Page 11 of Sweet Summertide

She cut his thought short. “You’ll have to go on a proper date with me, wherever I choose.” What should have sounded likea playful threat, came out more like an invitation. Holly didn’t think these stakes were that bad, “Deal?”

He nodded. “Shake on it?” He let her go and put his hand out.

“I have a better idea.” She pushed his hand aside. “Kiss on it instead?”

He smiled at her suggestion and closed his eyes. Taking his jawline in her hand, she perked up on her tiptoes and brushed her nose against his. His chest rose and he held his breath. The tension in his muscles told her he was waiting for her lips to be on his. But he would have to wait for something as sweet as that.

Holly pressed her mouth against his cheek in the fastest peck she had ever given. Before he knew what hit him, she had darted across the road between passing cars and turned to face him from the other side of the street. “You’re gonna lose, Teddy!”

CHAPTER 5

Arrivingon Main Street the next morning, Holly parked her dad’s silver Tesla Roadster down the street from her shop. She left plenty of room for work vehicles to have easy access to her space, she also parked close enough to the local coffee house to pick up some treats. With two coffees in hand, she headed straight for Teddy’s place and hoped he was there so she wouldn’t be responsible for downing two double shot espressos by herself.

She peeked her head inside the open front door. “Teddy? Are you in here?” After waiting a whole two seconds for a response and hearing only the sound of a drill, she let herself in and followed the noise to its source. “Teddy?” she said coming around the backside of a long wooden countertop where she found him crouched down.

Startled by her touch on his shoulder, he spun towards her with the electric drill pointed at her like a weapon. He removed his fogged-up safety glasses and huffed. “Don’t you look just like Tim the Toolman.”

“Who?” she asked and looked down at her clothing. She had thrown on her most work-appropriate outfit, a pair of denim shorts and pale pink floral crop top. The tool belt was more fordramatic effect, but the caramel-colored leather hanging from her waist topped off the outfit and made her look way cooler than she was. “It’s just regular me, here with a gift for you.” Holly held out the steaming paper cup for him. “Cappuccino with extra foam.”

Teddy stood and sniffed the rising steam. “Poison?”

“No.” She handed it over. “I just thought you might need some energy today. With all this work you need to get done. I mean look at his place. You think you’ll be open in a month?”

“Are you trying to get in my head, Blake Holly Hollis?”

The way he said her name, like a dirty word, left her speechless. She closed her bedeviled, gaping mouth and hid behind the rim of her cup.Was he trying to get in her head?She would not allow this man to toy with her, especially when so much was on the line. “I’m just being a good neighbor. Where are all of your workers anyway?” She scanned the mostly empty space that had been teaming with men in hardhats yesterday.

“The demo crew finished up a day early, so it’s just me today,” Teddy said and sipped his drink. “Anyway, I figured I could get a head start on some of the lingering layout questions. Like this bar.” He ran a hand along the long edge of the old bar-top. “I was planning on tossing this thing, but I think it’s worth saving. Just look at this mahogany.”

“What are you going to do with it?” She was genuinely curious what use he could find for a bar. “I would have just thrown it out or used it for firewood.”

“Somehow, I doubt Blake Holly Hollis has ever made a fire.”

She certainly had not, but he didn’t need to know that fires and outdoorsy things weren’t really her vibe. However, she would make an exception for frolicking through a beautifully manicured garden somewhere. “Are you going to call me by my whole name from now on?”

“So long as you call me Teddy, I’ll call you whatever name I want.”

“If that’s how you’re going to be, I won’t stop you.” In truth, she liked the way her name flicked off his tongue like a delicacy. She met him beside the bar and ran her fingers along the wooden top until she touched his. “So, Teddy, what are you going to do with the firewood?”

Teddy put his coffee down and regained use of both hands. He motioned towards the ceiling and dropped his gaze in a straight line down towards his feet. “A ladder.”

“Ooh. How exciting,” she teased.

“See, if I turn it upright and attach some sliding wheels, I can use it to go along this whole back wall. I want to use my supplies as décor in the upper shelves.”

It was actually an interesting idea, she had to admit, and so nostalgic. It was a shame she hadn’t thought of something similar for her own shop, though her interior design style was more Victorian garden and less Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “It’s a nice idea, Teddy, really. Teddy,” she said, adding his name again just to irritate him. She had no intention to cease using the pet-name because she enjoyed hearing him call her by hers too much. She hid a giggle.

“Thank you, and thanks for the joe.” He tapped his cup against hers like a salute to their growing relationship. “I really should get back to work though, if you don’t mind.”

“Do you want any help? I wore my worker outfit,” Holly said and did a little shimmy.

“I see that. You look just like all the other guys.” Teddy approached her. “It’s the tool beltbelt for me.”

“You like it?”

He nodded with a smirk that pulled up on one side. His teeth showed between relaxed lips and nearly made her wish shehadkissed his unshaven face yesterday.

The peck on the cheek was meant to aggravate him, but it had the unintended effect of frustrating her too. He looked like a man that could kiss well, she considered the fullness of his lips and the pillowy smooth texture that she was sure would be like silk against her skin. Heat climbed her neck, and she backed away from him.

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