“Yeah, the Crossings. Forgive me, I’m still getting my bearings around here.”
She took a moment to dig around in one of the shopping bags and removed a white bag dotted with grease all over it. “And because I’m not completely heartless, before we left, I stopped and got you lunch.”
She held the bag out like it was a prize and he gladly accepted. He’d been so busy, he’d forgotten about lunch.
“Thank you, ma’am.” She responded with a bashful smile that made his blood simmer. What the hell was happening to him? One kiss and he was acting like a besotted teenager.
Michael heard someone clearing their throat, and the mutual gazing he and Vanessa were doing was broken.
“Well,” Janae interrupted. “It seems you two need some alone time, so Cree and I will leave you to it.”
“Speak for yourself,” Cree responded. “I wanna watch.”
He laughed. Same old Janae and Cree he’d known all his life. They were fun and spontaneous, and he often envied their zeal for life.
“You two are welcome to stay and help us man the booth. Although many folks have stopped by early to buy auction arrangements, the real festivities don’t kick off until this evening.”
They both shook their heads. “Nah,” Cree replied. “We didn’t come here to work. We’re going to be spectators like everyone else.”
“Fair enough.” He chuckled. “See you tonight, then.”
The two of them both nodded and said their goodbyes to Vanessa, and then Michael and Vanessa were blissfully alone… on a public street standing in front of his sister’s shop.
“I’m sorry about the two of them.”
He waved his hand. He’d been dealing with them since they were kids, so he was used to them by now. They were fun and supportive, and he was glad Vanessa had found them during a rough patch in her life.
“Janae and Cree are who they are, and I wouldn’t change them for the world. Small towns can get a little routine. They always bring a spark the rest of us cherish.”
She smiled, sitting beside him, the delicate scent of something sweet wafting off her skin, making him want to lean closer. If they weren’t sitting on the sidewalk and he wasn’t the town’s sheriff, he would’ve done so much more than lean in.
You didn’t seem to mind who saw you when you were kissing her with nothing but large glass windows in the storefront between y’all and anyone happening by on the street.
No, he hadn’t. Somehow, though, it seemed more scandalous touching her so intimately on the sidewalk.
The crowd was picking up and more than a few people headed to their booth, ostensibly to purchase flowers. But by the way each passerby seemed to stop and stare at Vanessa, he knew it had more to do with Monroe Hills trying to figure out who the new, pretty woman was in town sitting next to the sheriff.
“Is it usually this busy? If we keep up with this, your sister won’t have to sell another long-stem rose for the rest of the year.”
“We usually do pretty well,” he answered, handing an arrangement to Mrs. Anderson from the butcher shop three doors down. “But we’re at about half our usual number of orders and we haven’t reached midway through the first day. Mind you, the official kickoff isn’t until tonight.”
“What do you attribute all the foot traffic to?”
He waved at Mrs. Anderson, who gave him an approving look as she left them alone. “You.”
He could see the slight tint of mauve under her deep brown skin and wondered how the rest of her skin looked with such a tempting blush.
“How could I have anything to do with this? I only know three people in this town.”
He held his hand flat against his stomach as he chuckled outloud. For all her sophistication, she was so out of her depth in the confines of a town that was probably smaller than the exclusive neighborhood she lived in.
“We had breakfast at the diner and you’re sitting here with me selling my sister’s flowers. That’s enough to have us married and choosing names for our firstborn in this place.”
Her jaw hung open, and he laughed even harder at her obvious surprise.
“How do you deal with everyone being in your business like this? I bet you miss the anonymity of living in a big city like Philly.”
Philly was so long ago now, it almost seemed like another life for him.
