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Good question. “Thinking about it.” He pulled Frances McKenna’s card from his pocket and placed it on the desk. “Starting with this.”
Chapter 4
LEIGH
Closing time,at last. It hadn’t been busier than any other early-summer Saturday, but Leigh was down several hours in the sleep department, thanks to Sam. Thanksvery muchto Sam.
She couldn’t live this way in her day-to-day reality. Not with the constant juggling of business and parenthood, but she could hack the fatigue for a couple of nights. And on that note, she had work to accomplish before her dinner date.
At least she didn’t have to squeeze in any baking tonight. All the orders had been picked up and the new ones that’d come in today weren’t due until the middle of the week at the earliest.
Normally, this kind of reprieve warranted unwinding with a DVD and a big glass of wine, usually with Lennox sharing the sofa. Having a ten-year-old daughter meant never having to make excuses for watching princess movies. Because really, there was no limit to the amount of times Leigh could watchEnchanted. The music, the handsome suitors, that incredible scene where they dance and Robert sings into Giselle’s ear…gah, so romantic.
Leigh’s cell rumbled in her back pocket. An incoming text notification, but at the moment, the tone seemed to be notifying her to step out of dreamland and get shit done.
She swiped to open the text from Tim—a simple update on the weekend activities and general itinerary for the week ahead. A friendly, courteous, responsible message. Nothing romantic about it, nor should there be at this point.
Even when she and Tim had tried to be more than best friends and co-parents, there’d never been any grand romantic gestures. The same went for the few short-term boyfriends and occasional casual dates that’d come and gone over the years.
Maybe she expected too much. All those happily-ever-after princess movies had set the bar pretty damn high for real-life men.
Leigh flipped the sign on the door. The floors needed washing and the counters required wiping before she could head out. Yet the best she could do at the moment was stand in the middle of her shop, leaning on the mop and sighing. She had the deep, resigned sighing thing perfected to an art.
Another chime sounded in her pocket. Probably a picture coming in—she’d asked Tim to text one of Lennox holding the fish they’d caught earlier. No amount of busy prevented Leigh from missing her girl, from wanting to be included in every single minute of Lennox’s life.
Leigh swiped her finger across the screen and re-entered her code. A bubble with the number one waited on the corner of the messages icon. She tapped it. Not a text from Tim. This one was from Sam.
Hey, Cinderella.
His timing couldn’t be more perfect.
She didn’t turn to face the storefront, but God, the pull to do so was crazy strong. To see the smile that would undoubtedly be in place on his handsome face. The twinkle in his eyes.
She tucked the mop handle under her arm and tapped in a reply.
Prince Charming… Are you here to take me to the ball?
Princess, I’ll take you anywhere you want. And I guarantee there will be balls involved.
A laugh burst from her lips. Thank goodness she had a solid hold on the cell, or she might’ve dropped it into the bucket. Her thumbs hovered over the letters, but another message popped onto the screen before she could reply.
Turn around. I want to see that gorgeous smile.
Now she really had to mop the floor, because she’d melted into a pile of goo, right there on the spot. She stuffed the phone in her back pocket and turned, her heart flip-flopping like a schoolgirl with a crush. She pushed the cleaning supplies to the corner, then moved toward the entrance.
Sam tracked her every step of the way, his openly appreciative gaze sending a bubbly kind of tingle through her, top to bottom. The deadbolt clicked beneath her palm. Sam didn’t wait. He pushed the door open, then closed and locked it without looking away from her for a second.
“You were in my head. All day.” His warm, strong arms folded around her, hauled her tight to his body as he walked them deeper into the store. “I kept thinking about what I want to do with you tonight.”
“Bake more cookies?”
“If you have orders that need doing, then yeah.”
She shook her head more enthusiastically than necessary. “I don’t.”
“Good.” Effortlessly, he lifted her. Oh, so sinfully, he smiled. “Because I have other plans for us.”
“I like the sound of that.” Let him think she meant the plans. She’d savor thefor usprivately.
