Chapter Seven
D elilah pulled Anthony’s blanket from the laundry and carried it into the kitchen to fold. The school was closed because of Thanksgiving this week, so there were no jobs to take. She needed to get onto the freelance website and find some writing jobs, so she’d have money coming in. She’d applied for a few open positions at various online publications but understood how competitive they were. Everyone wanted to be able to write from home, and while she’d made decent money writing for hire, submitting editorials and research articles didn’t bring her joy.
Her phone rang in the distance, and she dropped the blanket, running down the hallway with Leia barking excitedly on her heels. Delilah spotted her phone on her bed and dived across it, scrambling to answer when she saw her agent’s name flashing across the screen. Leia bounded up and proceeded to pounce on her back, mistaking her panic for play.
“Hi, Beth,” she answered breathlessly, ducking her head to avoid Leia’s darting tongue. “Stop it.”
“Delilah?” Beth said. “Is this a bad time?”
“No, I was just in the other room.” She sat up, pushing Leia off the bed. The dog sat back on her haunches and looked up at Delilah, her ears pinned back. Delilah mouthed, I’m sorry , as if the dog could understand her, before addressing Beth. “How are you?’
“Oh, getting ready to drive south for the holiday. How about you?” she asked.
“Doing laundry at the moment.”
“The never-ending battle.” Beth cleared her throat, the small, short cough a common tell Delilah had learned for when her agent had bad news. “I wanted to talk to you about your manuscript. I got an email from Rebecca Stone of Orion Publishing, and she doesn’t think it’ll be a good fit.”
Delilah’s heart sank, and she flopped onto her back on the mattress. “That’s it, right? We’re dead in the water.”
“With this series, but the good news is, she loves your voice,” Beth said cheerfully. “If you’re free, she’d like to hop on the phone with you next week and discuss some potential story ideas?”
Delilah wanted to squeal with joy but swallowed it back, keeping her voice even and calm. “That works for me.”
“Great! I’ll email you both and make official introductions, and we can set something up.”
“What about my series?” Delilah asked.
“That’s up to you,” Beth said, her tone neutral. Considerably different from the excitement she’d conveyed when Delilah first pitched it. “You can self-pub it. It’s a great idea, and the writing is on point; otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken it out. Some things are hard to sell to trade publishers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have an audience.”
Delilah thought about the two series on her computer, numbering nine books total. Without someone to read them, they were worthless. While Delilah knew very little about self-publishing, she’d read enough articles to know it was expensive up front. She was barely getting by now; how could she afford a bunch of out-of-pocket expenses?
Still, it wasn’t Beth’s fault no one had fallen in love with her series, so she tried to mask her disappointment with pleasantness. “Thank you for trying, anyway.”
“We will find you a writing home, I promise. More to come. Bye, sweets!” Beth called out, her words running together in one run-on goodbye.
“Bye.” Delilah ended the call and stared up at the ceiling. An editor at a major publishing house wanted to work with her. Even if there wasn’t anything concrete, she felt like celebrating.
She sat up and checked the time on her phone. Holly would be at A Shop for All Seasons by now. Delilah could drop Anthony’s blanket off at his store, then go next door to Kiss My Donut to grab two mochas and deliver the news to Holly at the year-round holiday shop. That way, she wouldn’t be tempted to linger with Anthony and make an ass out of herself again, the way she had Saturday night. When she replayed running back outside and jumping into his arms like a love-struck idiot, she wanted to crawl under her comforter and never emerge again.
Delilah could blame it on being drunk, but that only made it more embarrassing. Despite her initial protests, Anthony picking her up and carrying her easily to the front door was the biggest turn-on she didn’t know she wanted. After cleaning up in the shower, Delilah couldn’t stop reliving Anthony’s strong arms around her or how his pinewood-scented cologne distracted her from the mess she’d been underneath the blanket. She’d pulled her seafoam green “assistant” out of the drawer and imagined Anthony carrying her all the way inside and into her bedroom, where he’d put her in the shower and helped her clean up.
While the reality of scrubbing vomit from her body hadn’t been remotely sexy, in her head, it was erotic as hell.
Delilah sat up, catching Leia’s eye as the dog was wiggling on the floor by her feet. “Do you want to go for a ride and visit Aunt Holly?”
