46. Arden
46
ARDEN
A couple of days later, Perri pops by the bookstore and asks if I’m free to grab a bite to eat. I’m finished up, and Madeline is working for the evening, so we head to Helen’s Diner, one of our favorite places in town.
“How’s love? Is it as fabulous as everyone makes it out to be?” she asks as we sit.
I smile. I can’t help it. “It’s the most fabulous thing. I highly recommend unexpectedly falling in love with your best guy friend after he gives you hypothetical lessons in seduction that turn real.”
She wiggles an eyebrow and taps her temple. “And I’ll just file that away under possibilities I never expected.”
“Same here. But seriously, Gabe is great, and I’m the luckiest girl in Lucky Falls.”
“It’s not luck. You went after your happily ever after and you got it.
“And I’m not going to let it go.”
“You better not.”
Then it’s my turn to wiggle my eyebrows, because I want the dish on the guy Perri’s been hot for. She thought nothing would come of the man she pulled over, but Derek McBride turned up in her life again in a most unexpected way, and I’m dying for more details. “Tell me all the details about the hottie.”
“Whomever would you be referring to?” She plays it coy.
I shoot her a look. “The one you pulled over the other day who looked at you like he wanted to eat you up, toss you over his shoulder, and then pleasure you all night long. That one.”
Her eyes twinkle. “He did look at me like that, didn’t he?”
“Um, yeah. And if memory serves, I feel like you were giving him the same look.”
“You did hit the nail on the head when you said I had a type, and he is definitely it,” she says with a laugh as the server comes over to take our order. I opt for a chicken sandwich, and Perri chooses a salad. I steer us back to the conversation. “So, Miss Has a Type and He’s It—what’s next with him? You ran into him again, you flirted, you had an epic kiss, and now? Tell me what’s next?” I’m dying to know.
She sighs, and it seems full of import. “Seems he showed up last night on my doorstep, with his duffel, since my brother went ahead and rented the room above the garage to him.”
My eyes bulge. My jaw drops. My head spins. That’s a twist I didn’t see coming. “That means you’re living with the guy you want to bang?”
“Seems the hot guy that I want to bang is now my new housemate.”
“That’s a bit of a conundrum. You definitely can’t bang him if you’re living with him.”
She tightens her ponytail. “Yes, that would seem to be the wise plan. This landlord shall not bang her housemate.”
“The housemate she’s oh so tempted by,” I add, then I smile. “I can’t wait to hear how the non-banging plan unfolds.”