Boomerangers: A second chance romantic comedy (Cajun Girls Book 1)
Boomerangers: Chapter 18

For a week, I’ve shown up at Spencer’s house at seven sharp and washed more dishes than I’ve washed in my entire life. I’m going to have to go chop some fucking trees or something to regain my man card. The skin on my hands has never been so soft, thanks to the lotion in their dish soap.

Tonight is the last night of my sentence, and there’s a heaviness in my chest because I will no longer have an excuse to see her every night. Hell, I’ve even enjoyed hanging out with her kids. Hearing about their football practice and laughing at the insane shit that flies out of that little one’s mouth.

Like every other night this week, I’m relaxing in front of the TV, sneaking in an extra episode of CSI while she gets her kids to bed. This damned show is addicting. I’d never seen it before coming here, but it’s all they watch.

“All paid up,” I hear in my favorite voice. Shutting off the television, I look up, finding Spencer with her hands crossed lightly on her chest and her back leaning on the doorframe. Her lips are curled slightly in a welcoming smile.

“Hey, Princess.” I rise from the sofa, stretching my arms above my head. “Take a walk with me?” I ask, dipping my head toward the door.

“Sure.”

Spence slips into a pair of flip flops and a hoody. It’s a chilly night, in the fifties, but it doesn’t matter the temperature. If she’s not going anywhere, Spencer is in flip flops.

I make a face at her shoe choice, and she glares at me. “I’m fine.”

As we walk out to the driveway, Spence starts talking, filling me in on every detail of her horrific day. How much she hates her job. How horrible she feels for some of the children she meets with each day. Some of their situations are truly heartbreaking, but they aren’t the reason she hates her job. It’s the other kids. The ones who pick on them. The assholes disrespecting their teachers and defacing school property. Kids fighting in the halls and throwing food in the cafeteria. Pissing on bathroom floors. “I feel like I’m in a zoo filled with wild animals,” she whines. “They’re barbaric. I’d kick my kids’ asses for behaving that way.”

“And that’s exactly why your kids don’t behave that way.”

“I’ve learned something about myself since working there.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask, stopping to look at her. “What’s that?”

“I don’t like kids. I mean, I like mine sometimes and a few others, but in general . . . I really, really don’t like being around children all day.”

She has this guilty look on her face, like she’s just confessed to some cardinal sin. “It’s okay,” I answer, leaning in to whisper into her ear. “I don’t really care for them, either.”

She laughs, shoving my chest playfully. “Yeah, well, everyone knows you don’t like kids and you don’t have to. You aren’t a parent.”

“I like some kids,” I counter, shocking myself with my own admission.

“You do?” she asks, doubtful.

I grasp her chin in my thumb and forefinger, tilting her face up so that her eyes meet with mine. “I like three.”

“You do?” Spence whispers knowingly, her voice thick with emotion.

“I do,” I breathe out against her lips before drawing them in for a long, tender kiss. Tears drip down Spencer’s cheeks, sneaking in between our lips. The salt, the warmth, the hunger, it makes me crazy with want . . . for something more.

I pull back, wiping the remaining tears from her face. “I want to take you somewhere, but I’m afraid you’re going to turn me down.”

She sniffles, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her sweater. “Where?”

“Anywhere . . . You name it. To dinner, a movie, out dancing, a cruise, or a fucking deserted island. I just want to take you out on a real date, Spence. I don’t want to just fuck you anymore. I want more than this. I want you back. I want us back.”

Her head shakes rapidly back and forth. “Cooper,” she says weakly. Her tears start up again, but they’re bigger, falling faster, and more painful. “I-I can’t . . . I can’t give you more than this.” She reaches a hand up to caress my cheek. “I wish I could.”

And she’s gone.