She drew back. “Why? You said you’ve parked there since you opened your store. It’s yours.”
“Well, you see, there’s this gorgeous woman who I really like. Sometimes she wears these sexy shoes with heels, or sweet littledresses, and it might make me a chauvinist pig, but I like the idea of her not having to walk so far to get to her shop when my work uniform is jeans, sneakers, and a graphic tee.”
“How gallant,” she murmured.
I lifted our joined hands and rubbed my beard over the back of her knuckles, grinning when she shivered at the sensation. “If you hate gallantry, we’ll come to some other arrangement, but I mean it. I like knowing you’re parking there.”
Eden’s lips parted to respond, but her cousin abruptly turned off the sound system and we both jerked in surprise at the sudden silence.
“Let’s blow this popsicle stand, lovebirds. Time to celebrate!”
Though Eden rolled her eyes, she reluctantly pulled her hand from mine. “I’ll go get my purse. Adelaide, I’m trusting you not to give Milo the third degree,” she warned.
“Who, me?”
Her cousin assumed a look of pure innocence, which earned an exaggerated sigh from Eden before she headed into the back. Adelaide practically skipped to my side to whisper-scream, “I still cannot believe you work next door! This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“To you?”
“To me by proxy. Seeing Eden happy. This is the best possible scenario, even better than I could have dreamt up myself.” Her radiant smile evaporated and her brows drew together in a threatening scowl. “Make her happy or I’ll cut you.”
Startled by the sudden change in tone from bubbly to ominous, I blinked at her as Eden emerged from the back of the store, but while Eden glared suspiciously at her cousin, I gave Adelaide a tiny salute to indicate my agreement.
I had no intention of throwing away a second chance.
Chapter Ten
Eden
Mycousinwouldbelucky to survive the weekend. Low-key drinks with Addie and Milo turned into an ambush when we walked in to find half a dozen of Adelaide’s buddies sitting around the bar at the back of the restaurant. The only one of the group who I’d previously met was Addie’s friend, Monique. I stiffened as soon as I spotted them all.
Milo’s hand settled on my lower back just before he murmured in my ear, “It’s okay. I’ll shield you if you need it. I know most of them from school, but if you want to escape after one drink, say the word and I’ll whisk you away.”
Since Addie couldn’t see the daggers I was shooting from my eyes as she skipped toward the bar, I grumbled my acquiescence under my breath and let Milo propel me forward.
The rest of them introduced themselves, greeted Milo with hand clasps or hugs, and then every one of them eyed the two of us curiously.
Just what I needed. More scrutiny.
The bartender was a young guy named Lucas, probably only in his mid-twenties, but he, too, knew Milo. “Hey, man! I’m joining Liv’s new game on Tuesday. I haven’t played Dungeons & Dragons since I was a kid, but Liv is…”
“Tenacious?” Milo suggested.
“I was going to say persuasive, but yeah.”
The two of them shared a grin as we ordered our round of drinks—fortunately just for the three of us rather than the whole group, or I would’ve ripped into my cousin for costing Milo a small fortune. I decided on the evening’s special, a bourbon-based cocktail, and Milo smirked in my direction.
“You’re a bourbon girl, huh? Not champagne, to celebrate?”
I shrugged. “I don’t drink very often, but I know what I like. The champagne that night was more symbol than preference.”
“Good to know,” he mused.
Though Addie proposed a toast to the shop’s success, which resulted in the entire restaurant erupting in cheers, her friends diverted her attention enough that Milo and I were left mostly to our own devices.
He reached over, his fingers gently tugging the bow at my neck. “I like this.”
“You do?”
