She straightened her shirt, and he waited a moment to stand up, then he pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. “Better get you to work,” he said. She wrapped an arm around his waist and stood on her tiptoes to steal a kiss. Then she pulled up the blanket and folded it while he picked up the picnic basket and they headed to his Jeep.
He turned on the radio when they got in the car, and she began humming along. She wasn’t singing but he could tell she’d have a lovely voice. Hopefully, he would hear her sing, soon, in the shower after they had mind-blowing sex.
Chapter Twelve
NICOLE
Zaina threw her arms around Nicole. “Thanks for coming by tonight. I was just getting ready to close.”
Nicole raised a takeout bag. “I brought dessert. It’s caramel apple cheesecake.”
“I’m starving. We were busy tonight, and I didn’t get a chance to eat. I can’t believe I forgot my work snack bag at home. The closer we get to October the busier I get. Lots of my regulars were in tonight. It’s almost time for the Harvest Moon.”
“Yes, that’s always a big day for your coven, isn’t it?” Nicole joked.
“Very funny! If I had a coven, it wouldn’t be complete without you and Devin.”
“Good to know.”
“Do you want a cup of tea to go with our dessert, or water?”
“I’ll just take water. It’s hot out there.” Nicole fanned herself.
“It’s still so summery out that people aren’t thinking fall yet. I haven’t sold any of the new shirts yet and I’ve got sweaters coming in any day now. Who wants a sweater when it’s eighty degrees outside?”
“It’ll cool off as it always does and then all your witchy stuff will be flying off the shelves.” Nicole unpacked the two slices of cheesecake, napkins, and forks.
Zania brought over water for both of them and sat down. She looked at her friend Nicole quizzically. “You’re in quite a good mood. How’s your man?”
Nicole blushed. "He’s not my man."
“Isn’t he though?”
Nicole’s face was red hot now. “We’ve only gone out a couple of times. It’s been like a week.”
“Whatever. I have a good feeling about you two. I don’t need the cards to tell me you’re happy and Sean, for all intents and purposes, seems to be a real good guy. The only flaw I’ve seen is he has questionable taste in friends.” Zania commented.
“Right, Jasper.”
“Ugh, don’t even say his name.” She put her hands over her ears. “I can’t stand that guy.”
"Well, then you should be happy to hear that Devin is saying they are having so many problems with his Oktoberfest that the town council might shut it down."
Zania froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. She put it down and said, “Oh no, no, no, that can’t happen!”
“What’s wrong? I thought you hated Jasper and only wished bad things for him. Didn’t you used to stick pins in a poppet Jasper?”
Zania waved her hands. “It’s not that; it’s Oktoberfest! Do you realize how many sales I make on the weekends thanks to all the people who come in to go to Hop’s Heaven? Oktoberfest helps keep me afloat during the winter! Plus, I’ve already paid for abunch of inventory for the next few weekends. And not only that, I’ve got vendors bringing me stuff on consignment. Oktoberfest doesn’t just help Jasper, which of course I don’t care about. It helps me and all the teeny tiny vendors I’ve invited to display their fall and Samhain themed crafts. This can’t happen!” Zania’s face crumbled.
Nicole rubbed her friend’s back, “I had no idea how important Oktoberfest was for you.”
“Not just me! Oktoberfest has been helping all of us over the past few years! Did you know Books and Breads supplies all the pretzels for Oktoberfest? Last year, they sold over ten-thousand dollars in giant pretzels.”
“Wow,” Nicole said. “Maybe we can talk to Devin? Get her to work with Jasper?”
Zaina crossed her arms and leveled a look at her friend.
“C'mon, you know we can’t do that. We promised we’d keep our friendship separate from Devin’s job as mayor and never try to use our personal relationship to influence her. We pinky promised.”
