“You should’ve known I wouldn’t be mad, goof.”
“I know. I knew you weren’t going to be, but I still didn’t want to disappoint you or hurt your feelings by wanting to leave. I love working there and I couldn’t ask for anyone better to work for than my best friend and her future hubby.”
“You’re the best, and not only because you’re my best friend.”
“Is that cake I smell?”
I giggle at her sniffing the air like a hound dog who’s caught the scent of whatever he’s been chasing.
“German Chocolate. Pamela’s recipe.”
“Oh, hell yeah.” Mindy hops off the couch and goes to the kitchen. She cuts a piece of cake and puts it on a paper plate then fills a glass halfway with milk. I follow behind her and do the same because I’ve been dying to taste this taste-bud orgasmic cake.
Cass opens the sliding glass door in our bedroom and yells through the house. “Fire is ready!”
“Okay!” I yell back.
“Might as well fix the guys their own plates, too.”
We bring out the plates of cake and sit down on the cozy outdoor couch. Cass hands Linc a plate.
“You’ve got to try this. It may be the best thing that’s ever come out of that kitchen.”
Linc takes a bite and he has a similar reaction to the one that Cass had. His eyes bulge and he hums appreciatively. I glance at Mindy who’s looking at Linc the same way I was looking at Cass a few minutes ago. Uh oh. Pregnancy hormones, the good ones. I bet it’s a boy, because I’ve always heard if you’re hornier when you’re pregnant, it’s a boy. I don’t know who told me that, but it’s proven to be true so far with anyone who’s been pregnant around me.
“Is Clayton coming in for Christmas?” Linc asks, looking at Cass.
“Yeah. He just got into town yesterday. He’s out at my Gran’s house, visiting a few of his cousins who live there now. When Gran died, he didn’t need the place, so he let his first cousin stay there rent-free so long as he kept up with the maintenance around the house and the land. I never met Gran, so that was at least thirty-eight years ago.”
“That’s cool of him.”
“He’ll be there til tomorrow night. He said he’s going to see the bonfires on the levee then head this way first thing Christmas morning.”
“He by himself or did Brock come down, too?”
“He’s by himself. Brock is spending Christmas with the Hounds in Oklahoma. He wasn’t about making that long, cold trip.”
“I don’t blame him!” I say, rubbing my arms as a shiver from the cool wind hits me.
“I’m not gonna lie, I almost didn’t want to ride from our house to here,” Mindy shrugs.
“Pussies,” Cass huffs, grinning at us.
I roll my eyes at him and inch a little closer to the fire. I was not made for winter, and I want my flip flops back. My fluffy red flannel pajama pants block the wind from hitting my legs, and Cass’s hoodie does a pretty good job at keeping my body and arms warm, plus the heat radiating from the fire makes it ten times better.
“Oh, and congratulations Mindy. I hear you’re carrying my godchild around in there.”
She beams at Cass. “I am.”
“Looks like we’ll be looking for a new bar manager to take your place, so if you know anyone looking…let us know. Until then, you no longer work there. Lilly, you don’t mind running the bar for a few weeks, do you?”
I look at him with my mouth slightly agape, trying to control my facial expression. “Uhh..no, I don’t mind.” I try to recover my face as best I can, but damn. I wasn’t expecting that.
“I can still manage it for you, I just can’t be in there with all of that smoke.”
“I don’t want you in there. You can do everything but bartend. Lilly will pick up your slack until we can find one or two more bartenders and, in the meantime, walk Lilly through everything you do so that when you’re done, she will know how to efficiently run the bar without you.”
Cass is all business right now and I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of hot. But I’ve always found it hot when he’s in his element and in full control. I could drag him inside right now. I can see our bed from where I’m sitting. I know he would have no complaints but that would be rude to our company. I almost want to protest because I don’t want the bar to take time away from us, but that’s just me being selfish. The holidays are almost over and it’s not like there’s much else I need to be doing aside from taking down all these Christmas decorations after the first of the year.
