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“Hi!” Audrey had a flush on her cheeks that was either there because she’d been getting so much sun from being outdoors on the back of a bike, or it was from rolling in the sheets. Viv hoped it was a combination of both. “How are things going?”
“The shop burned down and we lost everything,” Viv explained matter-of-factly.
“Don’t say things like that!”
When it came to the shop it was so easy to get a reaction out of Aud, Viv couldn’t help herself.
“Everything is great. Sales are up this week three percent from last year. And Manny’s newest concoction is a big hit. How is the pre-wedding honeymoon going?”
Audrey’s face split into a wide smile. “Good. It just feels so strange not to be working.”
Viv worked hard and partied harder. Audrey worked hard and worked even harder. She’d had a part-time job all through high school and college and since they’d opened Brewed eight years ago, she hadn’t taken more than a single day off. Her sister deserved a little party hard in her life.
“Are you going out?” Audrey tilted her chin up and her eyes dropped as if she was attempting to see what Viv was wearing.
“I am.” Viv scanned the phone down her body and back up again to her face.
“Wow! You look gorgeous. Make sure that someone knows where you’re going and who you’re going to meet.”
Audrey always worried when Viv online dated. She’d made it a rule that Viv had to tell her who she was seeing and where she was going. “I’m going to the Cove and meeting Dr. Fine.”
“Not me! I’m not there if anything happens. Make sure Grace or Ava knows.”
“I’ll make sure someone knows,” she promised. “Gotta go! Say hi to Josh’s penis for me.”
“Viv!” Audrey looked appropriately horrified.
It was so hard to shock Audrey, who was used to Viv’s outrageous comments, so when she did, it was a source of pride.
“Love you, bye!” Viv waved at her sister.
“Love you,” Aud sighed as she shook her head as the call disconnected.
Viv had promised her sister she’d tell someone, but she was intentionally vague on who that someone might be.
* * *
Glenn walked down the driveway and shouted. “Stay where I can see you!”
He knew that this wasn’t the city, but he was still an overprotective dad. He always would be. It took one second. One second of his baby being out of his sight and anything could happen to her.
“Okay, Dad.” Bree gave him a thumbs-up as she rode her bike in the designated area.
As he stood in the driveway watching his six-going-on-sixteen-year-old, his mind drifted back to the same place it did every time he wasn’t actively trying not to let it.
Vivien Wells.
She was full of surprises. He, and most of the other parents at the library, had been really impressed by her. She’d been so good with the kids. He’d seen so many adults, especially those who didn’t have kids of their own, talk to kids like they were babies, or not able to understand things. It had always irritated him when people did that with Bree. When they spoke in a higher pitch tone and really slowly.
Viv had spoken to the kids that she was reading to like the small humans that they were. She didn’t talk down to them or oversimplify things. Not only that she also commanded the crowd, which from what Adriana had told him was a lot harder than it might seem. And she’d done it looking smoking hot.
He glanced at her house and wondered what she was doing inside. He’d been doing his best to avoid her for the past few days because every second he spent around her made him want more. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. All day, all night his thoughts were on her.
He couldn’t escape her.
The other day Mambo No. 5 was playing in the grocery store and he couldn’t get the damn thing out of his head. He’d mentioned it to his brother and Gabe told him that was called an earworm.
That’s what Vivien Wells was. She was a sexy earworm on steroids.
