Then it hits me that it’s a Thursday morning and we both should have been working today.
“Holy shit!” I say, standing up quickly. “We have jobs!”
He bursts out laughing. “I talked to Lindley already and she’s covering the shop for you today. I had plans.”
“Beau!”
“What?” he asks, completely unashamed. “I told you I had plans and didn’t want anything to disrupt them. And let’s be honest. You needed last night just as much as I did. My crew here is one I’ve worked with for a million other jobs so they know what to do.” He tugs on my hand so I’m sitting on his lap again. “We have the entire day to ourselves.”
I thread my fingers through his hair and lean down to kiss him. “Mmm,” I hum. “What sort of things should we do to occupy our time?”
“I’ve got a few ideas.”
“So do I.”
“Care to see if our ideas are the same?”
Rather than answer, I get up and walk into the house. He trails behind me.
Then we take a nap.
And when we wake up two hours later, we start tackling a few of those ideas.
The best part of the day?
Beau is taking me out on our first date.
He even managed to have flowers delivered to the house before our date. And bonus? He went to the shop yesterday and Lindley helped him arrange it himself. My fingers itched to fix a few of the flowers and rearrange, but I didn’t. Because the gesture was worth having a pale pink carnation included in the mix of otherwise brightly colored gerbera daisies, roses, and tulips.
Two days later he saw me staring at the flowers and laughed.
“I knew you’d hate that carnation but wanted to see what you’d do.”
“You knew?”
“Of course I knew. You only complain about carnations all the time. But I couldn’t resist.”
If possible, I fell in love with him a little more.
The only thing he’s told me is that he reserved an outdoor table at my favorite Italian steakhouse.
And if I have my way, we’ll skip any other plans he may have and come back here before it’s time to get Zoey.
I’ll absolutely get my way.
Chapter Twenty-One
Beau
“Please tell me you didn’t say that to her face,” Addy says, horrified.
“Hey. She’s the one who asked how it was!” Tyson defends himself with his hands in the air but the look on Addy’s face says she doesn’t care.
“You’re a jackass. You were in an elevator!”
“A jackass who women love. And don’t knock elevator sex. It’s hot as fuck. Especially with the risk of getting caught.”
“But you told her you’d had better. I guarantee that’s not exactly what she was hoping you’d say.”
“I can’t help it. I’m an honest guy,” he says, leaning back in his chair, hands now behind his head. “Besides, she wasn’t even offended. She asked for pointers. I helped her out. I’m generous like that. Even let her blow me again.”
She throws a fry at his face. He picks it up off his chest and pops it in his mouth. Addy huffs and tries to glare. It reminds me of when Zoey tries to look mad at us but she’s really just ticked that she’s not getting her own way.
Adorable.
My woman.
It’s been a month since Addy and I got together. A lot has changed in those four weeks. I closed on my old house and my new-to-me old farmhouse. Richard moved into his duplex in town and the auction was held to get rid of all the belongings he no longer wanted or needed. The process of building a shop at my house is underway and Zoey started kindergarten last week.
Addy and Zoey still live in their house, and sleepovers don’t happen as often as I’d like, but we kind of rushed into things and decided that our relationship was important enough that we wanted to take our time and go through the motions.
Date nights.
Phone calls and texts to let each other know we’re thinking of them.
Family meals with Zoey.
Family meals with my entire family.
Including Richard.
Because he’s definitely part of the family now.
“So what else is new?” Addy asks him, taking a sip of her Coke after a big bite of her mushroom swiss burger. Juices drip down her chin and she wipes it away with a napkin. I wish I could have licked them off.
We’re out to dinner at this little bar called The Flying Goat. The food is basic bar food but the atmosphere is awesome. Plus,