Page 14 of Outside the Lines
Couldn’t help laughing. She had me there. “God, I love you.” Over and over. I couldn’t have met a better partner.
“I know,” she murmured against my skin. “That’s why you married me.”
Yeah, it was. “I can’t imagine spending the rest of my ethically non-monogamous life without you.”
“Ditto.” Sleepy voice. “Never gonna—”
Before she could get the next word out, I pressed my fingers against her lips. “Don’t you dare Rick Roll me in bed, Lydia Derry!”
Her eyes danced with an evil glint. She knew that song would be stuck in my head now. Probably would be playing there in the morning too.
I replaced my fingers with my lips and kissed her long and hard.
I felt like some kind of weird thief or secret agent creeping around dumpsters and trash cans in the alley behind Main Street to find the back door to End o’ Earth. Luckily for me, it was well-marked. They all were, actually. I guess that made sense for deliveries. Or weird miniature artists coming to work on models at eight thirty in the morning.
I had two cups of coffee from Stomping Grounds in my hand—coffee with cream for me and a latte with a touch of cinnamon for Lydia. It was her favorite. Or so the barista at the shop had said when I asked.
“You know, she’s married,”she’d said.
My chuckle had likely been as dark as black coffee. “Yeah, I know. The Derrys are doing me a favor. I figured coffee wouldn’t hurt.”And Lydia was totally not the Derry I was after. Had been after.
Shit.
Here I was at Lydia’s door. I pressed the bell and waited. A few moments later, the door swung open, and she poked her head out. “Hi, Ian! You’re here.”
“Yup, as promised.” I handed the coffee to her. “I’m told you’ll enjoy this.”
She pushed the door open wider and ushered me in. “You didn’t have to get me coffee.”
Her smile was bright and charming, and sent warmth into my soul. “Yeah, I did. You have no idea how much you’re helping me, letting me borrow Simon.” We walked down a small corridor past what was probably her studio, given all the art I spied inside.
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind.” Lydia took a sip of her coffee. “And Simon likes to be borrowed.”
I tried not to spew mine out through my nose.Does he?No, no. I was reading a little too much into that. We reached the main part of the shop and Lydia pointed the way to where Simon and I had been working before—though I’d guessed the direction. We’d come out behind the counter and I had excellent spatial memory. Had to. Kind of came with the territory.
“I suppose I’ll get to work.”
“Holler if you need anything.” She swallowed another mouthful of coffee and practically purred in pleasure before heading into the back.
Same little flutter in my soul. Yeah, the coffee had been a hit. I’d have bought Simon one too, but by the time he came in, it would have been cold. Simon hated cold coffee. The barista told me that too. “Even in the summer, he likes it blazing hot.”I had no idea what I’d do with that tidbit of information.
Nothing. I’d do nothing at all because I wouldn’t be doing anything with Simon, other than working on my set in his shop.
I needed to get my head out of my ass. After another gulp of my coffee, I took stock of what needed to be done today, and started working. Some time passed and I was deep into gluing the bark Simon had pieced back together onto the tree supports when I heard the murmur of his voice at the front of the shop. Lydia’s too. A zip of conflicting emotions went through me: Lust, jealousy, warmth, joy. I liked the Derrys. Both of them.
What a fucking hellthatwas.
I focused on the model and maneuvered another piece of bark into position while I listened to the soft fall of shoes on the carpet.
When I straightened, Simon spoke. “Hey.” He was clearly a bundle of nerves, bright-faced and excited.
All my buttons got pressed again and I fought to shut that shit down. As adorable as he was—Simon was Lydia’s. And she was his. They were so fucking lucky. That was enough of a rock lodged in my stomach to quell desire. “Hey. You free, or . . .”
“For the next fifteen or so, until it’s time to open. After that, it’ll be catch as catch can until Dexy comes in at two.” He scratched the back of his head. “Is there anything I can work on that I can pick up and put down?”
There was. I had Simon find the bag that held the other sculpted pieces I’d made. The altar, rocks, all the details, and asked him to inspect them for chips or missing paint. “Any piece that doesn’t look like that”—I pointed to the photos of both my undamaged set and the life-sized one—“needs to look like that.”
“So, repair and repaint?” Simon peered at the photos.
