Nope. I can’t move in with Jenny. Much as it would ease some problems, I’m sure it would create worse ones. The last thing I want is something coming between us. I love her and her babies too much for that.

“I’m getting paid pretty well at this new place. Maybe I can help out with some bills.”

“That’s not fair to you.” She sniffs and smiles at me. “How will you be able to afford all that bubble bath?”

I nudge her with my elbow. “I can make my own. I’ll just run the bathwater over a bar of soap.”

She snorts. “Sure you will.” She moves a little away from me so she can see me. “So tell me about this guy.”

“What guy?” I’m trying to act like I really have no clue what she’s talking about, but I can tell from her expression she’s not buying it.

“As if. Come on, you know who I’m talking about. Tall, dark, and built like a tank.”

“Who, Ozzie?”

“Don’t make me strangle you. I’m mad enough at Miles to take it out on an innocent bystander.”

“Fine. Ozzie is the guy who saved my life, basically.” I pick at the thread on my shorts again. “And, as you might recall, he watched Felix that one day and brought him back to me, which was really nice.” I sip my wine as I remember that kiss. “Anyway, there’s nothing going on with us. He’s just my new boss, that’s all.”

“Mmm-hmmm.” Jenny drinks more wine. “And your face getting all red right now and you pulling your shorts apart is all just . . . what? The flu? You coming down with something?”

I close my eyes and tip my head back on the couch. “We kissed, okay? We kissed.”

She whacks me on the shoulder. “When?!” She sounds suddenly very happy.

“Saturday night. At my place. When he brought dinner over.”

“Oh my god! All this happened, and you didn’t say anything?! Now I understand why you don’t want to move in.”

“Shut up.” I look at her, keeping my head on the couch. “Nothing else can happen. We work together now. He’s my boss. He apologized.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. Ouch. So it’s nothing, okay? Just . . . let it drop.”

“Is it hard working with him?”

I sigh, thinking about my day. “Not really. Sure, I’m sweating him the whole time, but I don’t think he can tell.”

“Oh, yeah,” she says in her mocking tone, “you’re always so cool about that kind of thing.”

I have to smile. She knows me too well. “I’m trying to be cool, okay? And today it got a lot easier when he was in charge of my stupid workout.”

“Workout? Is that code for something?”

“No. Like at the gym—a workout. I lifted weights with every muscle in my body for an hour today.”

She reaches over and squeezes my bicep.

“Ow.” I flinch with the pain but find I can’t move very well. The longer I sit on her couch, the stiffer I get.

“You need to stretch.”

“That’s what Dev said.”

“Dev?”

“A coworker. The trainer.”

“I thought you said Ozzie trained you.”

“He did. But next time it’ll be Dev.”

“So you’re getting all sweaty at work with a bunch of guys. Is Dev as hot as Ozzie is?”

I laugh. “Perv. It’s not like that.”

“Just let me dream. Is he?”

“If you like guys who are six and a half feet tall and totally bald, then sure. He’s cute.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, trust me, I’m not.”

“Hmmm.” She rubs the rim of her glass. “Maybe I’ll get to meet him someday.”

“Maybe you will.” I sit up and moan as my muscles complain.

“You okay?” Jenny asks, resting her hand on my back.

“Sore muscles.” I breathe through the pain.

“Better get home and take one of those baths you were talking about.”

I twist a little to look at her. “Will you be okay?” I glance at the kitchen were I can hear the kids whispering. Plotting a takeover or a coup, probably.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. The wine helped.”

“I promised them ice cream.”

“I heard that. Don’t worry. I’ll cover for you.” She stands and holds out a hand to help me up.

I take it and get to my feet with difficulty.

“Thanks for coming over and saving me from going insane.”

I hug her close and kiss her cheek. “Any time, any place. I’m there.”

“Same for you, you know.” She pats me on the back. “If you ever need me, I’m there too.”

“I know.” I pull away and walk carefully around the furniture. One wrong move and I could trip, and if I end up on the ground, I’m probably going to have to stay there for the night. I have about enough juice left in my body to get me home, and that’s it.

“Call me tomorrow after work, so you can tell me all the details.” Jenny opens the front door for me.

“I will.” I lift my chin and talk louder. “See you later, kids!”

“Bye, Auntie May!” comes a chorus of tiny voices.

“Thankth for the ithe cweam!” adds Sammy.

“Thank your mom!” I yell back before walking outside. I pick Felix up and hold him under my arm. The night is balmy, with just enough humidity to make my shirt start sticking to me again.

“Gotta love this N’ Orleans weather,” Jenny says, gesturing with her glass like she’s saying cheers to the night.

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be.” Blowing her a kiss, I get into my car, putting Felix on the passenger seat before I gently shift into reverse and leave her and her crazy kids behind. I’m exhausted, but happy. Happier than I remember being in a long time. I’ve got a new job, a great family, an adorable dog, and a group of people who call themselves a team, who’ve welcomed me into their fold. Life is good.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

My life completely sucks. My body is broken. It’s Tuesday morning and my alarm has gone off, so I should be getting into the shower. But instead I’m lying in my bed, paralyzed. Felix licks my cheek, and I don’t have the energy to stop him.

I moan as I try to roll over toward my phone. He follows me, knowing I have no fight in me, licking my ear now.

“Ooooooohhh my god, what the hellllll.” Every muscle in my body aches. I think I tore them all. This can’t be just regular muscle pain; it’s too severe.

The only thing that doesn’t hurt is my thumb. After nudging Felix away, I use it to type out a text message, resting the phone on my mattress so I won’t have to use any arm muscles to hold it up.

Me: Ozzie, I’m dying.

A few seconds later, my phone rings.

“Hello?” I groan, putting the phone to my doggie-licked, wet ear.

“What’s going on? Talk to me.” Ozzie’s all business. Does he know it’s only six in the morning?

“I’m sore. I think I’m dying.”

A long hiss of breath hits my ear before he speaks again. “Are you dying because of your workout or because you’ve been shot?”

I hold the phone out and look at it. I guess 6:00 a.m. is crazy-talk time.

“No, don’t be silly. Who would shoot me in my own house?”

“How am I supposed to know where you are?!” He’s yelling as if he’s genuinely mad at me.

“Excuse me, Mister Angry Pants, but I thought you had a phone-tracker thingy!” Now I’m mad too. I was expecting pity and I’m getting scolded? What’s up with that?

“Which I don’t turn on unless I think someone’s in trouble, May!”

I blink a few times, letting that sink in. Makes sense now that I’ve been awake for more than three minutes.

“Okay, fine. I’m sorry if I caused you any distress by telling you I’m dying.”

He says nothing for a while.

“Ozzie? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, just give me a minute.”

As the seconds tick by, I become more and more convinced that I never should have picked up my phone this morning. He’s not my boyfriend; he’s my boss. He doesn’t want to hear about my sore muscles; he just wants me to walk into work by seven and get going with my assignment. Why do I keep defaulting back to this boyfriend role for him? What is wrong with my brain?