“Hey.” He held out a hand to shake Evan’s.
Evan shot him a look to the side as he greeted him. A warning look. Apparently he still hadn’t told Presley he was a SEAL. Interesting. “Thought I’d come by and see this bar you told me about.” Evan turned toward Jodi. “You must be Jodi.” He shook her hand next. “I love the place.”
“And you must be Presley,” Tuck stated, reaching across to greet the slender woman.
Presley nodded, looking confused.
Evan cleared his throat. “I saw Tuck last week at lunch one day. Told him about the wedding you and I are planning for John and Chloe.”
“Ah.” She finally nodded.
“You’re wedding planners?” Jodi asked.
Both Presley and Evan shook their heads at the same time. Evan groaned. “No. I’m the best man. John thought it would be fun to plan his own wedding while his fiancée is out of the country. And then John had to leave town, which left me in charge. It’s the most convoluted story you’ll ever hear.”
Tuck disagreed. He was more interested in why Evan was keeping his personal life from Presley. That had to be a great story.
“How do you two know each other?” Presley asked, glancing back and forth between Tuck and Evan.
Tuck lifted a brow at Evan. Whatever weird story he was concocting was his to tell.
Evan swallowed. “Oh, we have mutual friends. We met years ago.”
Tuck nodded, fighting not to laugh. He couldn’t wait to see how this eventually panned out. Granted, his relationship with Jodi had started out with a pile of secrets too, so who was he to judge? But he couldn’t think why any man wouldn’t want his girlfriend to know he was a SEAL.
There was a pile of folders on the table between Evan and Presley. Apparently this was a planning meeting. “Well, I’ll let you two get back to your wedding plans.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Jodi added.
“You too,” Presley responded.
Tuck nodded toward Evan. “Catch up with you later.” He turned around, grabbed Jodi around the waist, and pulled her down the hallway toward the office. The moment they were inside, he kicked the door shut and nuzzled her neck.
She shoved at him playfully. “That was a strange exchange with your friend. And don’t break rule number two.”
He groaned. “But I hate rule number two.”
“Yeah, well, that one is hard and fast also. No sex while the bar is open.”
He chuckled before finally letting her go and rounding the desk. “Yeah, I don’t have a clue what is up with Evan, but I bet it’ll be good when I find out.”
“Is he a SEAL?”
“Yep.”
“And she doesn’t know it?”
“Apparently.”
Jodi giggled. “That is funny. Unless you’re her, of course.”
“True. Anyway, the reason I lured you back here was because I wanted to talk to you about something.”
She narrowed her gaze mistrustfully. “Your idea of talking usually ends with me too hot and bothered to continue working.”
He wiggled his brows. “If you let go of rule number two and rule number three, I could take care of that problem.”
She shook her head and crossed her arms. “Nope. No sex in this office either. Not even when the bar is closed.”
He couldn’t help it. Teasing her was fun. Finally, he grabbed a folder off the desk and held it up. “I spoke to the realtor earlier. Sounds like we should be able to finalize the deal with the lease next door by the end of the week.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? Already?”
“Yep. It’ll take some time to renovate and figure out how to attach that space with the bar, but I think we can easily pull it off within a few months.”
She stared at the numbers for a few minutes and then handed the folder back. “You’re sure we can afford it? We’re barely in the black.”
He rounded the desk again and pulled her into his arms. “We can afford it.”
She still looked skeptical. “I don’t like you using a giant chunk of that money from Cold Feet to expand. It makes me nervous.”
“Why? You planning to dump me anytime soon?” he joked.
She rolled her eyes. “No. The wedding date is set. The venue is paid for. No backing out now.”
He laughed. “That’s a lame reason to marry someone.”
She smiled. “Oh, that and the fact that I’m in love with you and I’ve never been happier in my life.”
“Ah, well then. Since you put it that way. Jodi, adding on to the bar just makes good business sense. Adding a café makes it possible