Chapter Thirteen
Milo
The weird pamphlet had me tweaked, but Eden’s nonchalant response to it freaked me out even worse. I didn’t like thinking that this gorgeous, successful woman had dealt with enough hate in her life to make her barely bat an eye at the hellfire and brimstone bullshit in that envelope.
Carter’s energetic presence acted as a buffer for the afternoon, forcing me to not make a big deal out of the incident.
At one point, when Eden left to use the bathroom at the back of the store, I told Carter that if he saw anything like that envelope again, he was commissioned to make sure it got to me instead of Eden.
“Like a secret mission?” he asked, eyes bright.
I nodded solemnly. “Top secret. Vital importance.”
“You got it, Uncle Milo,” he whispered.
Maybe it was uncool to involve the kid in my newfound quest to keep Eden from experiencing that pain again, but my nephew seemed proud of his new job as my lieutenant.
When Maverick showed up to get Carter after work, he issued a quiet, sincere apology to Eden for upsetting her at their last meeting. Carter and I pretended to be busy sorting his homework folder, but we were both shamelessly eavesdropping.
“It’s fine, Maverick. Really. It was a shock to see Milo again and there was a lot going on in my head,” she murmured.
My brother looked like he wanted to say more, but he caught my eye over Eden’s shoulder and smiled at her instead—not his usual flirtatious charm, but an expression filled with warmth, one that conveyed his happiness for us both in finding each other again.
“Dad, did you know Eden beat Uncle Milo at Mortal Kombat? You haven’t beaten him since that time last summer when he was recovering from the flu!”
Maverick’s brows dropped ominously low at that. “She did, huh?”
When a giggle burst from Eden’s lips, my heart lifted. I slid my arm around her waist and nodded at my brother. “She absolutely did. Best button-mashing I’ve seen in decades.”
“Stop insulting my technique,” she grumbled.
“I’m sorry, Eden, but I have to see my brother being humbled up close and in person. You should come with Milo to our next game night. As long as you don’t mind a little friendly competition.”
“Friendly, my ass,” I said against her ear.
Eden looked uncertain about the invitation for a split second, then her eyes lifted to mine and a radiant smile spread across her face. Those smiles were like a drug, each one making me want more.
“That sounds like fun. I’m in.”
“We’ll get Libby to join us. Maybe she’ll be a civilizing force on Mark and Mav,” I said, grinning back at her.
“Yes! Then we can play tournament style!” Carter cried.
He threw his backpack over his shoulder, gave me a fist bump, and then offered the same to Eden. When she bumped his fist with hers, my chest threatened to burst wide open.
Maverick lifted his hand in farewell, winking at us both, and ushered Carter out of the store. Though music played from a speaker in the back corner, the sudden quiet had Eden fidgeting as she joined me behind the counter again.
“I should probably go, too,” she said softly.
Instead of responding, I lifted her hand and set it on my chest. She slipped it upward, over my shoulder, until her palm cupped the back of my neck. It was only another second before she stepped closer, fitting the front of her body against mine.
“But maybe I have time for a kiss goodbye,” she whispered. “If you don’t mind, I mean.”
“Not at all,” I whispered back, and I set about prolonging that goodbye for almost half an hour.
Garden of Delights had an interesting impact on my business that week in the form of another huge influx of customers toting lavender bags.
No one expressly stated that Eden had sent them, but most of them ended up making a purchase.
Several inquired about upcoming event nights, half of Olivia’s newest prints were sold, and three people placed special orders for products I didn’t have in stock.
None of them felt like pity-shoppers.
I was contemplating the phenomenon when Olivia showed up Friday evening with a new batch of artwork—with Adelaide in tow.
“Can’t stay and chat, we have a reservation,” Liv called as she passed me the bag of prints. “But in case this uptick in sales continues, here’s a new batch for you.”
Adelaide grinned at me. “Who knew there’d be such a crossover between nerds and naughty underwear?”
Olivia leaned in close to Adelaide’s ear and whispered, “I did.”
I laughed and waved them off for their date night, then hurriedly closed the store so I could pop over to see Eden before she locked the doors.
Maverick had managed to coordinate another game night for Sunday evening at his place, but I hadn’t gotten a whole lot of private time with Eden during the week.
I wanted to make sure she was really okay with being surrounded by the vast majority of my family all at once.
Two women were leaving Eden’s store as I arrived, so I held the door for them and then met Eden’s smirk from across the shop. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, which gave me a chance to admire those long, dark locks against the pale blue fabric covering her upper half above the counter.
