“But you don’t want it.”
“I didn’t say that.” I stilled his hand on my chest, let my fingers tuck in between his. “I’m just surprised that you want it so much.”
He jerked a shoulder up and cut a glance to the side. To my frames leaning against the wall. “It surprised me too.”
I wrapped my free hand around the ends of his tie and tugged until he was sprawled on top of me. “I want to look forward to it too,” I whispered.
* * *
“I knewthe bakery items would be a hit but I didn’t expect them to blow up like this,” I said, paging through the newest sales report. “We’re generating enough profit on cookies alone to hire some part-time kitchen help. I think we should start meeting some candidates.”
Meara ran a highlighter across her copy of the report. “We need to sell them in half-dozen bags too. Maybe special occasion cookie trays. Like cheese trays but more fun.”
“While that is fabulous news for my general sanity,” Muffy said, “I’d really love to talk about the naked man I saw the other day.”
I knew she’d wait for a moment like this one. I had to hand it to her. It was a smart move.
Beth glanced around. “Where? Here? There was a naked fella here?”
Muffy patted her shoulder. “No, and thank god for that.” She glanced at me, an expectant arch in her brow. “At Sunny’s house.”
Beth turned to face me. “Ohhh. So it was your naked fella.”
“Do we happen to know the naked fella?” Meara grinned at me and it was obvious she knew the answer to that. “Perhaps someone from the neighborhood?”
“You know,” I started, tapping my pen on the table, “I’m thinking we should probably bring in the painters to deal with the pheromone stain Beth and Mel left on the wall over there.”
“Mel, you said?” Beth made a sour face and glanced at the sales reports. “Sorry, I don’t know anyone by that name.”
“I can’t go through this again,” Muffy said under her breath. “Why can’t you girls have a conversation and decide whether you want to bang each other at regular intervals? Just sit down and talk it out.”
Meara leaned toward Muffy, saying, “Just a guess here but I’m thinking they’ll need a few more rounds of this before they get to that stage.”
Muffy ran a hand down her face. “Who has the time?”
“Can we get back to the issue of Sunny’s naked fella, please?” Beth asked. “I, for one, am very interested in this topic and have many questions. First of which, is Beck’s ass as biteable as I imagine it to be?”
“I can’t answer that because I don’t know what you’re imagining,” Muffy said. “But I’m comfortable saying it has strong onion qualities.”
“Onion,” Meara repeated slowly.
Muffy nodded. “It would make you cry.”
“That was what I was imagining.” Beth hummed in appreciation. “My next question: How did this happen?”
“I was testing out some new recipes and—”
“Not you, Muffs,” Beth cried. “I’m sure it’s a fascinating story and I’d love to hear it just as soon as Sunny tells us how she got the broody bossman out of those trousers.”
All eyes turned toward me. I made a point of taking a long sip of my tea before saying, “The usual way. One leg at a time.”
“I’m more than a little bit amazed you didn’t set the house on fire,” Muffy said. “The two of you together must be actual fireworks.”
“It isnotthat bad,” I said.
Meara leaned back, crossed her legs, and folded her arms over her chest. “Hmm.”
“Don’t lie to my face like that. You’ve fantasized about strangling him,” Muffy teased. “We all know it. We’ve seen you choking the dish towels.”
