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Only then did his hand fall from my lips so he could capture them with his. Both arms wrapped around me and squeezed, the kiss bruising.
That kiss didn’t end until the spinner stopped, and with secret smiles on our faces, we set ourselves to rights.
“Wash your hands,” I said with a laugh, pushing him in the direction of the sink. “We’ve already violated the health code once today.”
“Worth the fine.”
“I’ll send you the bill if we get busted.”
Side by side at a big stainless sink, we washed our hands.
“What are you doing tonight?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound clingy.
Something in him closed when he answered, “I have a dinner thing.” But he brightened back up when he shot me a smirk. “Call you after?”
“All right.”
“Might be late.”
“I can wait.”
He leaned over and kissed my temple, but that uneasy feeling didn’t quite go away.
“So what kind of dinner thing?”
“Just a work meeting, nothing big. But it’s in Austin. Don’t wait up if it’s too late, okay?”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” I bumped him with my hip.
He was quiet for a second while we dried our hands. “Are you sure you’re okay with people knowing about us?”
I frowned at him. “Your continued questioning is starting to make me wonder if it’s you who doesn’t want people to know about us.”
“I don’t mind at all, but my feelings about it don’t matter.”
“Sure they do. Why wouldn’t they?”
“Because I don’t live here. These aren’t my people—they’re yours.”
I considered that as we moved over to the spinner, where I worked on setting up a bucket and strainer beneath the tap.
“I know how the rumor mill here works—hell, we practically power the thing. People are already talking about us, and they have been since you came with me to Wyatt’s to save those bees. They think we’ve been hittin’ it all this time. Why bother trying to hide it? The most vicious rumors are the ones that are assumed. By tomorrow morning, the whole town will know, thus absolving me.”
“Interesting logic.”
“They’ll still embellish, but I’ve learned time and again that there’s no way to keep a secret in this town. Every human in the city limits knows Blums don’t date, so I figure they’ll either blab about me breaking the code or they’ll call me a whore.”
“And you don’t mind being called a whore?”
“Not when it comes out of the mouths of assholes like Marjorie Flint and her toadies, all high and mighty, toting her Bible around to whack people with. And she’s one to talk—she cheated on her husband with his brother, divorced her husband, married the brother. But I’ll guarantee she’s already calling me a whore to any ear she can get ahold of.”
“She sounds like a delight.”
“The jewel of Lindenbach, revered by all. Anyway, unless you have some reason to be sneaky, I’m not so worried about it that I’m willing to work to keep it a secret.”
“I was more worried about you than myself.”
I clutched my hands to my chest. “My hero.”
With a chuckle, he slapped my ass and turned to the spinner. “Let me guess—turn the tap and filter the honey?”
“You’re a natural.” I did just that while explaining. “There’s plenty of wax still in the honey from uncapping the honeycomb, so it’ll run through this sieve, which will get the big stuff out. Then we’ll seal it for a couple days to let it settle, and when it’s finished, we just skim any wax off the top and bottle the rest.”
“So we’re going to sit here for two days while it settles? Whatever will we do with all that time?” He grabbed me around the waist, and I giggled. He actually had me giggling.
“I’ve got some settled containers up at the house, Romeo. We can bottle there.”
“Damn.” He laid a hot little kiss on me before letting me go. “Lead on.”
So I did. We hopped in a golf cart and zipped to the house. It was a windy day—my hair was getting whipped around even at the whopping ten miles an hour we were cruising at—and I could smell change in the air. Maybe we’d get a cool front or maybe it’d rain. Or maybe it was some bigger intuition. Maybe it was Grant, who smiled at me and tucked a wild strand of hair behind my ear only for it to fly loose again.
Maybe it was a good change coming.
Or maybe it was another sort of storm altogether.
When we stopped at the back of the house, he climbed out. “Come with me somewhere. Next week, Wednesday.”
“You assume I don’t have plans.”
“Do you?”
“No, but that’s not the point.”
A chuckle. “Come with me after your chores that day.”
“Where?” I asked.
“It’s a secret.”
My eyes narrowed at him as I opened the kitchen door. “Suspicious.”
“What, a guy can’t surprise the girl he’s fucking?”
