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She heard a distant echo of Julian groaning her name. “Great,” she responded throatily. “It was great. Listen . . . has Julian jogged past the shop yet?”
“Yes, ma’am. He was early today, actually.” Someone ordered a box of assorted donuts. “Coming right up,” Lavinia said, before dropping her voice. “Your man ran past the window shirtless at eleven fifteen. I remember the exact time, because that was the moment I forgot my wedding vows. Pretended to adjust the angle of the specials board on the sidewalk, but really I was watching the professor’s sweaty back muscles flex in the sunshine. There’s no reason you should have all the fun.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” She paused in the middle of her pacing. “He was . . . shirtless?”
“Utterly. Beautifully. That will be thirteen fifty.”
“You ogled my boyfriend, and I’m supposed to pay you?”
“I was talking to the customer. And who are you calling ‘boyfriend’?” Her tone grew more and more excited. “Is that official, then?”
“Well . . .”
Lavinia groaned. “Fuck sake, woman. What now?”
“I confessed everything. In a final, no-holds-barred secret admirer letter. If he went jogging almost an hour ago, he should have found it by now. In which case, I might no longer be his girlfriend. At least during the estrangement period wherein I wiggle my way back into his good graces and we all have a big laugh about this at Thanksgiving.”
“You’ve thought this through, which is unusual.”
Pacing again, Hallie pressed a palm to her churning stomach. “I deserve that.”
Her friend told the customer to have a good day. “Well, I might be able to shed some light on why your momentary boyfriend hasn’t called yet cursing you to eternal damnation.” She paused, sounding a little smug. “He took a different route.”
Hallie skidded to a stop. “What do you mean he took a different route?”
“On his run. He didn’t turn down the usual path.”
“Let me get this straight. He was shirtless and he deviated? He shirtless deviated?”
“That is correct. Which leads me to my next question . . .” In the background, a door slapped shut and Hallie heard the flicker of a lighter. “How good was the sex?”
Halle sputtered. “What?”
“Babe. I have experience in these man matters. I left London to find a husband because I had effectively exhausted the search, if you know what I mean. No stones left unturned.”
“Well, that needs to be on a T-shirt.”
“Point is,” Lavinia plowed on, undeterred, “I know a man who’s been laid and laid well when I spot one. He stirred my pheromones from two blocks away.”
“Okay, you’re planning to leave Julian’s stones unturned, right?”
“Oh, shut up. I’m a happily married woman. Just having a peek.” Hallie heard the crackle of the end of Lavinia’s cigarette as she inhaled. “Again, my point. You inspired him not only to run about town like a lion who just mated the lioness. But you inspired him to take a different path.”
Pleasure warred with distress just below Hallie’s collarbone. “But he won’t find my letter that way.”
“You’ll have to tell him in person.”
Not two seconds later, Hallie’s doorbell rang.
* * *
Of course, the dogs lost their minds.
It wasn’t very often that someone rang her doorbell. Even UPS had wised up and started dropping off packages unannounced to avoid the canine drama that ensued at the press of a button. This time, however, as the dog sirens went off around her, they were no match for the explosives going off in her belly.
Julian.
Somehow she knew Julian stood on her stoop.
She confirmed it a moment later when she looked through the peephole, getting a magnified eyeful of Adam’s apple and stubble that made her fingers twitch, her inner thighs growing ticklish at the memory of having his five o’clock shadow there.
“Julian?” she asked, unnecessarily. Stalling, perhaps, in an attempt to find out if he’d doubled back, gone his typical route, and found the letter?
“Yeah. It’s me.” He chuckled warmly, a sound that reached through the door and made her tingly. “Sorry for setting off the alarm.”
Having recognized Julian’s voice, the boys’ tone had changed from defensive to excited. Why did that make her heart swell to the size of a balloon? They liked him. She loved him.
And he definitely, definitely hadn’t found the letter.
Which meant she’d have to tell him in person. As in, right now. Before what was happening between them got any more serious. Oh man oh man oh man. Should she open with a joke? Unlocking the door, she cracked it an inch and found the most devastatingly handsome man in existence staring down at her. “Just remember that no matter what happens when you come inside, I have a lint roller.”
“Consider me warned.”
Biting her lip, she opened the door the remaining distance and stepped back, gesturing for him to come inside. He had to duck slightly to get beneath the doorframe, like a giant being welcomed into a dollhouse—and that theme continued as he stepped closer to Hallie, looking over her head and slowly scanning her cottage from left to right.