Leia bounded to her feet at the word “ride” and disappeared down the hallway before Delilah could even get off the bed. She followed her bouncing dog. Delilah grabbed the blanket from the table, disappointed that it no longer had the lingering scent of Anthony on the soft fabric. She helped Leia into her harness and snapped her leash onto the metal loop on the back before heading out. She admonished her dog for pulling ahead, and Leia did a neat circle back to her side.
While it would have been a short walk into town, the temperature had dropped ten degrees since yesterday, and Delilah didn’t feel like going inside for her heavy coat. Her Easily Distracted sweatshirt was warm enough for short bursts of outside activities. She’d put on her tennis shoes because she had every intention to stop by the gym and sign up. Part of her journey to change would include some form of physical activity in a climate-controlled environment with access to watch a hit show to distract her from the pain.
Once Delilah had Leia settled in the passenger seat, she circled around the front to the driver’s side to start the car. She turned the heater up, but the first few minutes of air were frigid, so she turned it back down. Having lived in Idaho her entire life, she should know to warm up her car before she got in it, but she’d rather sit in a cold car than make two possible trips along the walkway where she could easily hit a patch of ice and slip, cracking her head against the ground.
While she waited for her car to warm up, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through TikTok. She followed a few prominent fantasy romance authors, but most of her For You page was delicious recipes and hot men cosplay dancing. It was a weird obsession, but she couldn’t look away.
She clicked her notifications, and the first one that caught her eye was that Pike had followed her. She hadn’t posted videos yet, except a few of Leia, but he’d liked all of them. She clicked on his profile and checked out his pinned video.
Pike and Anthony sat on the couch playing a video game, throwing shade at each other. Pike suddenly screamed, and Anthony tossed his controller on the couch. The camera moved with them, and Nick’s voice came through from behind the camera, “I think you hurt his feelings, bro.”
“Aw, don’t be mad, baby!” Pike laughed, jumping across Anthony’s lap. The bigger man stood up and curled Pike in his arms several times.
“You might have killed me in the game,” Anthony growled, lifting Pike in his arms, “but I could break you in half.”
“I don’t know whether to feel turned on or emasculated,” Pike said, making kissing noises at Anthony.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Anthony said, tossing Pike onto the couch, all of them laughing. Delilah paused the video, staring at Anthony’s smile, and her heart accelerated.
How had this happened? A year ago, she’d have been losing her mind over Pike following her on social media, and instead, she was scrolling through his videos and ogling his friend.
What was wrong with her? Anthony Russo was not into her. The only kiss between them had been a drunk one-off that he had cut short, clearly because he wasn’t interested in hooking up with her. His actions on Saturday, except biting her head off, had been those of a concerned acquaintance and not a protective potential love interest. She needed to get her head examined because something was malfunctioning up there.
Delilah set her phone in the cup holder and addressed Leia. “Tell me the truth. Do you think Mommy is crazy?”
Leia wiggled adorably, but her ears flattened against her head, and her eyes darted away almost guiltily as if to say “I probably shouldn’t answer that but yes.”
“I appreciate your honesty.”
Delilah put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway, heading toward the main street. The house on the corner sported a giant blow-up turkey on the lawn, which was at odds with the house directly across from it that had a massive Santa. A sign staked in Santa’s yard was directed at the turkey’s owners.
No one cares!
She craned her neck as she pulled up to the stop sign, and sure enough, there was a sign she hadn’t noticed before. It’s too early for Christmas!
While Delilah agreed with Mr. Turkey, she would never tell Holly that. Her best friend lived and breathed Christmas, and although she supported her in all things, Delilah thought people took it too far. All those videos that would start popping up on social media of teens asking for expensive gifts or Christmas trees with fifty thousand presents underneath? No wonder kids were so entitled today; society taught them to consume, consume, consume!
Bitter, party of one!
Delilah pulled into the first parking spot she found, arguing silently with the little voice in her head. Her parents hadn’t wanted her to be a spoiled brat and had kept Christmas simple. Maybe that was why she didn’t understand going overboard.
Delilah grabbed the blanket she’d tossed in the back and got out of the car, rounding the hood to gather Leia. They’d parked across the street from Adventures in Mistletoe, and Delilah checked both ways before she and Leia jogged across.
“Delilah Gill, don’t make me write you a ticket for jaywalking!”
Delilah waved at Officer Wren Little, who had spotted her from down the street and was now on the other side.
“There was no one coming,” Delilah said.
“It doesn’t matter; crosswalks are there for a reason!”
