Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Betsy
“Betsy Mae honey, come on down!” Nana calls from downstairs right after the doorbell rings.
I’m racing around getting ready for the day, having slept through my first alarm by accident.
I’m only going in to work for four hours today, being Saturday, but I don’t want to be late.
I slept hard last night, dreaming all kinds of crazy sex dreams. Apparently, Silas unlocked some sort of hidden vault of rated-R fantasies in my brain.
Things had been strained between me and the asshole ex-boyfriend in California for quite some time.
Without realizing it, the sex had taken a back seat for longer than I cared to admit.
No wonder he ended things. I’d been too preoccupied with making a living and paying off my student debt to realize he’d found someone else less stressed out all the time.
“Coming!” I slide my bare feet into a new pair of sandals, a cute gold pair with a huge bow on top by my toes. They go perfectly with my gold A-line skirt and black mock-neck sleeveless top. The sandals slap against the hardwood stairs and flooring.
Nana is hovering next to the open front door, a mid-sixties woman holding an aluminum foil–covered plate standing in the doorway. She lights up when she sees me.
“Howdy! I’m Janie Lynn, your neighbor three houses down yonder. Your nana here has been talking about you so much I feel like I know you already.” She hands me the plate. “I made y’all some cowboy cookies. I sure do hope you ain’t allergic to peanuts, darlin’.”
I take the plate and smile back. “I’m not. These smell delicious, thank you.”
“I hear you’re workin’ down at Harp and Hemline?”
I nod. “Sure am. Love it there.”
Janie Lynn nods enthusiastically. “I’m fixin’ to come to the Battle of the Boutiques next weekend. You think Blessed and Dressed will have something for us ol’ ladies?”
I lean on my training from Silas and reach out a hand to grab her forearm.
“Oh, you aren’t old enough for that boutique.
You should be shopping at Harp and Hemline still.
Why don’t you come on by and we’ll fix you up?
” It may just be my ears getting used to it, but I could swear I had a bit of a drawl creep into my voice.
Janie Lynn gives me a big hug, plate and all. “You sweet thing. I think I will. Now I’ll let you get back to your day. Lovely to meet you.”
She releases me and hugs Nana, then walks back over to her house with a parting wave and a see y’all later. Nana closes the door and takes the plate from me.
“She’s been over four times trying to catch you.”
I follow her into the kitchen, confused. “Why?”
Nana puts the plate down, folds back the foil, and selects a cookie. Oh damn, they do look good. I snatch one up too and nearly roll my eyes back in my head over the taste. Thank heavens I’ve never been opposed to a cookie for breakfast.
“People like to welcome you to the neighborhood, honey. That’s how we do it here in Heaven.”
I hold up my half-eaten cookie. “I love Heaven!” I’m halfway to my car in the driveway when I hear Nana answer.
“Everybody does!”
The rose I found tucked under my windshield wiper blade last night after work is sitting on my passenger seat like a bomb as I drive into the Square.
I don’t know who it’s from, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s from Silas, which both pisses me off and makes me want to kiss the hell out of him.
It’s a sweet gesture, but also not at all what I want.
I was serious when I told him I didn’t want a relationship.
Not even great sex and red roses can change my mind on that.
Silas is already at the boutique in a deep-blue polo and slate-gray shorts when I slide inside the shop exactly on time. He gives me a warm smile that makes me forget all about the heat outside when the heat in here is just as hot.
“Happy Saturday, storm cloud,” he drawls, eyes twinkling.
The bell rings behind me, interrupting anything further.
I put my purse down behind the counter and get busy helping customers.
Whatever we’re doing is starting to work.
I realize the trickle of returning students and their families also has something to do with the increase in customers, but I haven’t seen the boutique this busy ever.
It makes me happy for Silas and his big dreams. It also makes me hopeful we can hit the sales goal that will line my own pockets.
If I don’t earn the ten-thousand-dollar bonus, I’ll need to take on a second and third job to pay back my student loans and Nana’s mortgage.
Not exactly the life upgrade I was hoping for when I left the big city out west.
I keep hoping for some downtime to possibly recreate our moment in the storage room, but it’s looking like it’s not meant to be today.
Right as Silas heads for the door to flip the sign to closed at two in the afternoon, Nana walks in with her pastel blue cotton pants and matching shirt.
I do a double take. She didn’t tell me she was going to stop by.
