Page 85 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

“I was thinking we could go get Lord of the Fries before I have to open up the store to start. Are you hungry?”

“Starved.” Her hand covered his, peeling it away from her face. “I do think we should take things slow, though. We kind of rushed into this before. At least until things settle down and get sorted.”

Anthony knew she was talking about whether or not she took that job and nodded. “I can do slow.”

Delilah smirked, her brow cocking skeptically. “Really?”

Anthony chuckled. “Yeah,” He got up from the couch, holding his hands out to her. “I think I better take a shower first. I smell like a bar.”

“Your shirt is in the dryer. I’ll grab it,” she told him, as she got up from the couch. She headed toward the laundry room. “Towels are in the hallway closet. Everything you need should be in there,” she yelled out.

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her to join him, but he didn’t want to make the same mistakes he had before. Dating meant taking the girl out, planning activities. As much as he enjoyed being intimate with Delilah and missed it, he could wait.

“Thanks, I’ll see you in a bit.”

Anthony felt a bit skeevy putting on the same underwear he’d worn yesterday, but there was nothing he could do until he ran home. He shot Pike a text, asking him if he could open the store and hold down the fort so he could go home and change. Pike sent him a thumbs-up and a GIF of Shaq puckering up and kissing the air.

He would have stayed under the burning stream forever if he wasn’t keenly aware of Delilah waiting on him. He came out of the bathroom drying his wet hair with a towel to find her standing in the hallway, holding his shirt at the end of her finger.

“Thanks,” he said, kissing her cheek.

“You’re welcome. While I don’t mind washing your clothes, I’d prefer it happens under different circumstances.”

“Me, too,” he chuckled. He pulled his shirt over his head. “Now, socks, boots, and phone and we’ll be off.”

“I’ll go out and warm up the car. I’m assuming your truck is at Brews?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t planning on drinking.”

“We can grab it after breakfast.” She looked at the screen of her phone. “Do we need to hurry?”

“Pike is covering the store. One of the perks of owning a business. You’re the boss, so you can’t get fired.”

“Still, we probably shouldn’t make a habit of being late. I don’t want to cause any more problems between you and Pike.”

Anthony snaked an arm around her waist and brought her against him. “You know it was me, not you, right? Everything is good now.”

“Okay, I believe you. Let me go get the car warmed up.”

Anthony let her go reluctantly and tracked down his shoes and socks in the spare bedroom. He had a missed call from Bradley and checked for a voicemail. He pressed the button and hit speakerphone.

“Hey, little bro, call me back when you get this. I’ve got big news.”

Anthony’s mind raced and he itched to return the call but Delilah was waiting on him. He left the spare room and spotted her putting Leia in her crate. “Why do you lock her up if she has a doggie door?”

“She likes to dig if I leave her out. Can’t have her escaping when I’m in school with my phone off.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“Were you on the phone?” she asked.

“Yeah, my brother Bradley called and left a message to call him back. He said he has big news.”

“So call him!”

“I can do it later.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m driving anyway, passenger princess. Call your brother.”