Page 36 of Kiss Me, Darling

“True. Sometimes I forget it’s okay to buy furniture.” He shrugged and returned to his seat, throwing one arm around London. “So we have news.”

I swear everyone leaned in.

“What is it?” Linc asked when the silence became unbearable.

London grinned, vibrating with excitement. “Ben and I are teaming up.Found Home History: Italy.” She paused, looking around the table.

Scott blinked and shook his head. “You’re going to Italy!”

“Yep,” London nodded, “I have a friend whose family villa in northern Tuscany is in desperate need of renovation. Ben will do what he normally does and I’ll do what I normally do, but we’ll do it together on camera in Italy!”

“This is wonderful! Congratulations.” I tipped my wine glass at the couple. “How long will you be gone?”

“The logistics are going to take a while,” Ben explained. “We’ll take a trip or two over to get things moving, hire contractors, and purchase materials. The renovation will take about nine months if everything goes well, which of course it won’t. It’s possible we’ll have to split the work into two seasons. We’ll know more after we visit the property.”

“Uh oh,” Chris teased. “Working together...you better get married first.”

London grinned even wider. “About that. We’re thinking a holiday wedding while the whole family is here.”

“Perfect!” Scott and Chris both shouted at the same time, then looked at each other and laughed.

“I guess Mom and Dad have been giving us all a hard time,” Ben said while chuckling.

“Well I, for one, am excited. I hear Calusa Key weddings are a big deal.”

London’s eyes rounded. “Oh they are. Luckily it’s not all on us. We pick a date and let everyone know. The chaos goes from there.”

Oh this sounded so fun! “What kind of chaos are we talking?”

“Well the actual ceremony will probably be at Gram’s. Just family and close friends. But from there...we’re talking seafood boil on the beach, festival on the streets, maybe a parade? They made Paris and Harrison drive down the main drag so everyone could see them and give their well wishes.”

Whoa.“So like an island version of a royal wedding.”

“Exactly.” Olivia nodded. “True locals who’ve been here since before the tourism industry arrived are a very tight community. And they like to party.”

It sounded very intense.

We stayed at the table drinking wine and buzzing with conversation about the new show, holidays, and weddings. After a bit I brought out an assortment of cookies, carefully placing one set in front of Chris and Ben.

And then I went back to the kitchen to clean up. I was a little nervous about being in the room when they discovered what I put in their cookies. So I busied myself with hand washing the big pans and dishes.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Scott moved behind me, trapping me with his arms on either side of me, hands on the counter. “I promised to be an angel tonight. That meansIshould be cleaning.” He kissed that same spot behind my ear ever so tenderly.

My knees wobbled all over again. “I’m hiding in here.”

“Hiding from what?” His lips traveled down, down, down to my shoulder.

“Ew! Ugh. Nasty!” The sound of Ben’s voice made me freeze.

“Sunflower seeds?” Chris joined the spitting and gagging.

Scott’s whole body started shaking against mine, and when I turned I realized he was laughing but trying to keep it in. “Did you prank them?”

I nodded.

“With cookies?”

I nodded again. What was I thinking? This was the boys’ game, not mine.

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