“Nana,” I call out, surprise and a bit of a question in my tone.
She ambles over and gives me a hug. Short as I am, she barely comes to my chin. She releases me quickly and turns to Silas. “I’ll get out of your hair, I promise. I just wanted to invite you to an early supper today. I want to get to know the man my Betsy Mae is spending all her time with.”
“Nana,” I chide, massively embarrassed. “Silas is my boss.”
Nana looks at me with innocent eyes behind those thick glasses. “Oh, I know, honey.” She turns to Silas, putting on the pressure. “You should come to supper.”
“I’m sure Silas has other plans, Nana,” I say quickly, but Silas shoots her a smile that could melt glass.
“I’d love to, Mrs. Pemberton.”
“Ohh.” Nana waves her hand through the air. “You best call me Betsy Sue or you’ll make me feel old.”
My eyebrows lift. Is Nana flirting with Silas?
“Never!” Silas exclaims, patting Nana’s hand still resting on his arm. “What can I bring?”
“You just bring yourself, honey. I’ll take care of the rest.” She turns to me and holds out her other hand. “In fact, will you drive Betsy Mae home? Birdie dropped me off and I need to take Betsy’s car home.”
I reach for my purse. “I can drive you home, Nana. We’re closing up here.”
Nana snaps her fingers, shocking me. “No, no. You finish your work. I’m driving your car home.” Her voice is rising, something I’m not used to from my cool-as-a-cucumber nana.
I hand her the keys, not wanting to upset her further. “Okay. I’m parked down Saint’s Row, around the corner.”
She snatches the keys from my hand and exits the boutique much faster than she arrived. “I know where that is, silly girl. Lived ’ere my whole life. See you two kids at home!”
The bell rings out and she’s gone, just a trace of her floral perfume left. I look over at Silas who’s grinning like he’s holding back laughter.
“What the hell was that?”
He shrugs, grabs my hand, and tugs me through the curtain into the storage room.
He pushes me gently up against the wall and I’m instantly turned on.
My breath comes out as an embarrassing pant.
He leans down and kisses me, real sweet-like.
His tongue flicks against my bottom lip and I open, letting him take it deeper, but he doesn’t.
He just plucks kiss after kiss from me, teasing my lips and stealing my breath. And then he’s gone.
I blink my eyes open and he’s closing up the boxes of clothing we still have to hang. “Come on, then. Let’s get to Nana’s.” He’s acting like he didn’t just kiss me so sweetly my knees have buckled. The only thing holding me up is the wall.
Silas turns my direction, smiles in the face of my frown, and grabs my hand. “Come on.” He tugs me to the front where he lets me go and grabs his things from behind the counter. He twirls his keys around his finger. “Been wanting to kiss you all day.”
He shoots me a wink I feel all the way to my bare toes. I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “We could spend more time in the storage room, you know. Nana’s not expecting us right this minute.”
Silas puts his big hand on my lower back and pushes me toward the front door. “Not today, storm cloud. Let’s go eat.”
He keeps his hand there the whole time we’re walking outside to wherever he parked his truck.
I sidestep him at one point, but next thing I know, that hand’s back on me.
I could lie and say I don’t like it, but every single finger is imprinted on my skin.
He unlocks the truck, holds the passenger side door open for me, and even steps in front of me, his back turned, to make sure I don’t flash anyone getting up in the damn thing in this skirt.
He asks me all kinds of questions as we drive to Nana’s, mostly about my life in California.
I answer as briefly as I can, feeling like I’m fielding questions that would be asked on a first date.
At one point, he even lifts his hand from the steering wheel and reaches toward me.
Before he makes contact with my knee, he whips his hand back and rambles on about something to do with football and marching bands.
“You know this isn’t a date either, right?” I interrupt him mid-tirade about State’s marching band being subpar for the last decade.
Silas shoots me a look I can’t interpret. “Yeah, I know.”
I narrow my eyes. “Did you leave a rose on my windshield?”
“No!” he answers way too quickly.
“Silas…”
He sighs, refusing to glance at me. “Yes, I did, but I won’t do it again. It was just a…thank-you.”
I snort. “For the sex?”
His face goes red and it makes me laugh to see him so uncomfortable talking about sex in public. “A thank-you for working at the boutique. For sharing who you are with me.”
Well, that’s…kind of sweet.