Page 53 of Falling for the Bad Boy
“Sounds good.” I stepped back as Macy picked up her designer bag and flung it over her shoulder. If I wanted her help, the whiteboard was inevitable. They were a package deal. It might be time to embrace the dry erase markers if it meant having the chance to get Macy’s input on my plan.
“See you tonight.” Macy cracked open the door. “Oh, want to invite your buff bartender and I can see if Mitch wants to come over too?”
“I don’t know. He’s probably got to work.”
“So text me later and let me know.” With a final wave, she pulled the door closed behind her, taking the overbearing cloud of enthusiasm with her.
I wandered back into the living room and slumped onto the sofa. It wasn’t that I wasn’t excited about the shop opening. But I thought I’d take things nice and slow. I should have known better since I’d confided in Macy. The last thing that woman did was slow. Never had, never would.
Now that Macy was involved, the grand opening was happening and it was going to be big, whether I wanted it to or not. So I needed to come up with something to get the public and potential customers excited. Something that would create some publicity before I even opened. Something the reporter might find newsworthy.
Maybe I could go for the world record of longest scarf. See if I could get hundreds of local knitters to show up and pitch in on a project like that. I pulled out my phone and looked up the stats on that. At almost fifteen-thousand feet, the world’s longest scarf was going to hold onto that record. As I scrolled through my phone, wondering if there might be another smaller, more attainable record I could shoot for, an incoming text pinged.
Oliver: Got plans tonight? Want to finish those shelves?
Me: They’re done. Dinner at Macy’s?
Oliver: Time?
Me: 6:30
Oliver: Ok. Miss you.
Miss you? When did we hit “miss you” status? I almost didn’t reply. But I did miss him. Missed feeling his hands in my hair. Missed the sound of his voice as he whispered in my ear. Missed the way he held me tight against his chest. Before I could change my mind, I fired off a response.
Me: Miss you too.
Those three little words felt like some sort of commitment. I waited for the ceiling to fall down on me. It didn’t. Maybe the world wouldn’t end when I let someone get close to me.
With a little bit of hope sparking inside my chest, I pulled myself up off the couch and cleaned up my breakfast dishes. Now that the shelves were done, it was time to place orders for product. I’d spent hours filling out the business paperwork required to get my sales tax number and establish accounts at the biggest suppliers. Picking out which lines to carry and what fibers to feature would get me excited about the grand opening.
I could almost picture the shelves Oliver and I built, overflowing with skeins of yarn in every color. As I fired up my laptop, I ran my finger over the texts he’d sent. Evidently, we were moving forward too.
Instead of making me want to flee to the most remote corners of the Earth, I felt a strange sense of calm. With luck, it might grow and spread. And tonight I promised myself that before Oliver started sweet talking me into taking my clothes off, I’d get him to talk about himself a little bit more.
CHAPTER 23
Oliver
I pushed back from the table, my belly full from the gourmet takeout Macy had served for dinner. That was one thing Newbridge had that Towley never would—every kind of food I could hope for, all within delivery distance. I wiped the cloth napkin over my lips as I listened to the heated exchange going on between Trinity and Macy.
“I feel like I need some kind of publicity move before the grand opening. Something that will get people excited about the shop before the big day.” Trinity took another sip of wine. Thankfully everyone’s curiosity in my family’s fake vineyard had died down. I still hadn’t figured out why I hadn’t told the truth about that.
Macy held up the bottle and emptied it into Trinity’s glass. “Mitch, would you be a dear and open the other bottle? I think we’re going to be at this for a while.”
Mitch got up from the table and stacked the empty plates before taking them to the kitchen.
“Should we move into the living room?” Macy asked. “I’ve got the whiteboard set up. We can deep dive into your grand opening plan.”
Trinity picked up her glass and held it out to me. “To what will surely be the most painful night of your life.”
I chuckled as I tapped my glass against hers. “I doubt that.”
“Oh, you haven’t seen Macy with her whiteboard yet.” Trinity offered what she probably intended as an apologetic smile.
“That’s not fair.” Macy led the way into the living room. “You know I’m just trying to help.”
“I know.” Trinity slung an arm around her friend.
