“What?”
“I’m going to have my merchandise people do a T-shirt, a tote bag, and a coffee mug, and I’m going to donate a dollar from each item to Sandy Paws Rescue. That’s where Scout came from. They’re a local animal rescue and they’re great.”
“I love that.”
He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “You’re really good. I can’t believe how well you captured Scout. That is completely her. Right down to the tufts of eyebrow fur. I’m blown away.”
“Thank you very much. Just so you know, I’m adding the picture to my portfolio. Pet portraits are a big deal. I’ve had some questions about them. Which reminds me—I’m going to design a logo and some T-shirt graphics for your friend, Stacy.”
“Did you tell her you do pet portraits, too? Because she has a pair of Siamese cats that are basically her children. Has she told you about them? She’d be all over this.”
“She didn’t mention them, but we’ve only spoken briefly.”
With a gleam in his eyes, Lucas dropped Frankie’s hand and went to his keyboard. He tapped away for a minute or two thenhit Send. “I just sent her the picture of Scout and told her if she wanted a portrait of her cats done, she needed to get on it, because your availability is going fast.”
“But that’s not entirely true.” Even if Frankie had sort of let Stacy believe that same thing herself.
“Maybe not yet, but when my followers see this? It will be. You have two days to get this up on your website, because that’s about how long it’ll take my merch team to make it live on my site so I can announce it.”
She chuckled. “Okay, I’ll get on it.”
“Good.” He rubbed his hands together. “Hungry? Thirsty? What can I get you? Hey, I have a batch of chocolate chip macadamia ice cream that should be frozen enough to eat. You want to try some of that?”
“Do you really think I’d say no to ice cream?” He still had a lot to learn about her. “It sounds amazing. Yes, please.”
“Reserve your judgement. It’s part of a dairy-free summer special thing I’m doing, so it’s made with coconut milk. I haven’t tasted it yet myself. It could be awful.”
“I doubt that. In fact, I just want to say yes even more now. Coconut, chocolate, and macadamia nuts? Sounds like a fancy-pants Almond Joy.”
He blinked, then screwed up his face in an odd expression. “Yeah, it does. Why didn’t I think of that?”
She giggled. Lucas had that effect on her. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty.”
“Hey!” But he was grinning. “Stay for dinner. We can sit in the pool afterwards and have drinks and watch the stars come out.”
She couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do more. It sounded very romantic. “I didn’t bring a suit.”
“I’d say you don’t need one but we’re not really at that stage yet, are we?”
She smirked. “Not quite.”
“So run home and get one.” He tipped his head to one side. “Please. I really want to spend some time with you.”
“Since you said please.”
“All right. You good with steak and salad for dinner? Most of my fridge is taken up with ingredients for the British invasion tomorrow.”
“Steak and salad sounds great. And then the ice cream for dessert?”
“If you’re willing to wait, so am I.”
She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
“I’m already counting the seconds.”
She hopped in the golf cart and raced back to the house. She planned on grabbing her swimsuit, a coverup, and a towel.
She parked in the driveway and ran inside. She’d thought about taking the elevator but waiting for it and then riding up would take about the same time as jogging up the steps. And the elevator didn’t burn any calories.
