23. Lyric
TWENTY-THREE
LYRIC
Night cloaked the parking lot as I left Trick or Treat. I’d stuck around, hoping Jensen would stop in. He’d said he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get away until tonight, but he hadn’t replied to any of my texts today.
Nova and the staff had left twenty minutes ago. I’d been dragging my feet.
I’d gone from not wanting to work with him to being eager to share.
And he wasn’t here.
Annoyed with myself, I locked up and headed for my Jeep. A flood of headlights came rocking into the parking lot.
My heart jumped. “Jensen,” I whispered.
I knew that truck anywhere.
He parked crooked behind my Jeep and swung his door open. He jumped out.
Something was different about him. His hair was freshly washed, and he wore dark washed jeans with a hoodie. Nothing extraordinary, but there was an energy around him.
He loped across the parking lot to me and picked me up, swinging me around.
“Whoa.”
He set me down and kissed me, hard and fast. The energy zipped through him and into me. I hung on and my blood pressure shot up as he stole my breath.
“Jensen,” I said against his mouth.
“Hi.”
“Hi, yourself.” I hung onto his arms. “What has gotten into you?”
“My appointment went very well.” He grinned down at me. “Sorry, I was MIA. It got a little crazy in the meeting.”
“What kind of meeting?”
His neck flushed, visible even in the darkness, thanks to the lights in the parking lot. “It was a test. I’m trying to get certified for a new job.”
“And you did well?”
He nodded. “I did. We all went out to celebrate, and I didn’t realize how late it got. We all passed.” He laced his fingers at my lower back.
“That’s wonderful! Test for what?”
“I don’t want to jinx it. I still have to get chosen. I promise I’ll tell you all about it if I get the job.”
“I didn’t take you for a superstitious guy.”
“Me neither, but when it’s important, I guess I am. But I won’t know for a while. They aren’t making selections until March.”
Surprised, I linked my hands behind his neck. “How can you stand it?”
“Guess you’ll have to distract me.”
I laughed. “Well, I do have a lot of work for you to do.”
“Do you need to be home?” He looked around. “Where’s Sheba?”
“My sister is babysitting. I had so many meetings today, I asked her if she’d mind.”
“And you didn’t need her?” His voice gentled.
“No. Surprisingly, a concentration of orgasms has helped my anxiety.”
He laughed. “Well, I guess I’ll have to keep that up.”
“For science.”
He lowered his mouth to mine. “For science.”
The kiss was sweeter, and the cold air made me snuggle into him. He tasted of something spicy—maybe hot sauce. And the sharp hops taste from beer. I pulled back. “Do you want to go inside and hear about our vendors?”
“I sure do. I have a pizza in the truck.”
“You delicious man. Thought I tasted something spicy.”
“I had wings with the guys. But I’m about to house this pie from Robbie’s.”
“And I will help you.” He grinned. “Okay, be right back.”
I went to the A Place for All doors and turned off the alarm. I held the door open as Jensen hustled from his truck with a pie and six pack of Diet Coke.
The man didn’t miss a trick.
I flicked on the lights, and he whistled. “You guys have been busy.”
“We have. Nolan and his friend Archer came in and built out a few of the booths. Lucky came by this morning and added a few collapsible tables.”
Jensen walked across the hardwood floor to one of the tables and set down our pizza. “Lucky made something similar on the MJ2.”
I frowned. “The what?”
He laughed and flipped open the top. “Sorry, The Mason Jar 2. The barge Mason renovated last year. I helped out with the work. Lucky is creative as hell. He can build just about anything.”
“You’re right about that. Nolan kept coming up with the ideas and Lucky and Archer implemented them.”
“Who is this Archer guy? Do I need to worry?” He pulled out a slice of pepperoni and put it on a plate that had been hidden in the box.
I laughed. “Jealous?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”He took my plate and set it aside so he could slide his arm around me. “How genius is he?”
I laughed. “Pretty genius. He’s a stone mason, but he’s got a hell of an eye for spatial design.”
“You’re not helping the situation.”
I was far more delighted than I should have been. “You should see his shoulders. They’re very impressive. He’s tall and—” His mouth cut me off, the kiss deep and hot.
I went onto my toes to meet him and gave him back a matching level of heat. At least I hoped so. He scrambled my brain.
I sighed and just let it happen. I wasn’t the kind of woman to make a man jealous.
He pulled back, his dark eyes hidden under heavy lids. “You were saying?”
“Not as impressive as you. Don’t worry.”
“That’s what I thought.” He let me go and gave me back my plate.
I smiled my way through the slice and ate two more as I updated him on the people who had signed on. Finally, we both took our sodas with us as I led him over to the newest addition.
“The booths are really coming together. I met with a few of the vendors today and we started making up a chart. I have a copy of it for you so you can begin figuring out your sketches.”
He sipped from his bottle and quietly walked around.
It was interesting to see how he took in each space. His sharp eyes were endlessly moving. He handed me his bottle and hopped up on one of the tables. “I like this little cubby. Who’s going to be here?”
