“For craft night.” I looked around. “Do you have more things to carry around?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
I lightly squeezed her neck. “I was an ass to you the other day. So yes, I do. Put me to work.”
She perfumed and I knew I had her.
I spent the next hour moving furniture and large boxes of fabric, scolding Lucy whenever she tried to lift something heavy. That’s what I was here for. My alpha preened under her gaze and I had to stop myself from taking my shirt off to better show off my muscles.
By the time we wrapped up, Lucy was smiling as she chatted excitedly about the event. Her sweet “See you tomorrow,” paired with a kiss on my cheek, meant I was practically floating as I headed home.
30
Lucy
HoroscopePisces
Pisces, our dreamer. Celebrate the romantic, passionate parts of you, but don’t forget to pair your dreams with action.
Olive, Summer, and Ivy burstinto the shop with armfuls of bags.
“The craft night crew has arrived!” Summer shouted. “I’m ready to perfect my stabbing skills.”
“Please stick to stabbing the fabric only,” I said as I placed a small pack of needles by each place setting.
“Stanley is coming, so no promises.” She smiled sweetly as she placed a gorgeous tiered cake on the snack table while Olive and Ivy unloaded seemingly endless food containers. I’d hired Summer to cater the event and should have expected that she’d go overboard.
“This is way too much food,” I protested.
“No such thing,” Olive responded. “Easton is coming and he said he’s starving.”
Summer snorted. “I should have baked a second cake.”
“Wow, Lucy, you did an amazing job cleaning the shop,” Ivy said, looking around with wide eyes. “I’ve never seen it like this.”
My cheeks heated, not because of her shock—everyone knew organization was not my thing—but at the reminder ofhowit had gotten like this. Whenever I tried cleaning on my own, I inevitably got distracted and suddenly four hours had passed and I was on the floorsurrounded by sheets of paper and pressed flowers. But with King’s help, I’d gotten it done in a fraction of the time.
And when I came downstairs this morning, I thought I could still catch a trace of his scent.
“I liked the mess.” Summer squeezed me into a tight hug. “But I guess this is better for events.”
“I suppose I’ll have to keep it clean if I do more of these.”
“People are going to be banging down the door to schedule with you.” She rested her head on my shoulder and I stroked her hair.
“You okay?”
She hummed. “Just tired. I keep waking up in the middle of the night with ideas for the bakery menu and recipes I need to tweak.”
I returned her tight hug. “You have to take care of yourself.” Not that I had room to talk. I kept a notebook by my bed with all the sketch ideas that came to me in the middle of the night. “I appreciate you coming tonight, even though you’re so busy. It means a lot.”
“Anything for you, babe.”
I chewed my lip. “I just hope people have fun.”
This event had emerged out of the burnout I was feeling lately with tailoring. There was absolutely an art to tailoring, but it had never been my passion. The tiny voice in the back of my mind, the one my exes had almost completely stamped out, whispered that it was time for me to finally produce my clothing line, the one I’d been dreaming up since I was sixteen. But I was terrified of failing because it would confirm that I wasn’t actually capable of doing something serious. I didn’t have a college degree, had never done a fashion internship, and had no formal training. Maybe that was the next step I needed to take. I could apply for internships or classes orsomething. Except that would mean leaving Starlight Grove.
Olive joined us, squeezing me into a tight hug on my other side. “It’s going to be amazing. I’m super excited to learn. Come over here, Ivy. It’s group hug time.”
