“Not at all. Like I’ve been saying all along, it’s been good having someone keeping me on my toes.”
Reuben cupped his hands around his mouth and said, “Speech, speech.”
Viv laughed and shook her head but the chant was soon taken up by the crowd and Viv acquiesced—not without an I’m-going-to-make-you-pay-for-this glance at Reuben. His answering bring-it expression set those butterflies loose again.
Clearing her throat, Viv took the microphone from the mayor as he handed it over. “Thank you,” she said, her breath fogging into the air as the crowd quietened.
Public speaking wasn’t exactly her forte but she didn’t feel nervous like she might normally when speaking to a crowd of people she didn’t know because she realized as she looked out that she did know these people. There was half of Reuben’s family and Flo from the diner and Elise from the Java Café and so many other faces she’d seen in Delish these past weeks.
Many more faces than she’d have been familiar with at any city store she’d set up.
So many people here had been extraordinarily kind and gone out of their way once Clem had called them on their behavior. Even Carol Bingley standing at the front was smiling at her, obviously happy at the outcome.
Everyone was smiling. Everyone was happy. Marietta was happy for her. She wasn’t addressing strangers. She was chatting with…friends.
“Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and to the organizers of the Stroll for allowing me this little indulgence today. Thank you to Sage for being such a great sport.” She smiled at Sage and the crowd cheered again. “And to Edwin for his expertise.” More cheers from the crowd. “Thank you to everyone who’s supported Delish these past weeks. I know we all got off to a bit of a rocky start but I appreciate how you’ve embraced the store, embraced me and shown me how wonderful life in a small town can be.”
Viv’s gaze locked with Reuben’s as the crowd seemed to holler extra hard. He, more than anyone had showed her that. Them being friends may have stirred up a hornet’s nest but his lack of give-a-fuck over the town’s judgment and his willingness to support her in the face of it all had meant a lot. Reuben was the very essence of Marietta—once they’d removed their heads from their asses—all for one and one for all and she’d have liked to thank him personally in front of everyone but shied from such a public display.
It would be stupid for anyone to get the wrong idea about them.
Breaking their gaze, Viv widened her focus to the rest of the assembly and cleared her throat. “So, anyway…thank you, everyone; thank you, Marietta. It’s been a privilege getting to know you all.”
Viv stepped down to more cheers and a crowd who all wanted to congratulate her and stop for a chat so it took her about twenty minutes to get to Reuben.
“Congratulations,” he said when she finally stepped into the circle of his arms. “I hate to say I told you so,” he murmured, his lips against her forehead, “but…I told you so.”
“Mmm.” His warm breath fanned over her skin as he dropped a kiss on her brow. She’d have liked a more thorough, much lower, congratulatory kiss but she could wait.
“Let’s go see the gingerbread house entries and winners,” he said as his gloved hand grabbed her gloved hand and tugged her toward the boardwalk.
Viv would have liked nothing more—she’d been hearing all about the magnificent quality of the competition entries which, like the Stroll, was an annual event. But she really needed to go check on Robbie and Mackenzie. “Can’t, I’ve gotta get back.”
“Oh come on,” he cajoled. “Surely the Marietta queen of hot chocolate can play hooky for a minute or two? It’s practically on the way.”
Laughing, Viv let him pull her along. A small detour wouldn’t hurt.
People greeted them with smiles and words of congratulations as they walked and the sound of carolers singing “Come All Ye Faithful” serenaded them down the boardwalk but, just before they reached the extravagantly decorated windows of the bank where the gingerbread houses were on display, Reuben took a sharp right into an alley.
Viv frowned as she followed him. “Where are we going?”
“Here,” he said, his voice low and rumbly as he stopped and backed her gently against the wall, his green-gray eyes shining with a carnal intent even in the darkness of the alley.
“Officer Price,” she said, a smile shaping her lips. “Did you lure me into taking this walk with you under false pretenses?”
“Fuck yes, I did.” And then he kissed her and there was nothing gentle about that. It was all heat and spark from the second their lips touched, his tongue swiping and licking into hers. Viv curled her fingers into his lapels and kissed him back, heat springing everywhere.
“God,” he muttered when he finally broke away and they were both breathing hard. “You are hot when you’re being gracious.” His voice was rough as he pressed his forehead to hers.
Viv laughed, and it was as rough as Reuben’s voice. “My speech turned you on?”
“Everything about you turns me on.”
“So I see.” Viv pressed her knee against the impressive swelling in his sheriff department trousers.
He groaned again and went in for another kiss but Viv ducked it. She didn’t care that they were making out in an alley but, given he was still in his uniform—Reuben’s boss might.
And she really did have to get back. “I’ve gotta get back.”
“Yeah. Okay.” He grimaced but eased away, turning so his back was to the wall, expelling a long, foggy breath into the alley. “I’m probably going to need a minute.”
Viv grinned before leaning in to peck him on the cheek and, just because she wasn’t that gracious, she slid a hand down and groped him with thorough indecency. He sucked in a breath and his head thunked back against the brick wall. “Make that three minutes,” he said as she dropped her hand.
Smiling to herself, Viv turned, heading out of the alley. “I’m composing a speech to your penis in my head right now for when we get back to the cottage,” she threw over her shoulder.
She heard a muffled kind of oath. “Make it five.”
Chapter Nine
A few weeks later, on Christmas eve, Reuben sat in the elegant surroundings of the bar in the lobby of the Graff waiting for Vivian. He was surrounded by polished marble and gleaming light fixtures casting a low, intimate glow across rich wood paneling. To his right a massive fresh Christmas tree dominated the lobby festooned with baubles and bells, topped with a sparkly star and covered in myriad colored lights.
Rich silver and gold tinsel was strung around the reception desk and concierge station, caught up into loops by intermittent tartan bows. A strand of plump, dark green garland twisted around the handrail of the curved central staircase. An orchestral version of “Little Drummer Boy” was playing low over the sound system.
It sure was a far cry from that Bozeman bar. And Grey’s Saloon for that matter, where they’d met up with Stephen and Jess three nights ago. Jess had called it a double date but as she and Stephen were married and he and Vivian weren’t really dating, Reuben wasn’t sure it could be called that.