Page 31 of Lovers at Seaside
He laughed. “The quicker we say hello, the quicker we get back home. I have some touching and licking to collect on.”
“Ohmygosh.”Yes, yes, yes!
He cocked a brow. “Infuriatingly male?”
“Right. Unfortunately, it turns out that I am totally into infuriating males.”
“Plural?” His eyes slanted to possessive slits.
“Would you have it any other way?” She patted Christmas on the head, then kissed Grayson’s scruffy chin. “One favorite man, one favorite boy.”
He made a cute little growling sound as they came to Sky’s shop. “Is that Sky’s friend Lizzie’s shop?” She pointed to P-town Petals, the flower shop next door.
“Yes. She’s Blue’s fiancée,” Grayson said.
“Blue the woodworking guy? Gosh, everyone knows everyone around here.”
“We like it that way.” He took her hand, and they headed inside.
Christmas lifted his nose and sniffed. The scent of lavender flowed in a stream of dancing smoke from incense burning on the counter.
“Grayson!” A girl with jet-black hair jumped off a stool behind the counter and hugged him. Grayson kissed her cheek with a loudmwah! She had a beautiful smile and an arm covered in tattoos. “I wasn’t expecting you. You must be Parker! I’m Cree. Sky told me you guys were going out.”
“Hi,” Parker said, surprised and delighted that Sky had already spoken of them as a couple.
Cree dropped to her knees and let Christmas lick her cheeks.
“This is my boy, Christmas,” Parker said.
“Love his name!” Cree hugged Christmas around his neck, then popped back up to her feet. Her sunny disposition contrasted with her head-to-toe black attire and her heavy military-style boots.
Sky was leaning over a customer just beyond the counter. Her long dark hair was tied back, revealing the top of a tattoo on her left shoulder blade. The buzzing of the tattoo gun stopped, and Sky looked over her shoulder. “Come on back. I’m going to be a while.”
Cree pushed open the knee-high iron gate that separated the waiting area from the work area. “She’s got a few hours to go on his tat.”
“Is it okay to take Christmas back?” Parker asked.
“Sure. Sky loves dogs.” Cree laughed and returned to the counter.
“Hey, guys.” Sky glanced at Christmas. “Aww. He’s so cute!”
“You see me all the time, and now you notice?” Grayson leaned down and kissed her cheek. “How’s it going, sis?”
“Awesome, like every day,” Sky said. “You just missed Sawyer. He’ll be so bummed. He had to do a training session down in Eastham.”
“He was a professional boxer, but too many noggin knocks took him out of the ring,” Grayson explained. “Now he trains other boxers in Jana’s brother’s club.”
“And writes,” Sky said, turning back to her customer, who seemed so relaxed he could have been sleeping. The buzz of the tattoo gun hummed again as she worked. “Sawyer writes poetry, and he and his dad published two books together.”
“I’ll give you one before you leave,” Cree called to them, holding up a book.
“Wow, thanks. I love poetry,” Parker said.
“Good to know.” Grayson kissed her again.
“You just missed Lizzie, too. She got swamped about ten minutes ago. But you’ll meet her at some point, Parker. Are you guys going to make it over to Seaside for breakfast sometime? Maybe next weekend?” Sky wiped blood from the area she was tattooing, then set the needle right back to work.
“I’ve got a bear of a client breathing down my neck to get her railings done. You’ll have to ask my boss.” He winked at Parker.
