“More or less. I like to think of it as tactful manipulation. If he could openly admit that you werelovely,” she said using air quotes around his own words, “then it would be even harder for him to resist you. And you were already in such forced proximity thanks to our fathers. It was all just so perfect for an enemies-to-lovers romance!”
“You read too much Nora Roberts,”Caitlin murmured as she rose from the bar to refill her cup of water.
“There's no such thing,” Sophie said.
Caitlin took a final drink and rinsed her cup before putting it away. She turned back to Sophie and rested on her elbows. “Thank you, Sophie, for bringing us together. I really appreciate it. I truly do.”
“Oh, sweetie. You're welcome!” Sophie gushed. “Now, my next goal is to make us sisters-in-law.”
“Sure, get a lot of business here, don't you?” Daniel’s voice called, causing both women to jump.
“We do,” Caitlin agreed as heat crept into her cheeks.
“Well, I think that’s my sign to go,” Sophie said as she slammed her hand on the bar and jumped to her feet. “See you around.”
“Sophie being jumpy, you blushing, and me left in the dark. I guess that means nothing's changed around here,” he teased and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“I disagree,” she added with a casual smile over her shoulder. “I think there's been a tremendous change- for us,” she added, and circled her arms around his neck, pressing her forehead to his.
“You know, Cait,” he said, his eyes warm with affection. “I’m blown away by our progress. There were days when evenIdidn't know what we were fighting for. Just seemed like the thing to do.”
She chuckled as she watched the rain begin to drizzle on the windows. She reflected on that stormy night only days ago when he'd walked through her door and tracked the mud in. “How quickly things change,” she murmured to herself as he began inspecting his father's inventory list. “What is this then?” she asked as she slid it closer to her, causing a jagged line of ink to spread across the page.
He sighed in frustration before lifting the pen and letting her examine the document. “This is the list of items that are being delivered here to the pub over the next twenty-four hours. It has the official one for the authorities,” he said, gesturing to the row that listed the assorted beers, spirits, and essential ingredients like flour that will be delivered in bulk. It also had the party decorations that they ordered that should be arriving within the next two hours. “And then we have my father's list,” he said and frowned slightly.
Her lips parted in surprise. After shipment, a label readHandguns and Ammunition.
“As you can see, this is the type that we are expecting.” He gestured to a box labeledNine Millimeter Glock 40.
“Is forty the type of gun?” she asked in confusion.
“No, forty is the number of nine millimeter glocks we're expecting. And then we have these other ones,” he said.
Her heart pounded harder in her chest as she recognized the list of automatic weapons from movies. “Oh my,” she whispered and pressed a hand to her throat where a lump would not subside.
“Indeed,” he murmured before looking back up at her. “Are you fundamentally against the weapons?” he asked.
“No, not on principle,” she whispered. “Not really, anyways, but it is a little scary. What if one of them goes off and shoots the whole pub? Does the person that your father sells these to have plans to use them to hurt people?” she whispered. The words hung in the air.
“My father is a good man. And when you and I are the ones running this operation, along with my brothers, of course,” he said as an afterthought, “and Sophie Chocolate, we will make sure that no harm comes because of what we do. To the best of our abilities, anyways.”
“Yeah, but the visual there. I imagine we're already going to be very particular with the people we sell to, so why not do a little more investigation to find out what their intentions are?”
“Are you strong enough to handle that?”
“Yes.” Caitlin's eyes flashed and the old childhood phrase,anything you can do I can do better, rang inside her head. “Yes,” she said. “I can do this and more.”
Before he could reply, there was a quiet knock on the back door of the pub that drew their attention.
“And who will that be?” she asked, glancing down at his schedule.
“I think it is the first shipment, which should be party decorations.” He pursed his lips. “AK-47. Can't say I've ever held one of those.”
As they walked together toward the back door, his fingers tangled with hers and it warmed her heart. So when she opened the back door and found her father there with a giant box truck and a delivery driver who she'd never seen before, her smile only widened. “Hi Dad,” she said as her father stepped forward and made introductions.
“Hello, Cait. Tommy,” he said. He turned to the golden skinned delivery man. “This is my daughter, Cait, and of course, Kelly’s son, Daniel.
Tommy stepped forward and clasped his large hand around Daniel's to shake. His fingers were so long that they wrapped completely around his hand, engulfing Daniel’s entirely. “Nice to meet you,” the man said with a foreign accent that she couldn't quite place.
