“We could still go out. There’s time. I even have a tux somewhere.”
“Mmm.I’d like seeing you in a tux. And getting you out of it.” She shifted in his embrace to kiss his jaw. “Lucky for you, I’m not some women. And I couldn’t be happier if you rolled me in chocolate and licked me clean.” She tapped her chin. “On second thought…”
“We’ll do that for Valentine’s Day.” He laughed and tugged her toward the door. “But I do have something that I think you’ll like. C’mon. It’s out in the truck.”
She pretended to protest as he dragged her outside into the cold. “It’s freezing out here.”
“It’s good for you. Helps get the blood moving.”
He led her toward the parking lot, empty except for his exceptionally large pickup. He’d traded in the Acura for the truck last month, thinking it would come in handy since they were going to do as much of the rehab work on the place as they could. Considering neither of them were exactly experts in that area, Kelly considered it a damn good thing Adam had come up for Christmas and enlisted a bunch of his jock friends. He intended to stick around as long as they needed them. Which Kelly figured would be right up until opening day.
They weren’t lacking in other help either. Tony and Cale had signed on for as much manual labor as necessary. She’d forgiven Cale for picking up her phone in the break room after he’d sheepishly apologized. He’d told her himself that he’d figured that would be a good way for Spencer to notice her—at least after Marcia had convinced him that it was. He hadn’t known Spencer had noticed her plenty even before he’d seen the list, thanks to her session in his office.
Their hearts—all three of them—had been in the right place, even if their brains hadn’t. They were good people. And that both men seemed to hang around Marcia as if she’d spun the moon from strands of her golden hair didn’t concern her. As long as they were happy, she didn’t care what sort of thing they had going.
In fact, she and Spencer secretly hoped they’d be able to lure the guys away from the Nook once the store opened. But they would never ask. That wouldn’t be fair and pretty shady to boot. Besides, they already had the beginnings of a staff.
Well, they had themselves and Marcia. So building the staff would take some time.
In a way, she owed Marcia and Cale. They’d helped her out. Spencer had been so pissed off about her sex list that by the time they’d finally come together, he’d been ready to blow. So it was all good. Especially once she’d explained he hadn’t been at the bottom of the list, but the top.
He liked being on top. Most of the time.
For Christmas, Spencer had given her a brand new pale purple phone, synced with all the data from her old one. He’d even left the list intact. But he hadn’t minded one bit when she’d been feeling particularly charitable after a memorable session in the shower and destroyed the list entirely, replacing it with one entitled, “The Only Man I Want To Fuck Forever and Ever, Amen.”
She’d been told she wasn’t ever allowed to deletethatlist. Worked for her.
“Close your eyes,” he said when she skidded around the back of the truck, nearly slipping on the ice.
“You trying to kill me?”
“All part of my diabolical plan. No peeking.”
She kept her eyes closed, only opening them when he gave the signal. She stared into the flatbed of his truck, blinking like an owl for a full minute.
“Do you like it?”
Unable to speak, she reached out and traced her fingertip around the letters on the hand-carved sign made of rich cherry wood. The man even knew her favoritewood,for cripes’ sake.
“It’s for inside. Above the fireplace, I was thinking—”
She launched herself into his arms, catching him so thoroughly off guard they almost pitched into the snow. “I love it. God, it’s perfect. I love you. I so want to do you right here.”
Laughing, he plucked her straight off the ground, capturing her mouth in a lusty kiss. “Guess you like it.”
“Guess I do.”
“So we’ll get a neon sign done for the front and—”
“Uh, neon?” She drew back and patted his cheek. As wonderful as he was, he was still hopelessly clueless about some things. “Not neon, darling. But yes, we’ll get one made for the front. As close to this style as possible.”
“Remember you want to do me,” he said as she stroked the sign.
“Believe me, it’s at the forefront of my mind.” She lifted the wood in both hands as he came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “All About The Story.That’s it. That’s the name. You’re a freaking genius, Galvin.”
“I have my moments.”
“Oh yes you do.” She turned and leaned over the sign she held between them to kiss his grinning mouth. “And the best part of our story starts now.”