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“Good to see you, Atley.” Lara’s voice cut through the haze around Rae and me.
I blinked and looked at the other woman with effort. “Lara.”
She chuckled and elbowed Leroy in the side. “They are something.”
“Right.” He pantomimed touching something hot with his finger and made a stupid sizzling noise.
I ignored the juvenile antics and looked back at Rae.
“So, I need a favor.” Rae shifted nervously on her feet and cocked her head.
I arched one eyebrow slowly and continued to wait. I liked her asking for things, and based on the way she licked her lips and looked up at me through her lashes, she remembered that fact in vivid detail.
“I bought something big and need help getting it back to Blue Star. Can you… or the guys help?”
A few minutes ago, I would have said no. But her reaction to my touch had put me in a far more helpful mood. Plus, it was literally my job.
“As long as it’s not a donkey.” Two of Satan’s minions at the ranch were enough. One bit me and one kicked me when I dewormed them the other day.
Her sweet laugh made anything she wanted worth it. I didn’t care how big of a pain in my ass this task turned out to be—for her, I’d even bend the two donkey rule.
“It’s a twenty-foot-wide chandelier for the dancehall.”
I nodded. “Leroy, you and Jameson good?”
“Yeah, boss.” He nodded to the ladies and went to help a customer across the booth who was reading wine labels and looking confused.
“It’s at The Enclave.” She told me this like I knew the shops here by name. Trust me, I didn’t. The booths came and went, changing hands from year to year and even month to month.
“Past the tie-dye hippies in the row of big fancy booths.” Lara filled in the blanks for me.
“Okay, let’s go.” I took Rae’s hand and tucked it in the crook of my elbow like I was escorting her to the prom. Her hand rested on my arm, and there was no way I was letting her go unless she pulled away.
Lara led the way through the fest to the correct booth. As we walked, neither of us said anything, but Rae kept close to my side. Our hips brushed, and I enjoyed an occasional whiff of roses as we walked. My stride adjusted to hers naturally, and despite our height difference, we easily kept pace together. Oddly, I took it as a good omen for our future. We were so effortlessly in sync, the rest had to work out.
The pheromones or whatever she exuded that attracted me must have multiplied overnight, because I fought the urge to shove her up against the closest booth and kiss her senseless every step of the way. An intense vision of pushing my hands under her denim skirt and grabbing her ass had me wishing for looser jeans as we arrived at the chandelier shop.
The Enclave had to be one of the nicest booths here. It might have been built by an actual contractor—amazing. Real windows and doors, marble floors, and AC. A long way from the candlemaker that had a booth made of salvaged pallets and bungee cords across from Blue Star.
“Oh, you’re back.” A punk kid with purple hair slouched over a desk in the corner. “I guess you’re the muscle?”
I looked between Rae and Lara, not sure how to answer the question without offending either the kid, myself, or the ladies. The Austin people who trickled into Elmer were weird.
“Randy, this is Atley. He manages Blue Star, and yes, he’s going to help with the light fixture.” Lara curled her lips over her teeth to keep her laughter at bay.
“I lowered it while you all were gone,” Randy explained, like he’d done us a favor.
We all walked into the next room and right into the chandelier that hung only a few feet above the floor. I’d thought Rae was exaggerating when she said twenty feet. She wasn’t. It was also twelve or more feet tall. It had hung over a gigantic table that now stood on its edge against the far wall to make room for the lowered fixture.
“Randy, thank you. This is great.” Rae stepped up and touched one of the iron cattle brands hanging off the light fixture. It clanged against its neighbor.
“Mom said I needed to make this happen today. Something about the new owner of Blue Star being important. So…” He shrugged.
“How’d they get it in here?” Lara spun, looking at the narrow doors compared to the chandelier.
“No clue. I was in middle school when she hung it up.” Randy pulled out his phone and started scrolling.
Rae and Lara looked at me. Nothing I liked better than a problem to solve. With my handy multi-tool unclipped from my belt, I moved to inspect the frame.
