Mine At Midnight. Jamie Pope
he spoke as he turned back to his work. “I’m not sure my father would know a screwdriver from a wrench. In fact, I’m pretty sure his leather office chair is permanently fused to his behind.”
“Oh.” She had touched on a nerve. But that still didn’t explain how he learned. “You taught yourself?”
“Partly. It was just my mother and I, and when I got to be a teenager, it was only me. You learn how to do things when you have no other choice.”
“Oh,” she said again, feeling a little dumb. “I’m sorry.”
He glanced back at her, something flashing in those bluish eyes that she couldn’t read. “Don’t be. I can’t take all the credit. My uncle taught me how to be a man. As far as I’m concerned, he’s my real father.”
“You must be very close.”
“We were. He died almost two years ago.”
“It doesn’t get any easier, does it?” she asked. “My father died just after we graduated from college. I still pick up the phone to call him, only to realize that he won’t be able to answer.” She had done that recently. She had wanted to know the name of the little seafood place he used to take them to, and as she dialed it struck her. And it devastated her all over again.
“No. It doesn’t. It never gets easier,” he answered softly.
The doorbell rang, causing Ava to jump. She was glad for the distraction. Things had gotten too real and too deep with a man she barely knew.
“Are you expecting someone?”
“Yes.” She rushed from the room and answered the door to find a pizza delivery guy standing there. He was a teenager in a tank top, board shorts and long blondish hair covered by a baseball cap with the pizzeria’s logo on it.
“You having a party or something?” he asked her as he handed her the three boxes.
“Nope. Just a bad few weeks.”
“I find that cheesy bread makes the world a brighter place.” He grinned at her, and she tipped him generously before returning to the kitchen, which was lit only with the scented white candles and the glow of Derek’s flashlight.
She had had dozens of candlelight dinners with Max, but somehow this seemed more intimate. She had never talked to Max about her father, about how much it had hurt to lose him. They had been together for three years, and it had never come up.
“You shouldn’t have any more problems. This outlet was installed incorrectly. I don’t think you’ll need the wiring replaced, but to be on the safe side I’ll call my friend to come take a look.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can make the call. One of the things I can do with my hands really well is dial a phone.”
He gave her a little smile and shook his head. “Let me. I know who does the best work in town. He’ll be here first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Is that gratitude from you? I must admit that I’m shocked. I was half expecting you lured me here to club me over the head.”
“Why would I do that? Planning something like that would require wasting my precious thoughts on you.”
“Things got pretty intense between me and your fiancé. I was fairly sure he had put a hit out on me. I’ve never seen a face go that purple with rage when I told him he was never going to be able to build on this island.”
“And you thought that me canceling my wedding, attempting to destroy my dress and telling you my outlet sparked was an elaborate ruse to get you into my clutches so I could carry out some nefarious plan?”
“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds stupid.”
Laughter escaped her. It startled her because she wasn’t expecting it. She couldn’t remember the last time she had really laughed. Even before things came crashing down around her.
“You don’t bring that out often, do you?” He looked at her; there was no smile on his face, no softness to his expression.
“What?”
“That smile. It could knock a lesser man on his ass.”
She didn’t know how to react to his comment. If he was hitting on her, it would have been all too easy for her to throw him out, but he wasn’t hitting on her. She wasn’t sure what he said was a compliment at all.
“Do you like pizza?”
“That is probably the dumbest question you’ve ever asked.”
“Everyone likes pizza, don’t they?” She reached into the cabinet for some plates.
“If they don’t I would have them investigated because they clearly are up to no good.”
“I couldn’t decide between the veggie lover and the meat lover, so I asked them to put both on one jumbo pie. I also got cheesy bread and cinnamon sticks with cream cheese icing,” she said as she placed food on his plate.
“No chicken wings?”
She gasped. “I haven’t had chicken wings in years. Should I call back?”
“I was joking.” He took the plate from her, his fingers brushing her hand as he did. She wasn’t sure what she had felt when he grabbed her wrist earlier, but now as they touched again she definitely knew that there was a little charge there.
She couldn’t explain why she was feeling it when she was still so wrecked from the breakup. She wasn’t looking for a rebound or a man to make her forget. Yes, Derek was tall, strong and very good-looking, but she lived in Miami among some of the world’s most beautiful men and she had felt absolutely nothing around them.
He put his plate down and went to the cabinet to get glasses. “Let me get you something to drink.”
“I’ve got wine, water and chocolate milk. I don’t really want water right now.”
“Wine it is.”
“There’s some in the refrigerator.”
“I love this kind,” he said as he took a bottle from the refrigerator. “My grandmother says I should be ashamed of myself for liking such cheap stuff, but if I have to drink wine over beer, this is the brand I’m picking.”
She grabbed the plates and brought them to the kitchen table as he was pouring them large glasses. “I guess it’s safe to admit that I like ice in my wine, too.”
Derek grinned widely at her. “So does my aunt Clara. We don’t tell my grandmother, though. If you want ice in your wine, you’ll have ice in your wine.”
Ava smiled back at him. She was annoyed with herself for finding it hard to dislike him. Everyone liked him. The entire island was devoted to him, and she was starting to see why. He was easy to be around.
She took her first bite of pizza as he took the chair beside her. For a moment all she could do was sit there and moan. Hot, gooey cheese, spicy sausage and fresh veggies all in one bite. She could remember the last time she had pizza. It was almost two years ago now, and she had been with her brothers. It was right before Carlos had met Virginia. Then it was frozen pizza that Carlos had in his house, but she still loved every bite of it. It was so rare that she allowed herself to enjoy what she was eating.
“I’m surprised to see you eat like that, Ava.” Derek was watching her, she could feel his eyes on her as she ate, but she didn’t care. She was too focused on her food. “I would have thought you would be eating something green.”
“I’m sick of green stuff. I don’t ever want to take another sip of unsweetened green tea, or have a kale smoothie, or eat another salad with no dressing. I was nearly starving myself so that I would look good in my wedding dress, so that I would look good for him. I’m