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“Did I interrupt?” I asked.
Alys looked down and let out a strained laugh. “I think we’re done for the day. No power and all that. I’m more worried about what happened here.”
“Best guess? The wiring didn’t like the power surge or something.” That was the extent of my knowledge about the subject—not that we could see anything anyway. Please don’t let there be stock or structural damage. I had a building inspector coming in less than two weeks, as part of the sales process, and I needed to make sure he didn’t find anything that would keep the transaction from happening.
“Everyone all right back there?” That was Levi calling back from the front of the shop. He was the fire chief.
That was the last thing I needed—the fire department hosing down my stock. “We’re fine. Fire’s out.”
“You sure?” His voice was closer now, and a bright beam of light cut through the dissipating smoke. A moment later, he joined us. “Cute dress.” He glanced at Alys.
I stepped between him and her. “Electrical, I think. I shut the breakers off, not that it matters right now.”
“I’ll take another look. Entire block is out,” Levi said. “You sure everyone’s okay?”
“We’re fine,” Alys assured him.
After a bit more conversation around what to do next, Levi left to check on the stores that weren’t spewing smoke, and Alys headed back to Aubrey’s to change. When she got back, Adam and Deacon were with her, along with a couple of battery powered lanterns.
I thanked them profusely, then Alys, Maddox and I spent the next few hours figuring out the best way to clear out smoke without electric fans.
The best we came up with was opening every door, and hoping the wind blew it all out.
When the air cleared, I was able to assess the damage. My stock was okay, though it would take a few days to see if the smoke smell lingered in the album covers. The wall where the fire happened was toast, though. Evie came over to give me time and cost estimates.
Money-wise, it wouldn’t break me, but I muttered an audible oh thank God when she said she could fix the wiring in the next couple of days. She’d have to rip out some walls, which meant replacing the same next week, but she’d have me open again soon. “Thank you. Make it happen.”
Alys, Maddox, and I spent the next few hours cleaning up as much as we could. The street’s power came on a little after the sunset, but my store would be dark and closed for business until Evie finished. We headed home a short while later, too exhausted to spare a single thought for the competition.
Wednesday, I served as Evie’s helper with the wiring, while Alys worked and Maddox developed the prints from their photoshoot back at my house. Years ago, I’d let him convert a portion of unused space that was too big to let sit empty, but too small to be useful for much besides storage.
Running here and there and wherever I was needed let me separate my mind from the stress of the fire and its aftereffects. Because thinking about the damage made me think about if I could delay the inspector or not, and how long I should wait to tell Alys and Maddox I was leaving.
After the competition.
There. It was decided.
A little before noon, Maddox stopped by. “Leaving lunch and photos up here,” he called from the front of the store. “Dropping off the same for Alys and I’ll be back.”
“Thank you,” I shouted.
“Go look at the pics.” Evie didn’t look up from her work. “I’m almost done with this part.”
I headed out to the cash register area, to find things exactly like Maddox said. The smell of grease and fries wafted from a large paper bag, but the stack of black and white images caught my eye and refused to let me go.
The image on top was one of Alys looking like she wanted to be anywhere but in front of the camera, with her skirt fisted in her hands and her gaze pointed at the ground. I was torn between feeling her discomfort, and captivated by her. There were several more that were similar, and the protectiveness that surged inside me caught me off-guard.
When I reached one with her and Maddox, it was like a switch had been flipped in Alys’s attitude. Despite the images being still, I swore I could see them moving. They were fully-clothed, but the way they touched, the way they pressed together, radiated intimacy.
Desire spiked through me. These were hotter and more innuendo-filled than any pornography.
The end of the stack was just Alys again, and she looked so much more at ease. As sexy as she had with Maddox. Bright. Carefree.
I flipped between the three contrasting sets of images, and found myself lingering longer each time on a few of her with Maddox, and a couple with only her, smiling and flirting with the camera.
Fuck, she was captivating. Full, pouty lips. Mischief in her eyes. A playful smile…
It was too easy to fall into fantasies of pushing her onto one of those tables in the photo, or pulling her onto my lap. It didn’t matter if the room was packed, no one would see what we could get up to under those skirts. I could leave her squirming. Sighing. Biting back cries of pleasure as she—
