Murphy's Law (Havenwood #2) - Riley Hart Page 0,40

forward and kissed my neck. “I want your dreams to come true.”

“I don’t even know what they are.” My gut twisted and turned, tied itself into knots.

“You’ll figure it out.” He laid his head on my chest, brushing his finger back and forth over my nipple. “I think you’ll work with people. Something…simple. I see that. I don’t mean simple in a bad way, just…comfortable. People like talking to you. They’re drawn to you, so whatever you do, you’ll create an atmosphere where people want to be.”

“See? This is why I love you. You see how awesome I am. Like, I’m pretty sure there should be statues made in my honor. Ooh, or a day of the year that recognizes me.”

“Fucker.” Remy pinched my nipple.

“Ouch. Shit. Don’t be mean to me! I’m a national monument!”

He laughed, which made me laugh, before I rolled us over and settled between his legs, looking down at him. The tips of my fingers danced across his freckles, and I blew at the auburn strands of his hair and watched them wave. “As long as I make you comfortable and you want to talk to me and are drawn to me, that’s all that matters.”

“So sappy.” But I could see it in his eyes, what the words really meant.

You do make me comfortable.

I want to talk to you.

I’m drawn to you.

“What’s today?” I asked.

Remy grinned playfully. “National Lawson Grant Day.”

“Smart man,” I replied, and kissed him…

“Law? Lawson?” The concern in Mary Beth’s voice snapped me out of the memory.

“Sorry. I was spacing off.”

“It’s okay.” She continued sweeping. “Your friend…you’ve known him long?”

Mary Beth was great. She was about sixty years old, funny, kind, never met a stranger or someone she didn’t like.

“We, um…met when I was in college.”

“Did he move to Havenwood? It’s nice when we get someone new, ya know? Gives the old farts someone to talk about. But what they don’t know is, it’s expanding their world view. People around here get too comfortable. Don’t like city folks or different folks. I say, let people be and the more the merrier.”

I chuckled, agreeing with her, but also not knowing where she was going with this. “I know you do. That’s why you’re my favorite. But no, he didn’t move here. He’s…” Hell, I didn’t know what he was doing. He bought a damn house, but I knew Rem. His career wouldn’t allow for him to stay here long, and he wouldn’t live permanently away from his mom. “Here, give me the broom. I’ll finish sweeping. You can go early.”

For a moment I thought she was going to argue with me, but she handed it over. At the door she turned and said, “You’re my favorite too, Lawson Grant. Tell your friend I hope he stays.”

She walked out, and I stood there watching the empty space for a second. That had been… If I didn’t know better, I would think Mary Beth saw there was something between us. But how could she? And really, there wasn’t. Not anymore.

In front of the shop, there was a compact black car, Remy in the driver’s seat, cap still on his head. The car hadn’t been there before, so he must have moved closer.

As if he could feel me looking at him, his head turned, facing my direction. We stared at each other for a moment before he raised his hand and waved, shy, unsure. It was stupid sweet, so I had to be me and flipped him off. Remy shook his head, but I knew he was smiling.

My phone rang in my pocket, but I ignored it, assuming it was my mom. I’d been avoiding her calls, not wanting to deal with family stuff.

I finished with my duties, locked up, and set the alarm. He got out of the car, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking over. “That wasn’t very nice of you, flipping me off.”

“I considered mooning you, but it would be just my luck that someone would see. I would scandalize all of Havenwood.”

“Not sure that’s the result you would have gotten.” His blue eyes darkened with heat, before darting away. His cheeks were pink, likely because he couldn’t believe he’d said that, but I’d always loved it when shit like that fell out of his mouth when I was around.

“Look at you. When’d you brush up on your flirting skills?” We began to walk, me leading the way around the corner toward Cherry Hill Park. People were out and about, here and