Page 61 of Flirty Fall Fling

He slides the phone into his pocket without looking at it. “Don’t remind me.”

“Also, The Addams Family theme song? Really, Jamie?”

“It’s genuinely my favorite.” He grins. “It’s one of the reasons I was so shocked you showed up. It’s like⁠—”

“Come on. Josie’s getting dressed, which gives us around five minutes.” I crack the library door, check the hall, and wave him out. “Right out the back.”

We make it exactly halfway down the hallway before I hear footsteps on the stairs.

I yank open the closet door, shove the two-hundred-pound ex-hockey player in with the winter coats, and join him. Winter starts singing Britney Spears’s “Baby One More Time.”

I’m pressed against his chest with my face in his collar. One of Flora’s furs is resting on my shoulder. The space smells of cedar, mothballs, and him. His heart is thumping hard. When I tip my head back, there’s just enough light through the door gap to see him grinning.

Winter’s footsteps go past us into the kitchen. A cabinet opens and closes, and then the faucet runs.

Jamie shifts his weight a centimeter, and a coat hanger sings out one bright jingle, and we both freeze. He has me caged into the coats, and he’s holding back laughter, and it’s contagious.

He dips his head, mouth at my ear, barely a breath. “Best morning of my life.”

I pinch his ribs, and he squirms.

Then, under the door, there’s a shadow and then a paw. Charlie’s arm comes swiping through the gap, patting around like a tiny bailiff serving a warrant.

“Charlie.” Winter clicks her tongue from the kitchen doorway. “What are you doing?”

He meows, continuing to paw under the door. I touch him with my toes, and he meows with his entire chest.

“Fucker,” I whisper.

The floor creaks, and footsteps pound on the hardwood floor. Charlie meows again like he’s being paid to rat us out.

Josie’s voice travels down the stairwell. “Winter! I have an emergency! Does this outfit say cute festival local or trying-too-hard tourist?”

It’s music to my damn ears. Charlie’s paw disappears.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Winter calls.

The kettle screams its high whistle, and their voices fade. I crack open the door and pull him out of the closet, pushing the coats back inside.

Mrs. Pembrooke from two doors down is on the sidewalk with her yappy little terrier at the corner.

“Shit.”

“It will be fine,” he says, stealing another kiss. “Can’t wait to see you tonight. High Spirits. Be there at nine.”

He leaves the house. I watch him stroll down the sidewalk, sliding his jacket over his body. When he passes her, he confidently grins and speaks. “Morning, ma’am. Beautiful day.”

“Isn’t it just gorgeous?” she says, delighted, and keeps walking.

He glances back at me once, then disappears around the corner. I shut the door and lean my forehead against it until my heart quits racing.

Charlie pads up behind me.

“You’re such a turd,” I tell him. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

He rubs around my legs. I bend down and pet him. Then I rush upstairs to shower, then get dressed for the day.

I make it to the shop thirty minutes before it opens. Winter is already inside, getting ready for the shift. Right after we open, Josie enters with a full funnel cake in one hand and a pie contest application in the other, which she fills out between customers. I ring up crystals and bundled herbs and think about tonight.