“And we know you two were on the porch all cuddled up a few days ago,” Ceci finished.
I nearly spit my smoothie out. “Who told you that?”
“Please. You think your neighbor is blind?” Jodi asked.
I blanched. “Miss Betty?”
“Of course Miss Betty,” Ceci rolled her eyes. “Saw you two drinking tea on the porch and was good enough to close her curtains. Which, for the record, I would not have done. Now come on. Spill.” She gestured in a get on with it motion.
“You know, I’m not sure you two even deserve details.”
“Did. You. Kiss. Him?” Ceci demanded in a growl. “For God’s sake, I am living vicariously through you and right now, I am wound up tighter than a bra around the arm in a washing machine.”
“That’s…oddly specific.”
“Now, woman!” She banged the chair cushion and glowered at me.
I laughed and held my hands up. “Okay, okay. Yes, I kissed him.”
Both of them erupted in a hailstorm of squeals and claps that had the entire shop looking at us.
“Could you two not?” I hissed.
“Tongue?” Ceci asked.
“Really?” I said, baring my very much un-openable teeth and pointing to them. But his hands, on the other hand, the heat of them against my skin, and the possessive way he’d pulled me to him, it had set me ablaze, not to mention the package he was clearly working with…
Jodi’s eyebrows hit her perfectly curled bangs. “You’re squirming in your seat.”
Shit.
Ceci opened her mouth to say something when the bell above the door jingled. She glanced up, and her expression changed to pure delight. “Well, well, well, look who’s here.”
Double shit. Because it definitely had to be Aaron. No other person would have that expression appearing on my sister-in-law’s face.
I turned in my seat, and Aaron strode purposefully toward us, eyes locked on me, clad in his dark blue uniform. I swallowed. Christ almighty the man was hot. I managed to drag my gaze off his chest and up to his face, and he smiled like he’d won the lottery.
“Devon,” he said, his voice a little lower and scratchier than usual. Was this his morning voice? Wait. It wasn’t morning. Imagine what it’d sound like if I heard it first thing as he rolled on top of me, wrapping me in those arms as he settled between my legs, the length of him pushing—
“Devon?” he asked.
I shook my head and pulled myself together. “Aaron, hi!” My voice was a full octave higher. Jodi and Ceci giggled behind me and I mentally flipped them off. “Hello.” I jumped up and led him to the counter, grabbing his arm and trying not to gawk at the steel I found in place of a bicep. Clearly I’d not felt the man up nearly enough on my porch. “Let me buy you a coffee.”
He grinned, his eyes glinting in the light. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Maybe not, but I do need to get away from Bippo and Boppo,” I said, jerking my head back at the table.
His smile widened in delight. “Then you’ll be sad to know that Jodi, who I’m going to guess is Bippo, is about to appear in front of us in three, two…”
“Your usual, Aaron?” Jodi asked, winking at me.
I groaned. Was it possible to get away with murder?
“Yes, please.” He dropped some bills on the counter and turned his attention to me. His eyes softened, turning into liquid pools of almost silvery-blue. “Is it okay if I tell you I missed you?”
I warmed under his gaze. “Of course.”
He ran a hand down my arm, causing goosebumps to raise in its wake. “Good. Because I did.”
It’d not even been forty-eight hours, but I felt the same way. I nearly said it, too, but caught myself. I needed to keep this under control. This couldn’t get deep.
“Coffee,” Jodi said, pushing the to-go cup across the counter with a smirk.
Aaron took it and guided us away from the register. “I’m starting a two-day shift, but maybe I can come over when it’s done?” His tone was hopeful as his thumb traced circles on the inside of my wrist.
My entire being centered on his thumb and I blinked slowly. I didn’t want him to stop touching me or looking at me with such tenderness. I also needed him to quit immediately. A universe of pent-up emotions clawed at the door to be let out. I had no idea what I was doing.
I nodded.
He smiled again, sending my stomach tipping. “I have to go.” He leaned down and kissed the side of my cheek, enveloping me in his scent, then straightened. “I’ll see you soon.”
I watched him leave, marveling at the sheer perfection of his butt in those uniform pants. As the door shut behind him, I slid my gaze over to Ceci, who watched me with a satisfied smile. I walked to my chair, sat down, and sighed. “I don’t know, Ceci.”
Jodi reappeared and took her seat. “Don’t know what? Because wow, the sparks between you two!” She fanned herself.
“Anything. Everything. I’m so…and he’s so…” I lifted my hand and let it drop. I didn’t know what. Or maybe I did. My world was tilting on its axis, and I was flailing to stay upright.
“Perfect for you?” Ceci finished. “The best thing to happen to you since Jason?”
