“Yes. Maybe.”
Elana chuckled. “Girl, just give in already. You like him. He likes you. Stop overthinkin’ this.”
“I can’t,” she droned. “All I can think about is how much I like him and that stupid curse—”
“Forget the curse,” Elana demanded. “Pretend for a minute it doesn’t exist.”
“But it—”
“What did I say?”
Violet laughed. She loved when Elana got all bossy. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, most people—herself included—tended to sit down and shut up.
“Okay. I’ll pretend it doesn’t exist. For a—oh, shit. It’s Simon. I’ve gotta go.”
“Ask him,” Elana said before the call ended.
She tucked her phone under the counter and watched him enter the store, holding his phone to his ear the same way she had a moment ago.
“Yes. I heard you. I know,” he said, his voice preceding the bells jingling but only by a fraction.
Did the man wake up looking as good as he does? Granted, his casual attire spoke of someone with money to spend on designer stuff. The navy-blue polo, those jeans that deserved a hats-off to the designer because, man, whoever was responsible for creating them knew how to make a man’s ass look fantastic. Even the brown lace-up boots on his feet were likely designer.
She stared at him as the door closed behind him, his smile instant as soon as he looked her way. Of course, her smile was pretty damn quick too. That happened whenever she saw him, no matter how long it had been since the last time. Would that ever wear off? Would the butterflies go away eventually? Or was Simon the man who would light up her world whenever he walked into the room, no matter the day, week, month, or year?
Now she was thinking about the day he would leave, just like she’d been doing nearly every minute for the past couple of days. Ever since he said he would have a difficult time going home. It was inevitable, though. He would be going home.
Violet forced the thought aside because now was not the time to give in to worries or fears. Yeah. Simon was leaving. She’d known that all along. In a day or a week, she didn’t know, but he would be hopping in his fancy car and hightailing it out of Coyote Ridge for good.
So until that time came, she was going to take advantage of every second she got to spend with him. In a perfect world, she would’ve come to that conclusion last night before she came up with the stupid idea of sleeping without him. Turned out she really liked having him in her bed.
“I know,” he said, his voice as addictive as it was every time she heard it. “Archer’s already lookin’ into it. We’ll give you an update as soon as we have one.”
He watched her as he spoke, and for whatever reason, that caused a swarm of butterflies to riot in her belly.
“Monday. Yes.” He sighed. “I need to go. I’ve got a girl to take to dinner.”
She couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end of the phone, but Violet laughed when Simon rolled his eyes and pointed at the phone.
“Okay. We’ll talk then.” He ended the call and tucked the phone in his pocket. “I thought I’d be done before I walked over here.”
“Everything good?”
“Just sponsor bullshit,” Simon confirmed. “They wanna know when we’ll be underway with the first episode. I figure with the wedding, I’ll give the family a couple of days before I start askin’ questions.”
“Speakin’ of wedding,” she said, feeling her cheeks warm.
Simon moved closer, his eyes scanning the room.
“There’s a customer in the back,” she whispered.
“Gotcha.” He looked her way. “What about the wedding?”
Violet took a deep breath. She’d spent the last few days trying to talk herself into asking him to go with her. He already said he would, but she wanted to make it official.
Simon leaned in and stole a quick kiss. “Spit it out, Vi.”
“I was gonna see if you’d like to go with me.”
