Page 23 of Not Part of the Plan
“What the hell is a unit around here? A skein of wool?”
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Emma locked the front doors of the brewery behind Rupert and Lila as they headed out to their cars. For a Monday night, the crowd had kept them busy enough that Emma’s dinner was still sitting under the heat lamp on the expo line.
Julio had left her an overly generous serving of shepherd’s pie that she was looking forward to finishing over paperwork with a beer now that everyone else had gone home.
Not that the paperwork needed to be done tonight. She could just as easily come in half an hour early tomorrow if she wanted to do something… else. She’d thought of her Saturday night with Niko more often than she cared to acknowledge. And not just because of the lingering soreness from overdoing it at the gym that still had her clomping around with the grace of a drunken Clydesdale.
It also wasn’t just his sweaty form that replayed over and over again in her head, though that certainly wasn’t absent. She’d given his confession a great deal of thought, too. He was a man in the middle of an artistic crisis, or a life crisis, depending on how one looked at it.
And she had an idea on how he could begin to shake it.
Of course, that would involve seeing him again. And given her physical attraction to him, it probably wouldn’t be wise to tempt herself with more alone time with Niko.
She stared at her phone debating for a solid minute before she decided. Emma called up Niko’s contact information and typed up a text.
Hey, night owl pal. Interested in some shepherd’s pie and some unsolicited advice?
His response was immediate.Yes definitely and possibly. When/where?
Brewery. Back patio in ten.
She wasn’t setting the scene of a seduction. Emma scoffed at the thought as she lit the fire in the brewery’s patio fireplace and set up a tray stand behind the Adirondack chairs that faced the fire.
It was the warmest night of the year that Blue Moon had enjoyed since last summer, and she wanted to take advantage of the clear night sky.
Back in the eerily silent kitchen, she divided her dinner onto two plates, which she left under the heat lamp, before heading out to the bar to choose two drafts.
She trayed everything up and was carrying it out onto the concrete patio when the dark shadow of Niko appeared around the side of the building.
“A midnight picnic?” he asked, climbing the stone steps to take the tray from her and settle it on its stand.
“Afriendlymidnight picnic,” she corrected him in case he’d gotten any objectionable ideas since Saturday.
“Is there any other kind?”
“You have your choice of an IPA or a lager,” she said, gesturing at the pint glasses and ignoring his question.
He chose the IPA, and they took their plates to the chairs by the fire. They ate in silence for a few minutes, staring into the flames and enjoying the background chorus of crickets and frogs that sang from the fields and creek.
The inky night sky sparkled with a thousand stars. A sky full of stars was something Emma hoped she never grew accustomed to, never took for granted.
She finished her meal and leaned back to stare up. “You know how some people say that looking at the stars makes them feel small?”
Niko set his plate aside, nodded. “Insignificant specks. How do they make you feel?”
“Like I’m part of it all.”
“A significant speck then.”
She laughed lightly at the way they slid back into the rhythm of intimate conversation despite the fact that they were little more than strangers. “That’s exactly it. I am a significant speck and part of the cosmos.”
“When’s the last time you left Blue Moon? I’m worried about what they put in the water here,” Niko teased.
Emma bit her lip. She hadn’t bothered taking any of the vacation time the Pierces had generously given her. When she’d started, there’d been too much work to do, and once she’d settled in, she’d talked them into expanding into catered events, which created even more work.
“Haven’t you heard? Once you come to Blue Moon, you can never leave,” she joked.
