I took a step toward her. “We need to talk more about what happened. I—”

“I really do have to go,” Aubrey said, looking down at her watch and backing away.

The dogs were getting antsy and pulling me in the direction of a couple of small Yorkshire Terriers that were running around on the loose. I yelled at them, “Shit! Slow down.”

Some wingmen they were.

By the time I turned around again, my girl was gone.

After that fiasco, I went straight to the bar and unloaded the whole story onto Carla Babes.

Pouring me a second drink, she shook her head. “You wanna know what I think? She’s just as bad as you.”

“Clarify that statement.”

“You’re both playing games.”

I swirled my drink around in the glass. “Well, if it’s a game, the fun is starting to wear off.”

“She’s pretending she doesn’t want you here, yet she’s been caught stalking you herself. If she really wanted nothing to do with you, she would have never taken your case. She could have told her boyfriend the truth, and he would have kicked you to the curb so fast, client or not. She’s hiding you from him because she still has feelings for you and doesn’t want him to know. Are you blind, Aussie?”

My heart beat faster, filling with renewed hope. “I never thought of it that way.”

“You need to put a stop to this cat and mouse game. Find out what her intentions are. You’re a good guy, Chance. I know you hurt her pretty badly, but you’re hurt, too. She needs to know that. Stop pretending you’re okay with all of this.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Cut the patient hero act. How many bushes can you possibly plant, Mr. Green Thumb? It’s not helping anything. What you really need is to plant yourself in her bush! Stop wasting time, and tell her what you want.”

I cackled. “Forget about green thumb. I think I have a numb green cock at this point.”

“The Green Giant,” she quipped.

I chimed in, “Shrek.”

We were both cracking up. When the laughter subsided, I looked up at her—my sounding board. Her friendship really did mean a lot to me. “What would I do without you, Carla Babes?”

She seemed to blush at my comment. That was unlike her.

Clearing her throat, she leaned her hands against the counter. “Look, in all seriousness, you need to go to her tonight. Tell her how you feel without all of the bullshit. Make sure she knows you’re not going to be around forever. Time is precious. There are plenty of other women who would love the opportunity to make you happy if she doesn’t care to.”

For a split second, the look in her eyes made me wonder if she was referring to herself.

I took the remainder of that weekend off from stalking Aubrey. It was the first time an entire day had gone by where I hadn’t at least gotten one glimpse of her. But I really needed time alone to think without the deterrent of her beautiful face and succulent ass.

While the last talk with Carla had boosted my confidence, the more time I spent alone, the more doubt started to creep in.

That Sunday, I spent a good chunk of the day at the laundromat. Watching my clothes spin round and round in the dryer helped me meditate and reflect on everything.

As much as I’d always said that I’d stick around town as long as it took, I wasn’t willing to do that if Aubrey had already written me off. If her intention was to stay with Dick come hell or high water, then I really needed to know. It was one thing to get her to forgive me. It was another to get her to forgive me AND give me another chance, leaving a guy that supposedly made her happy and was there for her when I wasn’t.

I’d decided that tomorrow night after Aubrey got home from work, I’d try to get my answer once and for all.

Chapter Twenty-One

I skipped the Monday morning breakfast routine on Jefferson and went straight to Aubrey’s house instead. Today would be a longer day, putting the finishing touches on Pixy’s pen and making sure that everything was in order in the event that things didn’t turn out in my favor tonight.

I stopped for two of the goat’s favorite burritos—sans the corn—and brought lunch over to the window.

Watching him gobble them in just a few bites, I scratched his head. “Listen, I have to tell you something important.”

He was too busy licking the burrito wrapper to look up at me.

“I need you to know that if I go away, it’s not because of you. Alright?”

“Baa.”

“I want nothing more than to see you every day and for the three of us to be together. I just don’t know anymore if that’s going to be possible. If it’s not, I have to go away again. Because it will make me too sad to stay.”