Page 128 of Will Bark for Pizza
Tomorrow morning, I was heading to Omaha with mybrothers, Beckett, and Aspen to pack up my former life into a moving truck. But the book club was showing up in force for a large sidewalk sale. Dylann, Betty, and Carol Ann were around town today hanging flyers. Lila—despite all the packing—was blasting the sale all over social media.
Our goal was to clear out as much of the oldest inventory as possible, even if it meant selling them for next to nothing. There wasn’t a single book in the store that was returnable due to its age. Whatever didn’t sell, we would either put in a bargain bin, or donate.
“Are you all sure you’ll be okay without me for the next couple of days?” I asked for at least the third time tonight.
“I say this in the most loving way possible. But would you please stop trying to control everything and just let us do this, honey?” Carlos pleaded.
“We’ve got your back,” Lotti reassured.
“She’s right. Plus, you haven’t seen hustle until you’ve witnessed Dylann work a crowd. I dare anyone to make it past the store without buying at least one book when she’s on shift,” Thelma added.
“It’ll be fine,” Beckett said, offering me one of those easygoing smiles that had the ability to short-circuit my brain.
I still couldn’t decide how I felt about his offer to help with the move. Luke and Connor could handle loading the truck on their own. But selfishly, I wanted him there. “Are you sure you can step away from all the work you have to do?”
He placed his hands on my shoulders and locked his gaze with mine. “It’s two days, Red. Not two months.”
Tingles skittered down my arms from the contact. They skittered into other places down south as well, which made it hard to maintain eye contact. The room did that weird thing again, where everything and everyone around us blurred and muffled. It would be so easy to close what little distance remained between us. To feel his hard body pressed against mine.
I studied his Glacier National Park T-shirt to keep my eyes off his lips.
“I don’t want to get on your Nana’s bad side any more than I already am.”
“Nana’ll come around.”
He sounded so sure of himself. I wanted to believe him. But I was playing with fire, and we both knew it. So, I stepped back until his hands fell away and the room refocused.
“Opal, honey, you about ready to go?” I called to my niece.
“Five more pages,” she hollered back.
“What do you want me to do about the outstanding invoices?” Patrick asked. “The new ones?”
“I’ll move some money over tonight. Get them paid this week if we can.”
“Sweetie, you have investors too,” Carlos reminded me. “You don’t have to take on the financial burden alone.”
“I know,” I said, averting my gaze from Beckett’s. “And I appreciate that. But trust me. There will be plenty more things to invest your money in. Let me worry about getting us back in the black.”
After a quick huddle to go over the plan for thesidewalk sale once more, we called it a night. I waited as Thelma, Lotti, Carlos, and Patrick filed out.
“You okay?” Beckett asked as we waited for Opal to finish reading Husker his book. Odd, considering he never sat still long enough for me to read him more than a paragraph of anything. But that dog kept glancing between Opal and the book, almost as though he understood her.
“Overwhelmed, but okay.”
“You need to unwind some of that stress,” Beckett said, his voice low. I couldn’t decide if I was imagining the suggestive part, but I was too tired to talk myself completely out of it.
“Any suggestions?” Not too tired to flirt, apparently.
“I can think of a few.” Beckett traced my jaw with a single finger. I didn’t remember him stepping so close. Or was I the one? When his finger reached the bottom of my chin, he tilted my face up, bringing our lips dangerously close to one another.
“Do they involve that mouth of yours?”
“What would you want me to do with my mouth?” he asked, his voice low. The gruffness in his tone caused a ripple of pleasure to travel the length of my body. It settled between my legs, because I knew exactly where I wanted that mouth.
“We’re ready to go!” Opal announced, the clap of the book she was reading the return to reality I needed.
I stepped back just as Husker rushed us, wedging himself between Beckett and me. I, of course, was stuck with his booty. He looked up at the counter, where Mom used to keep a container of treats. I made a mental reminder to fixthat next.
