“You did this, love,” Theo whispers in my ear. “Burn it in your brain that when you put your mind to it, you can do anything.” He kisses my cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”
I turn around to face him, placing my hands on his shoulders. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You could have.” His hands land on my hips. “But you would have been incredibly horny and frustrated in the process.”
“Oh my God,” I scoff as I roll my eyes. “Honestly, what is wrong with you?”
“Can’t be sure.” He chuckles and then takes my hand, bringing me to the front door. “Go ahead, Gossy, turn the sign.”
With a deep breath, I reach for the Open sign that’s hanging on the door and turn it around.
We’re open.
THEO
“You know, I would have preferred to be in our swimsuits,” I say as our feet splash in the pond in front of us.
“Why do we need swimsuits when we can swim naked?”
My head whips around to look at my girl. “Don’t tease me. I’ll be out of this bow tie in seconds.”
“No, keep the bow tie on.” She wiggles her brows.
“Don’t mind if I bloody do.” I stand up and strip out of my clothes so goddamn fast that it’s as if a tornado flew through and stole my clothes.
Renley laughs as I stand stark naked in front of her, posing while tugging on my bow tie.
“Why do I find that so oddly attractive?”
“Because you can’t get enough of me.” I help her out of her white-and-red-striped dress that she picked for opening day and then bring her to the edge of the pond, submerging us in the water. When we come up, her legs wrap around my waist and I tread water.
Her lips find mine and I let her explore for a few seconds before I gently pull her away and say, “Hey, can we just pause for a moment and talk about how terrific today was? Gossy, the store is a sensation. Did you see all of those smiling faces, and the nonsmiling faces from the business society?”
She laughs. “They were so not happy, especially after a few more news stations picked up the story.”
“Yeah, Rupert is taking credit for the stations coming to see me, Lollipop Daddy.”
“Not even mad about it. If it brings in customers, then I’m all for it.”
“Marjorie hates Lollipop Daddy.”
“Yeah, well, everyone hates Marjorie. Aunt Kitty and Karen were actually going to make shirts and sell them at the market, saying just that.”
“Really?”
Renley shrugs. “Just one of many ideas they have. Doubt they’ll follow through on it, but glad to see Aunt Kitty enjoying what she’s doing. I know it’s soon, but she seems to be getting along fine and has also told me she enjoys selling expensive cheese to tourists. She’s starting to pair wine with it, and Kareneven said they could possibly sell Aunt Kitty’s wine in the market.”
“Oh boy, tourists are about to get fucked up.”
Renley laughs, the sound pumping the blood through my veins.
“Today was…was everything I could have dreamed of. I’m so proud of how we kept the nostalgia of the store, highlighted its beauty, and offered families a place to make memories. Thank you, Theo.”
“Anything for you, love.” I kiss her forehead.
“There’s actually one more thing that could make this day perfect.”
“Oh?” I ask as I lightly spin us in the water. “Does it have to do with my growing erection? Possible ejaculation?”
