Chapter Nine
Milo
When I got to work that morning and found my parking spot open, my first reaction was panic—had something happened to Eden after I saw her safely to her car the night before?
Then I caught sight of her little red SUV parked around the corner and a wave of relief crashed over me, followed by something warm ballooning inside my chest.
Now that I knew she was the parking spot thief, I planned to tell her to keep parking there, but the fact that she’d made the gesture of leaving it open for me was sweet.
“She likes me,” I whispered to myself, unable to hold back a grin.
Throughout the day, I saw plenty of people going in and out of Eden’s shop. The thing that surprised me was the number of shoppers who then stopped into Dueling Dragons, all of them carrying lavender shopping bags from next door.
I considered visiting Eden at work, but I was hesitant to intrude on her first day of business, especially since I wasn’t exactly her target market and didn’t want to make any actual customers uncomfortable with my presence.
My curiosity was finally satisfied when Olivia strolled through my door carrying her own glossy lavender bag in one hand and a canvas tote of artwork in the other.
“You did not tell me that your rockabilly goddess moved in next door, you jerk,” she scolded, handing over the art. “And shit, she’s even more gorgeous up close.”
“Yes, she is,” I muttered.
Unfortunately, that caused Olivia’s gaze to snap to my face. “Oh, you’ve been keeping things from me, Milo. Spill the tea, bro.”
“Liv, I love you, but I don’t kiss and tell.”
“So there was kissing,” she pressed, a broad smile spreading across her face.
“I’m not talking about this,” I replied, unpacking the plastic-sleeved prints from the tote bag. “I take it you did some shopping over there?”
“The place is called Garden of Delights. Of course I did some shopping. I also scored a date with the blonde. We’re going out next week.”
My head lifted. “Adelaide?”
“Mm-hmm. You gonna ask out your dream girl or what?”
“We had dinner last night.” I sighed when her expression lit, realizing she’d never stop hounding me until I told her the rest of it.
A truncated version of the rest of it, anyway.
“And we might have had a thing at Comic Con.”
Olivia mimed a swoon. “A thing, huh? That sounds promising.”
Was it? After last night, I certainly hoped so. My fear that Eden had only been looking for a no-strings hookup dissipated under the intensity of those kisses—kisses she had requested, then responded to like she couldn’t possibly get enough.
I recognized that need, because I felt the exact same.
“How’s it going over there?” I asked, both to change the subject and because I wanted to know that Eden’s first day was going well.
“Place is hopping. Lucky for me, I snagged the last celebratory cupcake. Your girl told me a bit about the other offerings she plans to have over there—brains as well as beauty.”
“She has a name,” I grumbled.
“Oh, yes, and what a name. Eden,” Olivia sang out. “Temptation personified, and she’s right next door.”
“You’re really not helping.”
Olivia just grinned at me. “Well, her store closes at six tonight, just in case you wanted to pop over and say hello. Oh, and I’m working on getting another fantasy role-playing game up and running. Are we good for alternate Tuesdays from my other game nights?”
“Yeah, definitely. Just let me know when you’re ready to start.”
With a jaunty wave, Olivia took off, swinging her lavender bag.
Technically, she rented the space to run her game nights, but we’d worked it out in trade for a higher percentage of her art sales in the shop.
Most of her players purchased stuff from the store when they wanted new dice, books, or miniatures, so it worked out to be a beneficial exchange all around.
Fortunately, the foot traffic to Eden’s shop proved to be beneficial, too, even though I wouldn’t have foreseen so much overlap in our target customers. Still, I had a fairly steady stream of shoppers for a Friday afternoon. My business card stash dwindled while my sales climbed.
I took my time closing up at five, trying to delay until closer to six so I could poke my head in to see Eden without it being too hideously awkward.
After placing Olivia’s new art around the store, I locked up and headed over to Garden of Delights, trying very hard to act like walking into a lingerie shop was an everyday occurrence.
“Milo, you’re just in time!”
My head jerked at hearing my name, but it was Adelaide who’d called out. Eden stood behind the counter, shaking her head at her cousin even as she smiled at me.
