Page 98 of Lemon Crush

She kissed the part of my arm she could reach and smiled with her eyes still closed. “Holy bananas,” she whispered, making me smile.

I’d take that. For now.

“As soon as I can move my legs again, I’ll wash the sheets,” I told her languidly.

She snorted and buried her face in my shoulder. “I can’t believe we did that in here.”

“Give me an hour and we can do it again.”

“Big talk from a man who can’t move his legs.”

I lifted my head to give her a half-hearted glare. “It’s your fault. You and that book you’ve been writing. Hanging out withstrippers and throw pillows. Roofer calves,” I tossed in for good measure as her smile widened.

She giggled. “You’ve got them all beat, buddy. After this, I might have to change the scene I was working on, because you’ve outdone my hero too. I’m not sure what you’re going to do to top this.”

I’m going to keep you.

She wasn’t ready to hear it yet, but that had always been the goal.

I should have remembered that saying about the best laid plans.

21

WADE

The next daywas a clusterfuck from the word go.

It started at dawn, with August already up and puttering around the house to make sure it was ready for company instead of snuggling up against me.

Then Bob called in sick and I had to hustle in to work without making breakfast.

When I came home for my lunch break, I found Chick and August in the backyard, dangling their legs in the pool as they ate fries with Texas toast and gravy, which he’d had his driver stop for on the way from the airport.

“My first authentic southern meal,” he said with a wink, wiping his hands on a paper napkin before getting to his feet. “Pedro said he’d take me out while I was here and show me what real Texas fare tasted like, but I was in a hurry to get to our girl, so this will do for now. We brought you some too. Chicken fingers and gravy. I hear it’s all the rage.”

I was lost already. “Pedro?”

“My Lyft driver.” If I hadn’t known what a roguish grin was before, I did now. “He looks like Pedro Pascal’s twin. His realname is Tim, but he was so flattered by the comparison he said I was free to call him whatever I liked.”

Chick hadn’t been in town for an hour and he already had a date. August had been right. Despite the height difference, he immediately reminded me of Kingston, with that sophisticated, well-manicured air—only his air was quintessential California. He almost looked like a movie star himself, tanned and sculpted and what Oscar would call “highfalutin,” even in bare feet with his linen pants rolled up to his knees.

“Wade Hudson, meet Chick Martin, my bestie from out westie,” August said, leaning back on her hands and grinning up at me like she’d read my mind.

I raised my eyebrows at her with a,“What? No hug?”expression.

Chick had no problem reading my look. He immediately wrapped his arms around my neck and smashed his lips to my cheek with a loud “Mwah!” then moved away before I could think about elbowing the man, or maybe hugging him back. I wasn’t sure. He was…what was that word August had tossed out the other day? Discombobulating.

“Sorry, I had to get that out of the way,” he said warmly. “I feel like I’ve known you for years. And you weren’t lying, August. He does have tricolored eyes.”

Huh. That was from her books. The tricolored eye guy was the hero, right?

“Chick,” August said in a warning tone.

“I’m not revealing secrets, sunshine. You told me he knows your work.” He tossed me a subtle wink, as if we were old friends, then grabbed a paper sack off the table and handed it to me. It was still warm from sitting in the sun. “Come join us.”

“Thanks.” My neck and ears were hot as I took the sack. No way was I pulling off my boots and socks to dip my big, sweaty feet in the pool with theirs. Not in the middle of a workday. Instead, Iate in a chair on the shady side of the table and let their conversation wash over me in a tumbling stream of musical sound that barely seemed to pause for breath.

You’d think they didn’t talkevery single day.

---