Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers Book 1) (12 page)

Male
human interaction.

A male human named Jason.

“Did you know your silver fox was Jason Wright’s father?” I asked my mother, keeping my voice casual, and light. She hadn’t said anything about it yet – didn’t really volunteer information about her boo at all – but I’d been trying to think of a way to broach the subject without seeming nosy.

She lifted an eyebrow at me, then focused on the mirror to swipe mascara across her lashes. “Not when we first met, but eventually, yes. I knew before we went to the dealership.”

“Wait, what?” I wrinkled my nose. “I thought the dealership
was
when you first met?”

My mother put the tube of mascara back into place on her vanity, and then turned to face me. “Technically it was, but not exactly.”

“Okay…? What does that even mean, mama?”

She let out a little sigh, and a smile crossed her face that seemed almost…
embarrassed.
“We kind of “met” online.”

“What?!” I snatched myself from my reclined position on her bed, sitting up on my knees. “Online?! Like online dating? Like…
fifty-shades-of-gray-hair-dot-com
?!”

“You’re
not
funny, little girl,” she scolded, finger pointed, even though I could tell she was fighting a smile. “And no, not a dating site. There was an online community for jazz lovers in the area, jamsession.com. It shut down about a year ago, but some of the members made a chat group thing for the members who wanted to keep in touch.”

I scooted to the end of the bed, super interested in what she was saying, and super excited that she was actually saying it. “Okaaay…
and
?”

“And…,” she sighed. “Well, neither of us had a profile image, because that was part of the appeal. We were people from all over, talking about artists, music, connecting over that shared interest. But sometimes me and “Jazzy Joe” would end up in a separate conversation about other things.”

I grinned. “So he… what, inboxed you or something?”

“What?”

“Like a private chat?”

She nodded. “Yes, a private chat. And as we talked, we got closer, little things would get shared. Life, and relationships, and personal philosophies… and more little tidbits. One of those was that he owned a car dealership. That didn’t really stand out to me until I needed a car, and I remembered his mentions of J&P.”

My eyes went wide. “So you didn’t tell him you were coming?!”

She shook her head. “Absolutely not. We hadn’t made a plan to meet up or anything, even though we’d hinted at it. I figured I could go, get a look at him.  Satisfy a bit of curiosity.”

I laughed. “Mmm
hmmm
! You weren’t expecting all that salt and pepper fineness to run up on you like that, were you?!”

Her mouth spread into a wide grin, and she laughed too. “No… no, I certainly wasn’t.”

“This is hilarious,” I giggled. “And friggin’ adorable. I mean, I wondered why my cool, collected mama was all giggly over this man she just met, and now I see! You were already crushing on him!”

My mother shrugged, then bent to rub a shimmering body cream onto her legs. “Maybe a little.”

“Oh please,” I teased. “Does he know who you are?”

“I told him that night when he called. He thought it was sexy.”

“He called it sexy because
you’re
sexy,” I laughed. “Otherwise he would have called the police. What’s your username?”

Her head popped up, eyes wide. “Oh Reesie. I’ve already said too much. I’m not telling you that
.
”

- & -

“Who is “boogie_woogie_woman” and what you showing her tonight that she’s not gonna forget? Y’all being nasty ain’t you?”

I hopped out of the way just in time to avoid getting swung on by my dad.

I was already at his house, which he knew, and had come up the stairs looking for him. I found him in his office, with his back to the door, so immersed in whatever was happening on his laptop that he didn’t even hear me come in. Curiosity drew me closer, and I peeked over his shoulder to read what was on the screen.

“I oughta knock your head in,” Pops warned, rising from his seat. He closed the lid of the computer, glaring at me.

I lifted my hands in a soothing gesture. “My bad, Pops,” I chuckled. “I wasn’t trying to be in your business like that, I swear. I thought you were looking at new cars for the lot or something, not…
that
. Does your lady friend know you’re chatting with “boogie woogie women” online?”

“My lady friend
is
boogie_woogie_woman, and your ass needs to learn how to knock. What you want, boy?”

“I was just coming to tell you I finished getting up those leaves in the front yard for you.”

His glare softened into a concerned frown, and he propped his hands at his waist. “What are you doing messing around with yard work? I told you I’d hire somebody.”

“For what? You’ve got three grown ass sons who live in the same city.”

“Yeah, but Joseph is always at the hospital, Justin is always on a deadline, and you’re…”

I crossed my arms. “I’m what? Able, available, and willing to rake the yard?
That’s
what you were going to say, right?”

He let out a heavy sigh. “Point taken. I just… I worry about you, son. I don’t want you out there straining yourself with that.”

