Norah nodded. “I understand the need for that. I’ll arrange for the set up, but the convincing will fall wholly on you, cousin.”
“That’s all I can ask for.” He’d just have to make the most of it.
Chapter 4
“You wanted to see m—oooh my God, I’m sorry.”
/> Cecily hurriedly shut Norah’s office door, but not before she had a flash of a bare-chested Cam Crawford pressing a kiss to his bride-to-be’s bared shoulder. As she stood in the hall, listening to hurried movements on the other side of the door, she couldn’t help but think it’d be nice to have someone to be that reckless with. Her brain conjured up an image of Reed.
Bad. Idea.
The door opened and Cam stepped out, fully dressed and pink all the way to the tips of his ears. “Sorry about that. We, uh—”
Feeling the heat in her own cheeks, Cecily waved him off, careful to keep her eyes above the equator. “Almost married and crazy about each other. I get it. Sorry I interrupted.”
Norah stepped up behind him, looking considerably less embarrassed, with only her hair remaining a bit mussed. How did she do that? “Someday you’re going to remember to lock the door.” She brushed her lips over his.
Cam stroked a hand down Norah’s cheek in a lingering caress that made Cecily’s heart sigh. “See you in New Orleans, Wonder Woman.”
Norah stood and watched him, love shining in her eyes, until he was out of sight. Then she straightened and gestured Cecily inside. “You might as well come on in and get the mocking over with.”
“Why would I mock? If anything, I’m envious. You two are adorable. And God knows you deserve it after how your ex treated you.”
“I won’t argue with that.” With practiced fingers, Norah twisted her hair back up and secured it with pins. “Just as well you showed up. I need to be getting on the road and he wasn’t in any hurry to let me.”
Cecily smirked. “You were fighting him off so hard.”
Norah flashed a wicked grin. “Come help me haul stuff to the car.”
Fifteen minutes later, Cecily loaded the easel and shut the trunk. “That’s the last of it. Do you have the PowerPoint?”
“On a flash drive and loaded on the hard drive of my laptop, just in case. I appreciate all your hard work on this presentation. With the dramatic turnaround we’ve seen in Wishful this year, everybody wants to know how to duplicate our results.”
Cecily dimpled. “Do they know they’d best be investing in cloning technology? None of it would’ve happened without you.”
Norah swung an arm around her shoulders. “You either. Who knew this time last year that I’d be speaking as an expert at a small town redevelopment conference?”
“We’ve come a long way from Chicago. When are you back?”
“Not until Tuesday. Cam’s driving down to meet me Friday night, and we’re taking a long weekend in New Orleans, so I’m leaving you to man the fort while I’m gone.”
“You can count on me!” Cecily gave her a sharp salute.
“I always can.” Norah grinned. “Oh, I almost forgot. I promised Reed some marketing services for the book signing he’s got coming up at Inglenook. With all the prep for the conference, I haven’t had a chance to even look at his stuff, and time’s running out. So I’m taking boss’s prerogative and dumping it on you while I’m gone.”
The smile on Cecily’s face turned brittle. “You want me to do the marketing for the bookstore?”
“Cakewalk compared to what you’ve been doing. It’ll be a nice change of pace. He’s expecting you sometime today.”
As Cecily stared, Norah rushed on, opening the car door and sliding into the driver’s seat. “You’re a lifesaver. I need to get going. Long drive. See you next week!”
Before Cecily could come up with a viable reason why she couldn’t do the job, her boss was driving away.
Crap.
She put it off until after lunch, fortifying herself with one of Mama Pearl’s chocolate chip milkshakes from Dinner Belles, the local diner and biggest gossip competitor to The Grind. By then she’d just about convinced herself to put on her big girl panties and get it over with. Procrastinating wasn’t doing anything but making her more nervous.
An attractive woman in her late thirties was stocking shelves when Cecily stepped inside the bookstore. She dimly remembered seeing her during the evidence-wiping mission she’d run with Christoff the week before.