“Bell Flower.”
He looked over his shoulder at me with a big grin. “Excellent.”
While Archer had been objectively attractive with his messy blond hair and his smirk, he was no match for Jensen in his creative groove. His dark hair had fallen forward into his depthless eyes, currently slightly out of focus. As if he was already picturing what he was going to draw.
When he pulled off his hoodie and his T-shirt rose to show his muscled torso, I took a drink to wet my suddenly dry throat.
This whole lusting thing was new for me. Not that I didn’t find other men attractive, but knowing exactly what every inch of him felt like, tasted like, and smelled like was a whole new matter.
“Did you talk to Nolan about supplies yet?”
“Huh?”
He grinned down at me. “Supplies?”
“Oh.” I nodded. “He told me the budget was at my disposal.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Which doesn’t mean you can go crazy.”
He hopped down. “Understood.” He took his bottle and took a few good pulls. “I use a few online supplier places that should keep the cost down. I’ll give you websites if you want.”
“No, just give me an itemized bill. I’ll set you up with a credit card you can use.”
“Sounds good. I’m excited to get going on this.”
“Good, because there’s a lot to get done in a month. Hard to believe February will be here next week.”
He crowded into me. “Are you going to be my Valentine, Lyric?”
“Maybe.”
He lowered his mouth to just a breath away from mine. “Are you mad I was gone all day?”
“No. Why?”
“Trying to make me jealous, the maybes...” He swiped his tongue along my lower lip. “Makes a guy wonder.”
I was so unsure about us still. I missed the days where I was decisive. “We’re so new. I don’t want to assume anything.”
“Assume away, baby. I don’t need to play games when it comes to us.”
“Why?”
He frowned at me. “What do you mean why?”
“You never were like that with other women.”
His jaw flexed. “You’re not like the other women.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not.”
Frustration built inside me. It was different for me too, but how was I supposed to navigate this? We’d switched over from annoyed tension to naked so fast.
From my own doing. I’d been the one to initiate it.
At least the start of it.
He set down his bottle. “Lyric, I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted all of you for as long as you allow it. Which I hope means a good long time.”
“Like months?”
“Like until rocking chairs.”
I grabbed onto his arm, mostly because I was terribly afraid I’d fall over. “How can you know that already?”
“I don’t know all of it, dammit. But I want to work toward a future. I don’t have any doubt about that.”
“What if I do?” I whispered.
“Then I’ll wait until you catch up.” He hooked his arm around me and lifted me until our lips met. “I’m more worried you’ll change your mind than me.”
I wasn’t sure about the future, but it was because it was so nebulous. The fact that he had such certainty that I belonged in it was the part I couldn’t reconcile. So many bad things had happened to me in such a short amount of time, it was hard to believe good could come for me.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “One day at a time,” I said against his mouth.
“I’m down with that plan.” He set me down. “Then let’s figure out this chart.”
I nodded. This part I knew how to do.
We spent the better part of an hour arguing over which vendors should be beside which. I’d mapped out most of them, but he had good ideas about traffic flow for people walking from booth to booth. I was excited to see how his visual representation of each vendor would come about.
I knew some of that flow would come from his drawings.
It would lure people inside and I had a feeling it would help with marketing. Tatum was practically drooling at the thought of using his drawings to tease each of the booths. She was definitely a wonder when it came to videos and posts on our social media. Both short and long form videos would be a great way to bring people in.
“Nolan and Archer are going to do a stone and stained-glass partition between Trick or Treat and A Place for All.”
He tipped his head to the side, much like Sheba.
I laughed. “Like their version of a gateway.”
He nodded. “That’s cool. Nolan’s artwork is wild. Have you been to his house?”
I nodded. “Yes. Dahlia had an open house for all the people who have been so curious. I was pretty sure Nolan was going to blow that little vein in his forehead.”
Jensen snickered. “He definitely has that grumpy lord of the castle role down pat.”
“He does. But the house is beautiful. No Harriette sightings for the party, though.”
“I can’t wait to paint that house, man.”
At my questioning glance, Jensen added, “Nolan wants me to paint the place when it’s fully finished. Even if I don’t see the ghost, Dahlia wants it in the painting.”
“Maybe she’ll show herself.” I was fascinated with the idea of a ghost, but I really didn’t need to live with one. “I’d like to see it when you’re done.”
“Of course. Don’t mind me if I get into a mood, though. When I’m in the middle of a big project, I can be a bear.”
“Good to know.” I nodded toward the walls behind me. “Since, um, this is also a big project.”
“You’ll just have to distract me.” He grinned down at me.
“I think I can do that. But now I think I just want to take you home.”
“Now that I can get behind.” He lifted me off my feet and headed for the doors.
Laughing, I kicked my legs. “Put me down. We have to clean up first.”
“Fine.” He turned back around to go back to the tables, and I laughed the whole way.
Ending the day with Jensen was so much better than without.