“Ignore her. Contrary to Addie’s plans, I have not actually incorporated ‘closing time dance party’ into the daily schedule.”
I grinned, moving toward her like a magnet. “I mean, it’s not a terrible idea.”
“Only because you haven’t seen me dance,” Eden mumbled.
Adelaide was twirling around the shop, singing along with the Sir Mix-a-Lot song blasting over the store’s speakers. I choked back a laugh when I recognized it and Eden rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.
“Don’t encourage her. We’ve been fighting over the music all day. My choice was jazz, which fits the atmosphere we’re going for here. Addie prefers songs featuring explicit descriptions of women’s bodies.”
“This sounds like the kind of disagreement I should stay out of,” I mused, leaning a hip against the counter. “Hi.”
Eden’s expression softened. “Hi.”
“How was your first day? Looked like you got a lot of people in here.”
“We did, yeah. It was good. Really good. I’m sure a lot of people just wanted to see what kind of monster would put a lingerie shop in the middle of Spruce Hill, but we did pretty well,” she said.
“A bunch of Addie’s friends came by. They said they were going to talk us up to everyone who would listen, so hopefully business will be steady. ”
“You should come out with us, Milo,” Addie called across the store from where she was repositioning a mannequin, though she swung her hips toward it as she danced. “We’re going for celebratory drinks at The Mermaid!”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to intrude,” I started, but Eden grabbed my hand.
“Please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t leave me alone with her for another minute. It has been a very, very long day. I need you there.”
It was a simple statement, but it sent a burst of pleasure through me. I curled my fingers around hers and nodded. “In that case, the first round’s on me.”
“Rock on!” Addie shouted.
For a second, Eden just smiled up at me, a soft expression that made me want to kiss her—but I wasn’t sure where she stood on PDA, so I didn’t want to start something in front of her cousin.
“You’re a lifesaver,” she whispered, squeezing my hand.
“You did buy the last round,” I replied, my voice low. “It’s my turn.”
Just as I’d hoped, the reminder caused Eden’s hazel eyes to heat. Her cheeks grew pink as she leaned toward me across the counter. The neckline of her top came all the way up so her collarbone was covered with a floppy bow, but the silky fabric brushed over my arm when she got close.
Eden bit her lip for a second, then whispered, “I had a really good time last night.”
“Me too,” I whispered back. “And thank you for the parking spot, but I want you to take it from here out.”
She drew back. “Why? You said you’ve parked there since you opened your store. It’s yours.”
“Well, you see, there’s this gorgeous woman who I really like.
Sometimes she wears these sexy shoes with heels, or sweet little dresses, and it might make me a chauvinist pig, but I like the idea of her not having to walk so far to get to her shop when my work uniform is jeans, sneakers, and a graphic tee. ”
“How gallant,” she murmured.
I lifted our joined hands and rubbed my beard over the back of her knuckles, grinning when she shivered at the sensation. “If you hate gallantry, we’ll come to some other arrangement, but I mean it. I like knowing you’re parking there.”
Eden’s lips parted to respond, but her cousin abruptly turned off the sound system and we both jerked in surprise at the sudden silence.
“Let’s blow this popsicle stand, lovebirds. Time to celebrate!”
Though Eden rolled her eyes, she reluctantly pulled her hand from mine. “I’ll go get my purse. Adelaide, I’m trusting you not to give Milo the third degree,” she warned.
“Who, me?”
Her cousin assumed a look of pure innocence, which earned an exaggerated sigh from Eden before she headed into the back. Adelaide practically skipped to my side to whisper-scream, “I still cannot believe you work next door! This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“To you?”
“To me by proxy. Seeing Eden happy. This is the best possible scenario, even better than I could have dreamt up myself.” Her radiant smile evaporated and her brows drew together in a threatening scowl. “Make her happy or I’ll cut you.”
Startled by the sudden change in tone from bubbly to ominous, I blinked at her as Eden emerged from the back of the store, but while Eden glared suspiciously at her cousin, I gave Adelaide a tiny salute to indicate my agreement.
I had no intention of throwing away a second chance.