Page 14 of If You Like It, I Love It

“Your heart isn’t stupid. My computer’s in the truck. I’ll wait in the living room. You get dressed, and then I’ll look at these yellow appliances while your phone gets resuscitated in a bag of rice.”

“You think rice will save it?”

“Stranger things have happened.”

We both laugh again. Neither of us points out that something stranger has already happened in this bathroom tonight, but I’m positive we’re both thinking it.

“Thanks. I’ll meet you in the living room.”

I bury my phone in rice and send up what I’m sure is an impossible prayer after it was fully submerged in soapy water for that long, but I guess we’ll see.

Enzo waits for me on the couch with his computer open, and within minutes, I learn the truth about him: Enzo Torres is an enabler.

This man is actually sitting on my couch, fawning over these damn yellow appliances with me. Who told him to agree with me? He was supposed to be my voice of reason!

I roll my lips between my teeth, wanting so badly to just go for it and place an order right this minute, but I can’t do it.

“I think I need to sleep on it before I make a final decision.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” There he goes, agreeing with me again. Not that I wanted him to argue about this. Shit, I don’t have a clue what I want. I’m too tired. My brain needs a reset.

He closes his computer, and I walk him to the door where he pulls his boots on. Watching him put on his boots feels uncomfortably intimate. Oh, damn, my brain is so fried. The man’s not redressing. I’m the only one who’s been naked!

I hold the door open for him, but he stops with one foot in and one out.

“For the record, it doesn’t matter to me if there’s a triangle, a landing strip, a full bush, or nothing at all. As long as the case doesn’t interfere with the strength of the signal, it’s the least important feature of the phone.”

And with that, he leaves me standing there with my mouth agape, watching him get into his truck like I’ve just been dropped into this reality from some other plane.

He backs a few feet down the driveway, but then he stops and rolls down his window. His voice jolts me out of my otherworldly stupor. “And to address that other thing you weren’t going to ask my opinion on, your tits are perfect.”

“You haven’t actually seen them.”

“Doesn’t matter. All of you is perfect. I wish I could explain to you exactly what I mean when I say that, but I’d have to have someone explain it to me first. I know what I feel when I’m around you, though. I know what I know, Joni. And I know I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman in my life. I wouldn’t blame you if you fired me tomorrow, but I’m still going to want you. I’m still going to feel this perfect attraction. I’ve felt it since the first time I laid eyes on you.”

The sound of his tires crunching over my gravel drive churns a longing in my gut that makes me feel like I’m watching the credits roll but I missed the movie. I need him to get back here right now and rewind, dammit.

Oh, fuck me sideways. That man is entirely too young to have that much swagger. And my phone’s not the only thing that’s inconveniently wet now.

7

Enzo

I’m preoccupied when I walk into Trudy’s Diner, so I just nod when Merilee asks, “This table good for you?”

“You avoiding us or just got too much on your mind for company at lunch?” Rhett asks from the table right next to me where he’s having lunch with Mav Grinberry.

“Sorry. I didn’t even see y’all sitting there.”

Mav laughs. “I’d ask how Joni’s kitchen remodel is going, but I’m afraid she might be the source of the problem.”

“No, she’s not a problem. The project, however, is about to be stalled. Just left city hall, trying to expedite the permit. You can guess how that went.”

Rhett waves me over. “I know exactly how it went because I remember when Glynnis had you trying to rush permits for her. Come sit with us.”

I move over to join them.

“The city needs to stop bending over for these out-of-town builders and investors,” Mav says.