“You’re a Barrons all right.”
His mother looked at him before she slid the chicken from the pan and onto a platter. He grabbed that and took it over to the table, knowing she wasn’t done with the PJ thing. She was simply biding her time, gathering all her information and planning how to hem him in exactly how she wanted.
“All right. So to recap,” his mother said as she came over to the table and sat at the head with her children to either side, “you and this woman had ‘flirting and stuff.’ ” She sent him a look and he tried not to grin. “She wasn’t happy about it, which probably means she wanted to be with you and you backed off. She’s headstrong then, which is good because you’re too bossy for your own good. You’d run right over a woman who didn’t push back at you. But this mood of yours…”
She kept plotting as they filled their plates and began to eat.
“Are you really going to make Mom say it?” Courtney asked. “You know she’s going to be right, no matter what it is she says. I’m guessing you sent this woman packing and she found someone else who liked her luggage just fine.”
Pat thought that was hilarious, but Asa wasn’t such a fan.
When he’d found out he’d given her the let’s-be-friends talk right after she quit her job, he’d felt like a total shithead.
And last week, when he’d seen her at the party and apologized, she’d looked so pretty, like one of those spun-sugar eggs they used to have at Easter. Everyone else had been vampy, glossy red lipstick, and she’d been pink lips and a blue dress. He’d been unable to think about anything else since.
Their mother sent a raised brow to his sister. They were already ganging up on him and he was just trying to do the right thing.
“Of course other men want her. She’s beautiful and ambitious. I’m happy for her to find someone her own age.”
“Asa! You put a five in the vice jar right this instant.” His mother pointed to the jar on the counter she made them put money in if they cursed or lied. Of course she turned around and bought them things with it, so it wasn’t a real punishment by that point, but still.
“Why? What’d I do?”
“You’re a liar liar pants on fire, that’s what you did!” Courtney pointed her fork his way.
“She needs to find someone closer to her own age. It’s best for her. More stable.”
Courtney curled her lip at his excuses before she waved her fork at him again. “You’re decently handsome. You own your business. You’re respected and talented and you have a house. You’re even nice to your mom. You’re a catch, even if you’re still a total liar. Ew. You don’t really want her to find someone else, so why are you being such a quitter right now? You want Duke or someone like him to go out with her instead? Honestly?”
The idea of Duke seeing PJ the way he had? No way. “Offsides, Court!”
“Whatever. Asa, you’re nearing forty. You just going to ‘date’ forever? Like you’re twenty-seven instead of thirty-seven?”
“I resent the air quotes around ‘date.’ I date for real. I’m not a jerk.”
Their mother patted his hand. “Stop poking at your brother,” she said to Courtney before speaking to Asa. “No, you’re not a jerk. So, she’s pretty and she’s smart and educated. Other than her age, which is…?”
“Twenty-five.” He cringed.
But his mother waved it away. “Thank god. I thought you were going to say she was nineteen or something. Twenty-five, Asa. That’s not too young for you. You said yourself she wasn’t silly or giggly or immature. So? Did she just not, you know, do it for you in the bedroom?”
He clapped his hands over his ears. “We’re not having this conversation.”
“Well, they have doctors for that now. You can take pills. If you’re having trouble,” his mother teased.
“Now you’re just giving me a complex for your own amusement.” His mom’s eyes danced, and he couldn’t help but smile at her. A smartass woman was his weakness. “I hope you’re happy.”
“Generally I am, because my son takes care of me and my house. My daughters do the same. I’m sassy, which is an important quality in a woman with only one foot, you know. I don’t think you have issues with your zip zip.” She made a sound effect that he planned to never ever hear again. “So your issue is with this PJ. Is she snotty? I mean, should you break things off because she’s awful?”
“So, how has the steering been on your car, Court?”
His sister snorted. “Fine. Duke asked me the same thing two weeks ago. Why don’t you want to take a chance on this woman?”
Because she meant something and he was not going to be like his father and break a woman whose heart was as beautiful as PJ’s was. “Because I don’t. We’re friends. That’s all we’re going to be. Now, I’m done talking about PJ. I mean it.”
Chapter Ten
Laughing, PJ and her friends spilled into the Ditch just before eleven. Of course, it was packed by that point, so the sound of music and the low hum of talking swallowed them up as they headed to the bar.
“Shit” was all she heard before Audra yanked her back into the alcove where the bathrooms were, shoving her inside the ladies’ room.
“What the hell?” PJ slapped her hands back.
“Asa is here.”
PJ narrowed her gaze. “Let me guess. He’s not alone.”
Audra waved a hand. “He’s got a gaggle. Way easier to defeat that than if it was just one woman. But let’s get you fancied up so you can go out there and gather a gaggle of your own.”
Bags opened as makeup was touched up. Audra stopped PJ with a glare when PJ moved to rebutton a few buttons on her blouse.
“You have fantastic tits. Use them, for god’s sake!”
He could get super-sexed-up women with few clothes and lots of motivation to fuck him. Any day of the week. Which was actually really annoying.
But none of them was PJ. Despite his little tale about just being friends, she knew he wanted her. Knew that for whatever reason, he was drawn to her in a way he wasn’t to other women. She needed to remind him of that.
“Bear with me here,” PJ said. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this. He’s possessive. He has to be there to watch when his cars are used in photo shoots. He has a thing about his chair and his tools and that stuff.”
Those chicks shoving their tits his way were a fun distraction. But what if a man like Asa decided a woman was his? Boobs weren’t the key here.
“That makes sense. So we need him to aim all that possessiveness your way.” Audra lifted a shoulder before stepping back from where she’d done something to PJ’s hair.
“Exactly. This is why you’re my best friend. Because you know things.” PJ winked.
By the time she headed back out, her eyes had been lined darker to emphasize the blue, her lips now a glossy pink.
They strolled through the place and PJ pretended it wasn’t even a thing that Asa was off at a far end of the room surrounded by women.
She turned her thousand-watt Colman smile on the bartender like she planned to sell him tires. Except his gaze slid down her throat to her cleavage. PJ knew she’d been right not to flaunt but to hint at it, because there were mounds of mammaries as far as the eye could see in that place.
“Can we get a round of shots with a beer back, please?”
“Darlin’, you can have anything you like.” The bartender winked.
She laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
They did the shots, but before they’d taken the first sip from their beers they’d already been joined by two male friends. Who, thank goodness, were ridiculously gorgeous. Craig was there again, drowning his sorrows in liquor and harmless flirting with women he’d never do more than kiss because he was still crushing on his ex so hard.