Fortunately, Chuckanut had no such issue with distraction and led us straight to Luna’s booth. I shouldn’t have been surprised that the sheriff of Starlight Cove had secured his girlfriend a prime spot, but there they were, right in the middle of where traffic was the heaviest.
I’d never seen two more mismatched people in my life, but somehow it worked on them. Brady stood off to the side, his large, muscled arms crossed over his chest, looking like a pissed-off bodyguard, while his girlfriend, Luna, flitted around. She wore an off-the-shoulder shirt, a flowy skirt that went down to her ankles, and a bright smile so heavily contrasted against Brady’s scowl it was nearly comical. She waved at people walking by even as she helped a customer, all while Brady glared at them like he was paid to do so.
A man in his early fifties was attempting to bargain with Luna, and Brady’s attention was solely on the two of them, so we patiently waited our turn.
Beck leaned over, his lips against my ear. “Watch…it’s about to get good.”
Before I could ask him what I should be watching for, Brady leaned forward, plucked the glass jar of homemade face cream out of the man’s hands, and set it right back down on the table with a loud thunk. “Get out of here.”
The man sputtered, eyes wide. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Brady jerked his head to the side, dismissing the man with as little effort as possible. “Get lost.”
Luna breathed out a laugh and rolled her eyes. “The grump’s coming off a little strong there, Sheriff.”
With his eyes still locked on the man, Brady said, “If he doesn’t want to pay what they’re worth, then he doesn’t deserve them at all.”
I didn’t recognize the no-longer-potential customer, and it was clear he was a tourist because he obviously didn’t recognize Brady. Ninety percent of the town’s population would’ve been running before Brady could even finish his sentence.
Finally, this guy seemed to get a clue and realize Brady was, indeed, being serious, and he stalked off, grumbling under his breath about rude giants. If I wasn’t mistaken, Brady’s lips actually twitched at that.
Luna rubbed her fingers on her temples. “Babe. Seriously. You can’t keep doing that.”
He just stared down at her, brow raised, massive arms crossed over his chest—honestly, did he lift houses for fun? “Did you or did you not work with Aiden to calculate the cost you should sell these for?”
“I did.”
“And did you or did you not mark your products at those prices?”
She sighed. “I did.”
“Then they’re going to pay what the goddamn price sheet says, or they’re not getting them at all.”
“Um…should we come back?” I asked, not wanting to interrupt but feeling a little uncomfortable during their spat.
Brady and Luna, who stood toe to toe in some kind of a standoff, both answered without turning in our direction. “No.”
“They’re like this all the time,” Beck said, grabbing one of the taffies Luna had out in a dish.
Without taking his eyes off Luna, Brady reached out, plucked the candy from Beck’s hand, and put it right back in the dish.
“Seriously?” She huffed out a laugh. “You’re not even allowing your brother a piece of candy now?”
“Is he buying anything?”
“Brady.” Luna reached out and gripped his forearm. “I’m going to stop inviting you to help me at these if all you’re going to do is scare off the customers.”
“I hate to tell you this, but he’s not exactly the kind of guy who cares about getting an invitation,” Beck said. “He’ll just show up.”
“He’s not wrong.” Brady shrugged.
Luna laughed and dropped her head back on a groan. “I love you, but you are driving me crazy. Why do you keep doing this?”
“Because you work too hard on this to have some schmuck wearing socks with his flip-flops to try to swindle a deal. You turn our house into a fucking science lab, use me as your guinea pig, and pour your heart into every goddamn one of those jars.” Brady pointed to the plethora of various creams in all different sizes of containers on display. “You’re fucking amazing, and you know what you’re doing because my hair has never been so soft, so you’re going to get paid what you’re worth. And we’re not discussing it anymore.”
Luna kept a straight face for several long moments, and I held my breath as I watched this unfold. Finally, she rested her hands on his chest, stared up at him, and said, “Okay.”
“No, I told you. You’re not— Wait. Okay?”