“What’s that look for?” I demanded.
“Just thinking that chivalry is definitely not dead.”
I headed straight for her, ignoring the racks of satin and lace on either side of me as the rest of her dress came into view.
It was a different style than I’d seen on her, but no less mouthwatering.
The wide neckline exposed just a hint of the tattoo on her collarbone, and I admired the way it clung to the curve of her hips before kicking out in a little ruffle at her knees.
“I’m thinking some very unchivalrous thoughts right now,” I growled.
Her lips, glossy pink and utterly kissable, curved upward. “Oh? So I shouldn’t wear something like this to game night?”
After ascertaining that we were alone in the store—I probably wouldn’t have noticed a brass band in the corner after I caught sight of her—I circled the counter until her hands landed at my waist, then I bent my head and brushed a kiss to her tattoo.
“You could, but I’d definitely embarrass myself in front of my brothers. Carter would get a pretty graphic anatomy lesson and I might end up dragging you into the coat closet to make out instead of playing video games with my family.”
“Not much room in a coat closet,” Eden mused, but she shivered under my lips.
“We could always skip game night and have dinner at my place again.”
“No can do, cowboy. I promised your nephew I’d show him a master in action. But if you want to cook for me again, I wouldn’t turn down an invitation for next week.”
Oh, I could work with that.
“Count on it, then. You, me, no interruptions. Maybe we’ll both stay awake this time.”
“If I recall correctly,” she teased as she twirled away from me and started her closing routine, “you have a number of tricks up your sleeve that would definitely keep me awake.”
“Christ,” I muttered, closing my eyes as blood rushed immediately away from my head.
Eden’s laughter was light and carefree in a way that more than made up for my inconvenient reaction to those mental images. My eyes were still closed when I felt her dress brush my arm, so I reached out and snagged her around the waist.
“Temptation personified,” I muttered. “That’s what Olivia called you.”
Her lips lifted at the corners. “Did she? The one who’s out with Addie tonight?”
“Yeah. She had a table of artwork at Comic Con and caught me staring at you across the room that day. She referred to you as my rockabilly goddess. As soon as you walked up to me at the bar, I thought it fit you perfectly. And you’re definitely a walking temptation.”
“No one’s ever called me a goddess before.”
I rubbed my thumbs against her sides. “Do you mind it?”
“I don’t think so,” she replied, a pink tinge creeping along her cheeks. “Not from you, at least. Addie might have a fit if Olivia keeps calling me that, though.”
“Now that Addie is in the picture, I doubt Olivia would be caught dead calling anyone else a term of endearment. She’s loyal as hell, even if she is a pain in my ass.”
“Then they’re a match made in heaven, because Addie’s a pain in mine,” Eden said with a laugh.
I grinned and, before I could think better of it, asked, “Your parents let you spend time with your cousins even though Addie is gay?”
“She’s bi, but believe me, we went to great lengths to keep them from ever finding that out.
Aunt Jocelyn is my mom’s sister. They grew up Lutheran or something, very low-key.
My mom didn’t start her descent into the hellfire and damnation side of religion until she met my dad, and Jocelyn never gave up hope that she’d be able to pull her back from it. ”
“But that didn’t happen, I take it?”
Eden sighed. “No. And once I left home, my mom cut all contact with Jocelyn. She blamed her for leading me astray. Aunt Jocelyn would have tried to shield me from that, but we were in the house while they were on the phone and my mom’s screaming was so loud, we could all hear it.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“Me too. When I was a kid, I didn’t question how they convinced my parents to let me visit so often, but as I got older, I realized they created this perfect display that they put on for Mom and Dad.
All of them, including Addie and Rob, would pretend we were attending church twice a week while I was with them.
Everybody dressed a particular way when I was dropped off or picked up.
Jocelyn was determined not to give them any reason to keep me away. ”
“And your parents bought it?” I asked.
“Yes. Maybe? Sometimes I think they just pretended to accept it all at face value because it got me out of their hair,” she replied, shrugging.
“Baby,” I whispered.
“Nope. No. We’re not going there, Milo. It’s over, I never hear from them. It doesn’t matter anymore. And you’re only allowed to call me baby when you’re being sweet, not when you’re pitying the sad little girl I once was.”
“I’m always sweet, am I not?”
She smirked, then it blossomed into another beautiful smile. “We’ll see how sweet you are when I’m kicking your ass in front of your family on Sunday.”