I swallowed the redundant argument that I was easily the strongest, most physically fit of my brothers, even with an “impairment” and that I’d done a more thorough, quicker job than anybody he probably would hired. Instead, I forced a smile to my face, hoping it didn’t look like a grimace. “Well, in any case, it’s done.”

Pops drew his head back, looking at me in surprise. “What, no argument there? No insistence that you can handle it, that you’re not a little boy anymore. No rejection of my fatherly concern?”

I shrugged, then dropped into the empty chair behind me. “Nah.”

For several moments, my father studied at me, not saying anything, before a smile spread over his face. “What’s her name?”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Who?”

His smile grew wider, and he shook his head, chuckling. “Your sandpaper.”

At first, I just stared at him, confused, until the memory of my mother’s words made me laugh. “What makes you think I found some?”

“You’ve been mighty laid back these last few weeks. I didn’t have to ask you to change out of the service center uniform before you came out on the floor yesterday. You haven’t been walking around here like you were insulted by folks caring about you.”

“So that means I found a woman?”

He nodded. “And she must be a doozy too, to soften you up. Coarse grit.”

I tried to keep a smile off my face. Reese wasn’t my girl, but she was the only person even close, and “coarse grit” was accurate. She was nobody’s
shrinking violet, not afraid to speak her mind, eager to do verbal battle. Hell, maybe physical too. On the other side of that, she was funny as hell to me, compassionate without being patronizing, and passionate about the things she believed in. Not to mention she was smart, and so damned sexy it didn’t make sense. She was very,
very
Reese. Unapologetically.

And I liked that. A
lot.

“You’re grinning pretty hard, son,” Pops said, chuckling as he left the room. “Start deciding how much you want to spend on the ring.”

“Wait,
what
?” I jumped up, following him into his bedroom as he sat down, slipping a pair of leather brogues on his feet. I noticed then that he was dressed like he was headed out, in slacks and a button up shirt.

He stood up, lifting a tie from his dresser, and looping it around his neck. “I said start deciding how much—”

“Nah, I heard you,” I said, holding up a hand. “I’m just saying… nah, it’s not like that. Nowhere near like that. We aren’t even dating.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“I… don’t really know. She did just break up with somebody like a month ago.”

My father stopped fixing his tie, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. “What the hell that have to do with you?”

I shrugged. “Aren’t you supposed to give somebody time after that?”

He laughed. “Boy, if she’s got you grinning like that, she’s had plenty of time. Trust your old man. I knew my way around women until I met your mother. I forgot all of my “swag” as you young fellas call it,” he said, still chuckling. “That’s probably what’s wrong with you now. Woman got your head messed up.”

“My head isn’t messed up though.”

“Mmmhmm. Talk to me about it again in six months.” He sprayed himself with cologne, and then pulled a sweater over his head. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading to go pick up my woman, because
I
know how to ask a pretty girl out.”

- & -

“If he thought your little super sleuthing was sexy, wait until he sees
this
. Damn, mama!”

“Language, Reesie.”

“Sorry.”

Still.
Daaaamn, mama!

She was going to give that man a heart attack in that dress. It was a little black sweater knit number, with an asymmetric hem that rode high on her thighs. Her legs were covered, protected against the cold by opaque black tights, but the lack of skin didn’t diminish the effect. Up top, she was covered all the way to her neck, but the material of the dress hugged and accentuated her fit curves.

She chuckled as she slid her feet into tall boots. “You young girls aren’t the only ones who can keep a man’s attention.”

“Gone with your bad self then,” I laughed. “He’s coming to pick you up?”

Mama nodded. “Yes, which means you need to scoot your little booty right on over to your own house please.”

“I can’t stay to see you off on your date?”

“You mean be nosy?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

She shook her head as she checked her appearance in the full-length mirror, adjusting a few hairs, smoothing over her dress. “Then absolutely not. Get yourself some business little girl. Shouldn’t you be… I don’t know, out with Devyn?”

“Devyn is studying, and then she has a certification exam tomorrow.”

“Other friends?”

I frowned. “I’m not feeling super trusting toward anybody except Devyn after that mess with Olivia. I’m still cooling off.”

“
Definitely
get that.” She turned around, studying me for a few moments. “What about you and Mr. Wright? What’s going on there? Don’t think I haven’t noticed the googly eyes.”

“Googly eyes?! What googly eyes? There were no googly eyes!”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” Her mouth spread into a knowing smile. “But you could do much,
much
worse than a young man like Jason Wright. He’s intelligent, grounded, he’s seen the world, and he’s not a stuffy, stuck up, intellectual type, like what you usually go for even though they do nothing for you.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Okay, first… you don’t think it’s weird to push me to date your boyfriend’s son? Second, I
have
done worse, remember? Third… what do you mean they do nothing for me? I would think you’d want me to go for a suit and tie kind of man.”