He shook his head. “No, of course not.”
“So, in light of the whole honesty and transparency thing,” I said, “Gunter invited us for pizza on Tuesday or Wednesday night next week. He said there’d probably be six or so people there. I said I’d probably go, though I wasn’t sure what you were doing so I told him I’d ask. It’s totally up to you if you wanted to come or not.”
He blinked. “Uh . . .”
“You can think about it,” I said, playing it down. “No pressure at all.”
He was quiet for a moment, his nose pink from the cold. “I will,” he said. “Think about it, that is. Social scenarios are not my forte.”
“Nor mine, to be honest,” I said. “But they’re a little queer group and I love that they’re all such good friends. They’ve been very welcoming, which has been great, especially in a town as small as Hartbridge, so I figured I should make the effort to join in. If you did want to go, we could tell them it’d be a quick visit because we had somewhere else to be afterward. Like we’re dipping our toes in to test the water.”
“Like an escape plan.”
I laughed. “Exactly.”
He smiled but didn’t say anything else about it. Now that I’d mentioned it, maybe he could take his time to mull it over and get used to the idea. I know I certainly appreciated fair warning for social outings.
“Oh, that reminds me,” I said, just remembering. “On opening day, I had some customers suggest starting up a little book club where we could meet once a month, maybe serve some coffee and cake, and talk about all the great books we’ve been reading. Isn’t that the greatest idea? It would get them back into the store every month. Maybe I could do book club discounts to entice people to join. Icould get some chairs from somewhere and we could just sit around all the books and chat. What do you think?”
His brow furrowed and he gave a nod. “I think... I think that sounds like a good idea. Return customers are important. Though I’d be concerned about having cake in the store, especially if they’re touching books.”
I grinned at him. “That’s a very valid point. I didn’t think of that.”
He smiled, happy that he’d been the one to point it out, I think. “You could do a bite-sized treat with a toothpick in each one so they held that instead of the greasy or sticky part.”
I gasped. “That’s brilliant, yes!” I nudged his arm with the back of my hand. “So glad I asked you.”
Only then did I realize what I’d done.
Without thinking.
I’d touched him . . .
I pulled my hands back. “Shoot, sorry. I didn’t mean that. I was just excited and didn’t think?—”
He surprised me by grinning. “It’s fine, Winter. That’s actually the third time you’ve touched me without even realizing.” His cheeks flushed dark pink. “I think I know to expect it now.”
“Third time?” Well, that was horrifying. Because I didn’t know. I wasn’t even aware. “I don’t mean to. Actually, I’m not even aware I do it.”
“I know. I think that’s why it doesn’t bother me as much. It’s always a quick, gentle touch, never a grab or a push.” His eyes met mine in that intense burning way. “You get excited and it’s habit for you. Plus, I’m wearing three layers.” He held out his arm. “And you’re wearing gloves. I barely even felt it.”
I must have turned a dozen shades of horrified. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.Three times?”
He nodded, still smiling, still blushing. “I’ve been counting.”
Well, that was kinda cute that he’d been keeping count. But not really that he had to.
“Well, I am sorry. Maybe I should shove my hands in my pockets.” I did exactly that. “See? Now I can’t do it.”
Deacon laughed. “It’s okay. I’d rather you didn’t censor yourself. You get animated and excited when you talk about something you like, and it makes me happy when you do that, so I don’t mind. Like I said, I think I’m used to it now.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. It was very sweet and cute, and oh boy, if it didn’t make my heart swell.
He checked his watch. “I need to go back to work now.”
“Okay. Same, probably.” We headed back toward the store, and just as we were at the door, a customer came out, a sales bag in hand.
Deacon grabbed the door for them. “Oh, hello, Deacon,” the customer said cheerfully. “Thank you so much.”
