Toby grins. “Gonna claim her in front of the whole town and make sure everyone knows she’s off the market? Nice move, brother.”
“What–I wasn’t… I mean, I didn’t plan on–”
“He’steasin’ you. Just ignore him, that’s what I do,” Dee says, coming up behind Toby and wrapping her arms around his waist.
He turns and pulls her for a kiss before holding her by his side. “You’re supposed to be onmyside.”
Dee arches a brow and tilts her face up. “Am I? I don’t rememberthatbein’ part of your marriage proposal?”
“Maybe it should’ve been,” Toby grumbles.
“Don’t worry, Tobes. I still love you.”
“You better. You’re stuck with me, anyway.”
She lifts on her toes and brushes a kiss against his lips. "Ain’t no one else I’d rather be stuck with.”
Just before noonthe next day, I pull my truck into Charlie's driveway, barely getting out of the door before my girl walks toward me with a huge grin on her face. "Hey," I say before I frame her jaw and kiss her soft and slow, smiling against her lips when she melts into me.
“Hey, yourself,” she replies breathlessly when I let her go. “For the record, I definitely likethatversion of hello. Feel free to do it any time.”
“I’ll make a note of that,” I say wryly.
She grabs my hand and moves toward the apartment stairs. “You ready for some paintin’?”
“I was thinkin’ I’d take you to lunch at the diner first. Fill the tank before spendin’ the afternoon doin’ hard labor. What do you think?”
She tilts her head, her eyes fixed on mine. “Like a date?”
“Yeah. An impromptu one though. Gonna plan somethin’ special for our firstofficialdate.”
"You're a closet romantic, aren't you? Wish I'd known that years ago. Might've never left," she says offhandedly. Her eyes widen as her words register. "Shoot. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to–"
I tug on her arm, raising my hand to cradle her cheek so that I have her full attention. "No livin’ in the past, remember? What we have, what I hope we’re buildin’ here, that’s what we focus on. Not the past or our years apart. Yeah?”
"Yeah," she whispers, pushing up on her toes and kissing me soft and slow until I'm the one groaning against her lips and pulling away if only to make sure we stay respectable.
“Damn, you can kiss, Austin Graham. I think it might be my new favorite thing about you.”
“Good to know,” I chuckle. “Now do you want to change, or are you happy to go like that? You look beautiful regardless.”
I’m graced with a blush this time. “Gimme five minutes and I’ll meet you back out here. My paintin’ clothes arenotwhat I want to be remembered by for our first town outin’.”
“Think you could wear a feed sack and still be the best-lookin’ girl in the room.”
“Well, aren’t you a charmer,” she says with a laugh.
I arch a brow. “Tryin’ to be. Is it workin’?”
She gives me another kiss, but this time it’s hard and fast but no less memorable. “Oh yeah. Then again, just you breathin’ works for me. Always has.”
I swear I’m still beaming over her words when she hops into my truck five minutes later.
We walk into the diner hand in hand, and I have to admit that having Charlie by my side has me standing just that little bit taller.
“Look at who we have here,” Mags says, dropping the kitchen towel in her hands and rounding the counter to give us both a hug. “You here for lunch?”
“Yep. Austin suggested we fuel up before makin’ a start on the second coat of paint.”
