one
Marigold
“More penises. We needmore penises.” Lainey places our drinks on the table, nodding at my notebook. “What’s a bachelorette party without them?”
Lainey's way of saying “we need more penises” makes me think of that old late-night skit where the music producer tells the band he needs more cowbell. Now all I can picture are the women at Aspen’s bachelorette party saying things like, “I got a fever, and the only prescription is more penises.” A giggle slips out, and Warren looks at me curiously, bringing me back to reality.
I took the job at the library in Temptation Ridge eight months ago, when Mrs. Greenwald retired. Warren was the first person she introduced me to. It seems like ever since he returned from the military a few years ago, the library has been his second home.
Mrs. Greenwald explained that Warren was never very social as a child, preferring to spend his free time reading at the library. She said he was like a sponge, absorbing every book he read, from history to how-to-fix-it books, even romance novels.
Speaking of romance novels, our book club starts in a few minutes, and tonight is Warren’s turn to read this week's selected book. The group always has a large turnout when it’s Warren’s night to read. As the only male in the group, he uses his deep baritone voice to bring the male characters to life in a way that makes my body ache for him.
I haven’t told anyone that I’m an Indie author, and I wrote tonight’s book under my pen name. I used Warren as inspiration for the story's main male lead. Hopefully, I’ll survive him reading the words I’ve always dreamed of him saying to me.
“Who needs more penises?” Dean slides his arms around Lainey’s waist, turning her to face him and pulling her tight against him. “It had better not be you.” His lips crash down on hers in an act of public display I’m not used to from these two yet.
Lainey and Dean only started dating a few weeks ago after months of avoiding their feelings for each other. “Maybe you’d better take me back to your office and remind me, Boss.” Lainey breaks the kiss, running her free hand over Dean’s chest.
It’s a good thing Dean’s brothers, Dawson and Dash, are helping out at the bar tonight because it looks like Dean and Lainey are going to be of no use—especially if they say what happens in Dean’s office is true. Even if Dean has set a limit on how often the horny mountain men can use his office to mess around with their wives or girlfriends in. It seems like once these big, burly mountain men fall in love, they can’t keep their hands off their women no matter where they are.
If only.
I glance over at Warren and see a hint of pink dusting his cheeks above his beard. I wonder if he’s thinking about what happens in Dean’s office like I am.
Dean lifts Lainey into his arms, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, just like I’ve seen so many other mountain men do with their women, and marches through the bar and down the hall to his office.
“It’s just as well. Lainey really wasn’t much help planning the bachelor/bachelorette party.” Warren’s large hand grips his mug of beer, and I can’t help but picture those big, strong hands touching me just like I described in my novel.
“I was having a hard time focusing on the details before she decided to chime in. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the bar this packed on a Wednesday night.” I refuse to admit that in fifteen minutes, when we settle into the back room for our book club, most of the single women in the bar will be joining us. I’ve seen a steady increase in book club members since moving it from the library to the bar—add in Warren’s sexy reading voice, and the book club is the biggest draw in town. Well, at least for a Wednesday night.
Warren runs his fingers through his thick, dark hair, grips the back of his neck, and then says, “I was thinking. Since you’re the maid of honor and I’m the best man, and the wedding is only a few weeks away, we need to really focus, and that’s just not happening here.” He pauses, dropping his hand to his side. “I was thinking, after the cake testing at the bakery and checking on the wedding gown at the bridal shop, I can drive you back to my place, we can grab some takeout, and hash out the details without all the interruptions.”
That’s another thing about this wedding—Aspen and Wilder are busy opening a second Forever Yours Mail Order Bride franchisea few hours away in Rogue’s Ridge and have left most of the details to Warren and me to decide for them.
At first, I was a little upset about the responsibility, but now that Warren has invited me to his cabin for the first time ever, I couldn’t be happier making Aspen’s wedding decisions.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
two
Warren
The words cock, cumin my mouth, and pussy pass my lips as audible sighs fill the air. I try to focus on reading the book, but I knew it was going to be nearly impossible to get through tonight without the raging hard-on threatening to burst free from my jeans when I started reading this book a few weeks ago as part of the book club assignment.
The book in question is The Mountain Man’s Lusty Woman. I devoured it in one sitting, feeling an oddly familiar pull to the storyline, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint why until I saw Marigold biting her lip as I read the book aloud. The two main characters remind me of Marigold and me if we were more than friends, like I want us to be.
I’ve wanted to ask Marigold out ever since I first met her, but when Mrs. Greenwald introduced me to her, she then pulled me aside and told me to take good care of Marigold. That’s when my fantasy of claiming Marigold for myself ended, and I resigned myself to the realization that we can only be friends.
Since returning from the military three years ago, the library has become my sanctuary, just as it was when I was a child, escaping into the magic of the stories I read. But now, at thirty-six, I realize that magic isn’t real. Love is only for those brave enough to take the leap—I’m just not one of those people.
The fear of asking Marigold out on a date and facing rejection weighs on me daily. The thought of that happening and losing our friendship, along with the safe haven I’ve found at the library, is what stops me from taking that step. Sure, Marigold is so kind she would let me down gently to avoid hurting my feelings, but that tension would linger until, eventually, we started seeing less and less of each other.
Besides, what would a twenty-three-year-old woman see in an old man like me?
“I think that’s all for tonight.” Marigold leaps out of her seat, rushing to my side amid the boos from the other women in the room. “Settle down, everyone. Warren has been reading that book to us for over an hour. I think it’s time to move on to the suggestion box.”
Relief washes over me, and I smile at Marigold, causing her to stumble. I quickly step in to catch her before she hits the floor.
