Page 66 of Temporarily in Love

She shook her head. “Not yet. I’m worried he won’t let me.”

I cupped her face. “Let’s not worry about it right now. How about we get some sleep?”

Her eyes popped out of her head. “Really? You want to sleep? I thought you’d want to ravish me into the wee hours of the morning.”

I turned off the light and pulled her against my chest. I brushed her hair off her shoulder and pressed a small kiss on her skin. “No. I’m taking tomorrow off. I have all day to torture you with my tongue.”

She bit her lip and craned her head to look back at me. “You really took the day off? For me?”

I nodded. “I knew you’d be exhausted. Plus, I only have a little more time left with you. I want to make it count.”

She turned back to face the wall, and I knew she was thinking about how time was running out for us. I didn’t mean to upset her by saying that, but it was the reality. While this thing between us had been fun, I knew it wasn’t forever.

“Let’s make it count,” she whispered.

I put my lips to her ear. “Oh, I fully intend to.”

Chapter Nineteen

LILA

“Is this too slutty?” I asked my sister as I slid into the slinky black dress and examined myself in the mirror.

Tonight was the Halloween party at the brewery, and I wanted my costume to be sexy for Declan. We had spent as much time as we could together over the last week, but we both knew our time was coming to an end soon. Kelsey played the sister card to get me to go shopping with her today. I had been so wrapped up in Declan I forgot about a costume, so she dragged me to the mall in Green Willow.

Drakesville had a little consignment shop, but even the Target was in a different town. That was the one downside to living in a small town like this. But everything in this area was so close together that it was never a big deal to run out a few towns over for what you needed.

Kelsey cocked her head at me. “Nah, you look hot.”

I shifted the shoulders of the black dress. It wasn’t a costume dress, but a dress I could wear on a date. Kelsey felt like that was way more practical than buying some costume at the Halloween store I’d never wear again. The dress was low cut and had a big slit down one leg. It was sexy as hell, and I knew Declan would love it.

“It’s perfect for one of those galas you always go to,” she said.

She had a good point there. If I decided to go back to my life as a tech lawyer.

“I’m gonna get it. But we need to stop at the Halloween store so I can get a black hat.”

My sister shook her head. “Nah. We have one in the bag of Halloween costumes in the attic at Mom and Dad’s.”

I took off the dress and put it back on the hanger. I got dressed back in my street clothes, and we walked out of the fitting room. I paid for my dress, and we got into my sister’s car to head back to my parents’ house.

“Did you ask Dad if you could buy the bar yet?” she asked as she drove off.

I shook my head.

That was definitely not a subject I had broached with Dad. Since the Grand Re-opening, the Pub had been hopping. It was like word got out to everyone. Maybe that was also because I was making sure to stay on top of the social media posts. Having the new website and a bigger social presence definitely helped.

It was for that reason I was hesitant. Maybe they didn’t need me to buy the bar if things were turning around, but my dad said he wanted to retire. Could he retire and let Brian take over the reins?

“Would Brian be upset if I bought it?” I asked.

Kelsey shook her head. “Absolutely not. Brian loves managing the bar, but he likes that it's not his responsibility at the end of the day. If you buy it, you’ll own it and have the final say. Or you can let Bri do the day-to-day that he already does. We want you to buy it.”

“Why? Because you’ll bully me into letting you do what you want?”

“No!” she cried. “We know you won’t cut corners because you care about that bar. Although…”

I eyed my sister as we sat at the light until we turned into our parents' driveway.