He pulls back slightly, trying to see more of the wall. “I’m not sure about the placement, though. Should we move it higher or lower?”
I chew on my bottom lip and tilt my head, forcing myself to remain focused on the shelf—not the man hanging it. “I don’t know. It’s kind of hard to envision it without anything on them.”
This would be so much easier if Willow were here.
It’s her store.
Her vision.
I shouldn’t be the one making these decisions. Frankly, I shouldn’t be making any decisions since mine always seem to lead down roads no one wants to be on. But Willow was so worried about leaving because she wanted these up and entrusted me with whatever needed to happen today.
A warning Liam was the one coming to do it would have been nice, though…
My heart hasn’t stopped thudding against my ribs since the moment I walked out of the office and almost ran directly into him—and it isn’t due to the fact that I’ve been jumpy as hell the entire time I’ve been in this tiny town, nor is it the surprise of finding him here.
This seems to be my natural state when Liam McBride is around.
Off-kilter. Hyper aware. Desperately, hopeless drawn to him even when I know I shouldn’t be.
He steps down off the ladder and moves back to stand at my side, tilting his head, too, to examine the wall of shelves. “Agreed.”
“Why don’t we put some of the candles up and see how they look?”
It will give us a much better idea of the proper spacing for these shelves if we can see how they’ll actually appear when filled like they will be once the shop opens.
Some are meant as for purely display—higher up to hold extra stock and decorative pieces with them. Others will be used for actual sales, right at the proper height for customers to snag items from them.
But it’s so hard to visualize.
Liam nods. “Good idea.”
I walk over, snag two candles from one of the boxes, then move over to the ladder, climb up the couple rungs, and set them on the polished dark wood. “How do those look?”
From up here, at least, they look amazing. Liam somehow selected the perfect wood for this so Willow’s candles are showcased on something as beautiful and natural as what she produces.
In the vintage recycled jars with handmade labels, they look like they were created with care. These are the types of products that would make a fortune in some of the bigger cities I’ve lived, but they look right at home here.
I glance back at him, and a slow grin spreads across his face.
“Great, actually. Those are the largest size?”
“I think so.”
“Then we should be good.” His gaze sweeps across the wall. “If we moved the shelf any higher, I think they’d look too cramped in under the ceiling, and any lower would be too much space above them.”
I grin at him. “Agreed.”
Maybe we can do this without Willow.
Of course, she can just move things when she comes in tomorrow if she doesn’t like what we’ve done, but I would love to get these all up for her so when she opens that door in the morning, these candles are already displayed and she can really see things starting to come together.
Even though I only met her a few hours ago, her sweet, caring nature has lured me in and her genuine excitement about this new business venture is contagious.
I slide my foot down to the next rung on the ladder to get down, but it slips right off the metal and I start to tumble backward. Strong arms wrap around me, catching me before I can fall to the hard wooden floor.
Liam’s grip tightens around me, and he turns me in his arms, scanning my face. “Are you all right?”
My heart thunders against my chest even harder than it already was, but it isn’t because I almost broke my neck. It’s the feel of Liam’s arms around me. It’s how close his lips are to mine. It’s how damn good he smells—like fresh pine and spicy bourbon, like something forbidden that I have no right to want but do all the same.
