Page 11 of As Long As You Kiss Me

“Yep. We got a sitter for the night. It’s been too long since we were out, just the two of us.” Lauren licked her vanilla cone.

Sully handed Chase his cone. “Here you go.”

It had taken up the last of the mint chocolate chip. She rang them up and they left to sit at the little bistro tables she had set up around the store. The shop had an old-fashioned feel to it with a red-checkered valance on the big front window and over thirty-five ice cream flavors packed into a big glass case that spanned the width of the shop.

It had been around for a long time, and she’d taken it over a few years ago when she’d gotten her business degree from Roanoke College. She hadn’t wanted to change anything. It was a beloved spot for Maple Creek’s citizens, and she wanted to keep that old charm. She did freshen up the space with a new coat of paint and some new tables and chairs, but other than that, it looked pretty much the same as it had for years.

She went to the back to get some more mint chocolate chip. When she came back out two of her teenaged employees were talking.

“Did you see the new history teacher?” Ella asked, eyes wide.

“You mean the hot one?” Kenzie was leaning against the counter. At the moment, the shop had gone quiet with no new customers to ring up.

Sully switched out the empty container of mint chocolate chip with the new one. Normally, she had the girls serving customers, but when Lauren and Chase had come in, she’d stepped in to serve them since they were friends of hers.

Ella continued the conversation. “Yeah, I saw Lara flirting with him in the hall. Can you believe it?”

Sully threw out the used container of mint chocolate chip and noticed the butter pecan was getting low as well. She’d have to change it out in a little bit.

The door opened, and Jackson walked in. He looked amazing in a light blue collared shirt that stretched across his muscled chest. A pair of sunglasses was perched on his head, and his skin had a tanned glow to it. His dark hair was mussed slightly, and that made her want to run her fingers through it to straighten it out. Was her face getting hot? Just the sight of him got her worked up. “Oh, hey,” she said, opening the back of the freezer case, hoping the cold air would cool her off as well. “What can I get you?”

“Hey. It’s good to see you. I told you I’d stop by.”

“And here you are.”

“Here I am.” He gazed into her eyes, and a smile lifted the corners of his soft lips next. She couldn’t help but look at them. Their kiss had been on her mind a lot lately. And he was an excellent kisser at that. She was dying to try it again sometime. But she’d shocked him with that kiss, and he probably wouldn’t let her near him again.

“I’ll take a chocolate brownie cone, two scoops.”

His words brought her back to reality. She was supposed to be working. “You got it.” She turned to the girls as she scooped out his ice cream. “So the new history teacher is hot, huh?”

Ella’s eyes got huge, and she started shaking her head. What was her problem? She’d been talking about it a minute ago.

She handed him his cone, and Jackson cleared his throat. “How much do I owe you?”

She looked between him and the girls and couldn’t decipher their strange expressions. Was she missing something? “Why is everyone acting so weird all of a sudden?”

“I can ring you up over here, Mr. Carr,” Ella said.

“Wait. You know Jackson?” Sully looked between them. Ella looked down at the register.

He paid Ella and then took a seat.

“What am I missing?” Sully whispered.

“Your friend Jacksonisthe new history teacher,” Kenzie said. “That was so embarrassing.”

Sully’s face heated up again. “Sorry. I didn’t know Jackson was a teacher.”

“You’re his friend, right? How could you not know that?” Ella whispered.

“I don’t know. It never came up between us.” Sully wiped down the counter and couldn’t help but check out what Jackson was up to. He was happily eating his cone on his own. She should at least say something to him. He did come by to see her, after all. She walked around the counter to the front of the store.

“Mind if I sit down?” she asked.

“Not at all. Have a seat.”

She slid into the chair across from him. “So you’re a teacher now?”

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