“I’ll remember that next time,” Delilah said, escaping with Leia inside Adventures in Mistletoe. The last thing she wanted was Officer Wren to find said crosswalk and come to her side of the street just to lecture her more.
Anthony looked up when she shut the door, smiling. “Hey, you.”
“Hi.” She held up the blanket with one hand. “All clean.”
“Thanks,” he said, coming around the counter. When he spotted Leia, he stopped, squatting down. “Were you the one barking like crazy the other night?”
Leia wiggled and pulled, trying to get closer, and Delilah took a few steps forward so he could pet her. Leia put her paw on his knee, leaning into his hand.
“You’re a cute little fluff, aren’t you?” Anthony said.
“She thinks so,” Delilah said, holding his blanket out to him. He took it as he climbed to his feet and set it on the counter.
Anthony smiled at Delilah, even as he addressed the two of them like Leia understood him. “Are you two just delivering the blanket, or do you have something fun planned?”
Dang, why is he so flipping cute? “We’re going to stop next door and say hi to Holly, and then we’ll most likely go home. What about you?”
“I am taking a couple up the mountain on four-wheelers today.”
“That sounds like … something.”
He chuckled. “I know you don’t like outdoor activities.”
“Especially not in the cold,” Delilah said, shuddering just thinking about it.
“That’s why we bundle up and keep blankets in the car for emergencies.”
“Like when girls need to strip down and wear one home?” Delilah laughed.
Anthony winked at her. “What other emergencies are there?”
Delilah suddenly sobered. “Thank you for not telling anyone what happened. I was embarrassed.”
“You didn’t have any reason to be. It could have happened to anyone.”
“Yeah, but it didn’t.” Delilah sighed. “When I was younger, people laughed at me all the time. I was the best punchline around. I don’t want to go back to that.”
Delilah didn’t know why she’d told him that and avoided looking at his face because if she caught him watching her with anything resembling pity, she would expire on the spot.
“Nobody thinks of you as a punchline.” Anthony took a step closer, his hand settling under her chin, and she let him lift her gaze to meet his. “From the minute you walked through those doors on Saturday night, you had everyone’s attention in the room because you were mesmerizing.”
Including yours?
She didn’t dare to ask, though.
“I’ve been curious about it,” he said, dropping his hand from her face. The warmth of his touch lingered for several moments as she tried to concentrate on what he was asking, but those moss-green eyes were incredibly distracting.
“What?”
“Why did you get all done up on Saturday night? Were you looking to take someone home?”
God, he was so close. Those full lips hovering, and she wondered what he’d taste like today.
“I—yes. I wanted … that.” Real smooth, Delilah.
“Anyone?”
“Um … ” Oh God, don’t say it! “I was looking for someone good in bed.”
Anthony’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? How would you know before you took them home whether they are or aren’t?”
“I wouldn’t know for sure, but there are certain characteristics of a”— Not sex-god —“sexually proficient being.”
He burst out laughing, and her cheeks burned.
“Why is it funny?” Delilah asked defensively. “Because a fat girl can’t possibly want good sex? She should just take what she gets and be grateful anyone wants her at all?”
“What?” Anthony’s jaw dropped open. “Delilah, that’s not what I meant!”
She’d already spun around to rush out the door, but Pike was coming through when he spotted her, a broad smile spread across his face. “Hey! Is it weird if I say I’ve been looking for you?”
“Hi. No, I mean, depends,” she said, fighting to rein in her emotions. “I don’t owe you money, do I?”
“Funny!” Pike said, unknowingly blocking her escape. “But no, I wanted to check in and see how you were feeling.”
“Feeling … Oh, after the other night. You know, drank too much. Needed to sleep it off.”
“If you’re fully recovered, maybe we could have coffee sometime?” Pike asked, stepping closer to the counter. “Either before or after work?”
“Um—” Delilah couldn’t believe that after years of wanting Pike, of worshipping him, that she was at a loss now that everything she’d ever dreamed of was within her grasp. “I mean, we—”
“I’m going to take off,” Anthony said behind her, making Delilah lose her train of thought again.
“Alright, man.” Pike patted him on the back as he walked by, and only Delilah could see when Anthony paused at the door his expression thunderous as it shifted from Pike’s back to her face before it dissolved into an evil grin.
“By the way, thanks for bringing my blanket back, Delilah.”
Her mouth dropped, and Pike turned around, watching Anthony walk past the window and disappear.
Pike faced forward, his forehead furrowed. “Why did you have his blanket?”