“Do you want a cup of tea while we wait?”
“No, I’m good.”
It didn’t take her long and she was ready to go. “Do you think they’ll have on their ‘jamas like last time?” Annie asked.
“Probably not. They don’t wear them all the time, only for special times when they have ‘jama parties.”
We drove by Danielle’s house and picked her up, then drove out to the Bluebird Ranch. Ripley, Reed, and the guys were out with the horses when we pulled in. We climbed out of the car and Annie ran toward Ripley. Devin went after her, but I stopped to great Ripley’s dog, Jinji. I was crazy about that dog. Maybe I needed a pet, which made me wonder, why didn’t Annie have one?
“What an adorable little dog,” she said bending down to pet Jinji.
I picked her up so she wouldn’t have to bend down and let her pet her. “She’s a sweetie, too. Ripley spoiled her rotten. I was thinking I’m surprised that Annie doesn’t have a pet, she obviously loves animals, and Devin does love to spoil her.”
“He does. He likes to spoil all the people he loves, but I bet you’ve seen that already.”
I could’ve denied it or tried to downplay what was going on, but I didn’t. I had seen exactly what she meant and I loved it. “You son is a good man, Danielle. Maybe the best I’ve ever known, and I promise to do my best to spoil him right back.”
“I’m sure you will. He talks about you all the time, you know.”
“Does he?”
“He does, and so does Annie.”
“She’s precious.”
“Well, you two make sure and remember that I’m here. I know Devin is determined to give me my freedom and my space”—she rolled her eyes—“and I do appreciate it, but I adore that little girl, too, and I like having her with me.”
“I think he worries about… well, everyone. He wants you to enjoy yourself, and he wants her to be happy and secure. He even worries about me and if our deal at the bakery is fair.”
“He does, always has. I think it comes from being the oldest.”
“Hey,” he called over to us. “Are you two coming or are you going to sit there and talk all day?”
We laughed and went over to the coral where everyone stood.
Chapter 17
Devin
Later that week, I was refilling the pastry case when Miller walked in with a young guy I’d never seen before. With dark hair, beautiful blue grey eyes, and all his tattoos, he was stunning. “Hey, Cap.”
“Miller. How are you this morning?”
“Better now that I see that you’re putting some of Frankie’s scones out. Do you have any orange cranberry?” he asked me, and then turned to the young man. “Cap here has the best coffee in town, and Frankie makes the best pastries.”
“I actually just put out a fresh batch of the scones. How many do you want?”
“I’ll take two; how about you Maverick?” he asked the young man.
“Do you have anything with chocolate?” the young man asked.
“No scones with chocolate, but I do have a couple chocolate chip muffins left if you want one.”
“Sounds great, and I’ll take a vanilla cappuccino.”
“Maverick is going to be opening a tattoo shop in the building where Ms. Edwards had her quilt shop,” Miller said. “He’s going to be living in the apartment above it.”
“Wow, really? That’s cool. I’m sure Tony will be thrilled. He’s been driving all the way into the city to get his work done.”
I gave them their order. “Well, welcome to River Gorge, Maverick. If you ever need anything, let us know.”
“We should be done here in a bit; do you want to grab lunch later?” Miller asked.
“Can’t today. I already have plans with a cute baker.”
“I just bet you do.” He waggled his eyebrows and I laughed. “Seriously, it’s great to see you happy, Cap.”
After he was gone, I thought about what he said, and I realized I really was happy. Everything was falling into place; my mom was healthy, Annie was with me, and I had Frankie. We hadn’t talked about where this was going, but what I knew was that I had no intention of losing him.
Once the morning rush died down, I went into the kitchen to see when Frankie wanted to go to lunch. He had earbuds in and was working on something. His back was to me so he had no idea I was there, and I was in no hurry to tell him. He was singing to the music and every so often, he would give a little shimmy. I wondered what he wore under those pants. I swear I’d become obsessed. I slid up behind him and wrapped my arms around him.
“I knew you were there,” he said relaxing back against me.
“Oh, did you now? So was that little dance show for me?”
“Nah, I dance when I bake most days.”
“Hmm,” I said as I slid my hand down the front of his pants, just enough to run my finger along the tops of the panties he had on. “What color are these?”
“Blue, with white lace,” he said, and I groaned.
“My favorites? The ones with the little bow on the front?” I slid my hand to the front middle of the band and found the bow. “I love these.”
“I know you do. That’s why I wore them. I was thinking about that time you told me that your ex thought now that you had Annie your sex life would be over, and you said you’d never…”
“Bent someone over the back of the couch before? Yeah, I remember.” I growled, biting down on his ear lobe.
“Well, Annie is still in school, and I only live, like, five minutes away from here.”
“How long will it take you to wrap this up in here?”
“No longer than it will take for you to tell Stacy to mind the shop.”
“I can be ready in five minutes.”
“Sounds good. What I’m working on is just prep for tomorrow, so I’m done for today, but I walked, so I’ll ride with you to my house.”
It took me less than five minutes to explain to Stacy that I had to run out for a minute and would see her in a bit. We drove the few blocks to Frankie’s house and hurried inside. By the time the door was shut behind us, we were both laughing.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I said.
“Doing what? Sneaking off from work for a mid-day rendezvous?”
“You make it sound so scandalous.”
“Not at all, if I were going for scandalous, I would leave the curtains open. Mrs. Evans would be scandalized for sure.”
“You are ridiculous. Now get over here,” I said opening my arms for him. He didn’t hesitate and came right to me, sliding into my arms like he belonged there. “I don’t have long.”
“Then let’s not waste any time.” He pressed his body against mine and tilted his head up for a kiss. I covered his mouth with mine, and I let my hands drop to his ass as I deepened the kiss. He groaned into my mouth and then pulled back. With a wicked grin, he took my hand and led me into the living room. “So I have a confession to make.”
“Yeah? And what is that?”