Page 41 of Dragged Home for Christmas

Sam chuckled. “Your beard tickles,” he murmured against Mike’s lips.

Mike closed his eyes. “You’re a good kisser.” His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he groaned. “Nope. Not answering it. I want to enjoy the sunset—and you.”

Sam stroked his jaw. “We’ll have other sunsets. Besides, this could be important.”

He had a point.

Mike removed his phone and peered at the screen. “It’s Harry Dexter. Maybe he’s calling about the paint.” Harry had said he’d give them an estimate on when the paint would be ready to be delivered. Mike clicked on Answer. “Hey, Harry.”

“You’re not going to believe this.”

“What’s wrong?” Becausesomethinghad to be. It was all going way too smoothly.

“I just struck oil. Hit paydirt. Struck gold. Whatever.” He paused. “I’ve found you what you need for the bathroom renovations.”

Mike sat upright. “What?” Beside him, Sam gaped. “Where?”

“There’s a company in Maine that manufactures sinks, tubs, you name it. The sad news is, they’ve just gone out of business. Thegoodnews is, they’re prepared to sell off their stock. So it’s not free, but itwillbe the cheapest option. At this point, they’ll take whatever they can get for it. He said it’s not brand-spanking-new stuff, but thatstillmakes it more up-to-date than what you’ve got at the hotel. I’ll text you the details. They won’t deliver, so you’ll need a rental to go pick it all up. The guy I spoke with said you can collect next week.” He chuckled. “Isn’t this wonderful?”

“It is. Thanks, Harry. I’ll come over soon for that coffee we mentioned. We can talk about Nick.”

“Look forward to it.” He hung up.

Mike shook his head. “Well, what about that?” He grinned. “Harry just delivered that miracle Elliott wanted.” Then he remembered what the call had interrupted, and his chest tightened. “I’m sorry. We were doing something important.”

Sam chuckled. “And we can do it again—another time. Right now we should get back to the house.”

On impulse, Mike grabbed Sam’s face and pulled him in for a lingering kiss. Sam sighed into the embrace.

“And that’s for my first P-town sunset,” Mike said with a smile.

He had a feeling it wouldn’t be his last.

And when we get home, I have a letter to read.

Chapter 14

Thursday, November 14

Two Weeks Until Thanksgiving

“Mike? You okay?”

Mike gave himself a shake. “Sorry. Must’ve zoned out for a sec.”

Sam smirked. “Zoning out while perched on top of a ladder isnotrecommended.” He glanced at the room, emptied of furniture and covered in canvas drop cloths, and sighed. “This is going to take forever, you know that, right?”

The others had helped out, but even so, Sam was correct.

We don’t have enough pairs of hands.

That wasn’t what had distracted Mike, however. They hadn’t collected the bathroom supplies yet, and they wouldn’t be able to do that until they had sufficient funds to pay for them.

And God knows when we’ll be able to do that.

The club had re-opened the previous Friday, and while it had been a hot, sweaty success, it hadn’t generated a fraction of what they needed. The sale of Nick’s costume jewelry and the pearl earrings had swelled the coffers, and it all helped.

It still wasn’t enough.

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