Chapter 19 #2
Beck’s eyes flared as he stared down at me. “You and I both know you don’t need any help when I’m around, but if you want to, I’m all for recreating Chapter Eight from A Night for Her Pleasure. But unless you want our sex life to be broadcast on a Facebook Live, we’re not buying them from Mabel.”
“Noted,” I breathed, thoughts of recreating Chapter Eight with Beck floating through my mind, and my clit tingled in response.
“Get that look off your face,” he said. “I don’t want to talk to my brother while I’m hard enough to pound nails.”
With a laugh, I bit my lip and nodded, trying my hardest to focus on any and everything but Beck using a toy on me, but it was damn difficult.
Fortunately, Chuckanut had no such issue with distraction and led us straight to Luna’s booth. I shouldn’t have been surprised that the sheriff of Starlight Cove had secured his girlfriend a prime spot, but there they were, right in the middle of where traffic was the heaviest.
I’d never seen two more mismatched people in my life, but somehow it worked on them.
Brady stood off to the side, his large, muscled arms crossed over his chest, looking like a pissed-off bodyguard, while his girlfriend, Luna, flitted around.
She wore an off-the-shoulder shirt, a flowy skirt that went down to her ankles, and a bright smile so heavily contrasted against Brady’s scowl it was nearly comical.
She waved at people walking by even as she helped a customer, all while Brady glared at them like he was paid to do so.
A man in his early fifties was attempting to bargain with Luna, and Brady’s attention was solely on the two of them, so we patiently waited our turn.
Beck leaned over, his lips against my ear. “Watch…it’s about to get good.”
Before I could ask him what I should be watching for, Brady leaned forward, plucked the glass jar of homemade face cream out of the man’s hands, and set it right back down on the table with a loud thunk. “Get out of here.”
The man sputtered, eyes wide. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Brady jerked his head to the side, dismissing the man with as little effort as possible. “Get lost.”
Luna breathed out a laugh and rolled her eyes. “The grump’s coming off a little strong there, Sheriff.”
With his eyes still locked on the man, Brady said, “If he doesn’t want to pay what they’re worth, then he doesn’t deserve them at all.”
I didn’t recognize the no-longer-potential customer, and it was clear he was a tourist because he obviously didn’t recognize Brady. Ninety percent of the town’s population would’ve been running before Brady could even finish his sentence.
Finally, this guy seemed to get a clue and realize Brady was, indeed, being serious, and he stalked off, grumbling under his breath about rude giants. If I wasn’t mistaken, Brady’s lips actually twitched at that.
Luna rubbed her fingers on her temples. “Babe. Seriously. You can’t keep doing that.”
He just stared down at her, brow raised, massive arms crossed over his chest—honestly, did he lift houses for fun? “Did you or did you not work with Aiden to calculate the cost you should sell these for?”
“I did.”
“And did you or did you not mark your products at those prices?”
She sighed. “I did.”
“Then they’re going to pay what the goddamn price sheet says, or they’re not getting them at all.”
“Um…should we come back?” I asked, not wanting to interrupt but feeling a little uncomfortable during their spat.
Brady and Luna, who stood toe to toe in some kind of a standoff, both answered without turning in our direction. “No.”
“They’re like this all the time,” Beck said, grabbing one of the taffies Luna had out in a dish.
Without taking his eyes off Luna, Brady reached out, plucked the candy from Beck’s hand, and put it right back in the dish.
“Seriously?” She huffed out a laugh. “You’re not even allowing your brother a piece of candy now?”
“Is he buying anything?”
“Brady.” Luna reached out and gripped his forearm. “I’m going to stop inviting you to help me at these if all you’re going to do is scare off the customers.”
“I hate to tell you this, but he’s not exactly the kind of guy who cares about getting an invitation,” Beck said. “He’ll just show up.”
“He’s not wrong.” Brady shrugged.
Luna laughed and dropped her head back on a groan. “I love you, but you are driving me crazy. Why do you keep doing this?”
“Because you work too hard on this to have some schmuck wearing socks with his flip-flops to try to swindle a deal. You turn our house into a fucking science lab, use me as your guinea pig, and pour your heart into every goddamn one of those jars.” Brady pointed to the plethora of various creams in all different sizes of containers on display.
“You’re fucking amazing, and you know what you’re doing because my hair has never been so soft, so you’re going to get paid what you’re worth. And we’re not discussing it anymore.”
Luna kept a straight face for several long moments, and I held my breath as I watched this unfold. Finally, she rested her hands on his chest, stared up at him, and said, “Okay.”
“No, I told you. You’re not— Wait. Okay?”
“Yes. Okay.” She nodded. “You’re right.”
“I am right.”
“Thank you for reminding me what I’m worth.”
With a hand cupping her ass, he hauled her into him, lifting her right off her feet as he kissed her deep.
My eyes went wide as I watched because, yeah, things were definitely heating up, considering this was a supposedly family-friendly event.
If Mabel couldn’t have lube on display, I was thinking foreplay was probably also discouraged.
Beck cleared his throat loudly. “All right. I’d appreciate it if I didn’t have to watch my brother make out anymore. Jesus Christ.”
Luna laughed and pulled away, tapping Brady on the shoulder until he put her back on her feet. “Hey, guys. Sorry about all that. I’m happy to see you out here, Everly.”
“Thanks, I’m glad I could come. The clinic’s usually open on Saturday mornings, so I haven’t had a chance to yet.”
Luna’s eyes softened. “How are you doing? Getting settled okay?”
“Yeah. I’m staying with Beck. There have been a couple of close calls, but he hasn’t kicked us to the curb yet.”
Beck tightened his hold on me, a move that didn’t go unnoticed by Brady if the twitch of his eyebrow was any indication.
Luna laughed. “The McKenzie boys’ barks are worse than their bites—all of them. Well, except for Ford. I don’t know if that guy has an ounce of bark in him.”
“Then you haven’t seen him around Quinn yet,” Beck said.
Luna’s brows lifted. “Noted.” To me, she said, “Hey, if you ever want to get away or need some rejuvenation time, swing by the main inn. Yoga class or a massage on me.”
It was an amazing offer, and one I normally would’ve jumped at.
Luna was seriously a magician with her hands, and her yoga classes were some of the best ones I’d ever taken.
But what stopped me in my tracks wasn’t the offer but the fact that I didn’t feel like I needed it.
Except for the night the chief had been by to see me, things were going…
fairly well. I still didn’t know what was going to happen or what I was going to do, but I wasn’t focusing on that.
Right now, I was focusing on the present.
On being with Beck and enjoying this life all my own that I’d carved out in Starlight Cove.