give her secret away, on purpose or otherwise. “Yeah, we’re close,” she said, moving toward Ben. “We’re…buddies.” She tried to nudge him out the door—to no avail, of course. The big lug couldn’t be budged.
“What are you doing?” he asked, effortlessly resisting her efforts.
“You’ve. Got. To. Go.”
“Do I?”
“Yes!” She flashed a we’re-all-family-here smile over her shoulder to Mike. “He was just saying he had to go,” she told the pastor. “He’s a big sinner, you know. Maybe you should go with him. Keep him from sinning further today.”
Pastor Mike laughed. Why he was laughing Aubrey had no idea, because this wasn’t funny.
“I don’t have to go,” Ben said. “I’ve got all day.”
Great. He had all day. “No, really. You’re a busy guy, so—”
“I’m all yours,” he said easily.
Oh, for God’s sake.
“Aubrey,” Mike said gently.
“Just a minute, Pastor.” She gave up trying to shove Ben out the door and went hands on hips, blowing a strand of hair from her face. She gave him a dirty look before turning back to Mike.
“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I can’t stay. I really did just want to see how you were doing, or if you needed anything.”
Oh. Well, that was a little sweet, she could admit. “I don’t. I’m fine, thank you.”
Mike looked as though he knew better than to believe that, but he didn’t argue with her. He simply nodded. “You know where to find me if you need anything.”
And with that, he was gone.
“So,” Ben said into the silence. “You and Pastor Mike. You’re…buddies.”
“Yep.”
“From…?” he asked.
She gave him a look. “Maybe I go to church every Sunday.”
He flashed a heart-stopping grin, and she sighed. “Yeah, that was probably a stretch, believing I’m actually good enough to go to church.”
His smile faded as his gaze touched over her features. “Good’s way overrated,” he said. “But you’re doing okay, I’d say.”
The combination of that and the way he was looking at her had her heart squeezing uncomfortably, so she took a few steps back. “What are you even doing here?”
“I work here,” he reminded her.
She sighed. “And thanks for that, by the way. It’s really amazing how much you got done last night. It looks good.”
He nodded in acceptance. “My turn to ask a question now,” he said, and pushed off the wall, closing the distance between them.
“Uh…okay. But maybe we should set limits—”
“No limits. Here’s my question. When are you going to tell me what’s going on with you?”
Oh, boy. “That’s a pretty widely scoped question.”
“You’re right,” he said. “Let me narrow it down for you. Start with the list, and why you’re going around town talking to people. Did you become a Jehovah’s Witness or something?”
That startled a laugh out of her. “I think that’s two questions.”
His eyes warmed a little. “And?”
“And…no. I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness.”
Chapter 9
Ben laughed, and when he did, Aubrey took another step back—right into the wall. She frowned at him as though it were his fault, which made him want to laugh again. Instead he studied her, a little surprised to realize that she was truly flustered by him.