gossip mill, everyone already knew she was seeing Aidan; she didn’t have to worry about being discreet anymore. It didn’t matter what anyone thought was going on between them.
It only mattered what Aidan thought.
“Can I show you our wine list?” the hostess asked.
Aidan looked to Stella. “I was thinking champagne,” he suggested.
She smiled. “What’s the special occasion?”
“You mean, besides dinner with you?”
Stella pretended to roll her eyes, but inside she felt a glow. “Champagne sounds great.”
They were brought two glasses, and Stella took a sip, hoping to quell her nerves.
“You look beautiful tonight,” Aidan said, when they were left alone. He reached across the table and took her hand, and Stella’s glow burned brighter.
“I figured muddy overalls might stick out in a place like this,” she joked.
“Your overalls are cute. They match my sawdust-covered jeans,” Aidan replied, and she smiled.
“Not something I ever expected to hear Aidan Kinsella say. Remember when I ran into you over summer? You were dressed for a corporate meeting, even though it was eighty degrees in the shade!”
“I remember everything about that day.” Aidan’s gaze turned hot, and Stella blushed.
“I can’t believe I kissed you like that,” she said, marveling at her nerve. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“That you couldn’t resist me?” he joked, and she laughed.
“More like, what’s this fool doing trying to wrestle with my alpacas?” she shot back.
But the irony stuck her, bittersweet. The only reason she’d kissed him like that was because she thought he was leaving town, never to be seen again.
Now, her heart ached to hear that he was sticking around for good.
“How did decorating go?” he asked. “Jackson said you covered half the town in pumpkins.”
“Decorative gourds,” Stella corrected him, smiling. “Apparently, they’re something else entirely.” Aidan chuckled. “You should come too, next time,” Stella suggested. “The Starbright festival is a big deal, we always need volunteers. Tall ones, to trim the trees.”
“Maybe,” he replied, taking a sip of water.
And there it was again, on the tip of her tongue. How long was he staying? Would he even be around come Christmas time?
Stella opened her mouth to speak – and then closed it again. Their appetizers hadn’t even arrived. She should let the man have a turn at the bread basket before landing all the big questions on him.
So, instead, they chatted about Aidan’s boat restoration, and rumors about Earl’s secret girlfriend, and Stella’s plans for the business. “I have so much work these days, I might take on an apprentice,” she confided. “I could use the extra pair of hands. And I think it would be nice, to train someone up the way Hank helped teach me. Maybe another woman,” she added. “A lot of my female clients feel safer, having us around the place.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Aidan said. “Anything that gives you more free time to spend elsewhere.”
He gave her a wolfish grin that left her in no doubt where that the extra time could be spent: in his bed.
Stella smiled back, feeling her blood run hot all over again. And between the champagne, and her racing heart, and the way Aidan looked, so handsome in the candlelight, that by the time their main courses were cleared away, she was changing her mind all over again. Why was she looking to spoil a good thing by rushing them into a conversation about commitment?
Who needed promises of tomorrow when she had a man like this staring back at her right now?
“That was delicious,” Stella said, pushing back her plate with a sigh. “I couldn’t eat another bite.”
Then their server swung by. “Can I interest you in dessert?” she asked, and Aidan smirked.
“You were saying…?”
Stella grinned. “I mean, if you wanted to get something, I’m sure I could manage a taste.”
“I can recommend the chocolate torte, and the pumpkin cheesecake,” their server suggested.
“I thought Declan refused to do holiday gimmicks,” Stella asked with a smile.
The server laughed. “He lost a bet with Jenny,” she confided. “There has to be one pumpkin-themed dish on the menu for the rest of the month.” Someone at a nearby table gestured to her. “You take your time deciding, I’ll be right back.”
Once they were alone, Aidan leaned closer. “What do you say we take dessert to go?” he asked, his voice low.
Stella flushed in anticipation. She had Matty waiting at home, but it was still early.
They had plenty of time for… dessert.
But before she could agree, a booming voice sounded from across the restaurant. “Kinsella, my man!”
They