Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“He’s a lot of fun,” she says with a grin. “And he takes requests.”
“He and your mom sing together?”
“Sure. They used to be in a band together, long before Nash was famous, but then Mom went to nursing school, and Leo went off to be rich and famous. They grew up as siblings. They were in foster homes together.”
I tip my head, listening raptly. “That’s fascinating.”
“We have all kinds of interesting stories in our family.” She laughs and pushes her hand through her hair. “Okay, I’ll get that list to you, but there isn’t much left to do. Oh, and I went ahead and hired Charlie Lexington.”
I quirk a brow at that. “Really? How did you manage that?”
“I told Remington and your father to get over themselves and to let me have this so I didn’t go insane, and they stopped grumbling about it.”
I laugh and reach over to pat her on the shoulder. “You’re good for this family.”
“Damn right, I am. Now, tell me, how are things with Summer? It’s all over town that you two went on a date.”
“Yeah, two weeks ago.” I rub the back of my neck as I scowl. I haven’t seen in her two fucking weeks, and it’s driving me nuts. “We’ve been too busy to see each other since. I’ve been working a lot of night shifts and helping out here at the ranch, and life is crazy, you know?”
“Did the date not go well?” Erin frowns at me.
“It was great. I’m crazy about her. I’ve been sending her lunch every day. All the delivery kids in town are going to college on what I tip them.”
“You send her lunch?” Her face goes all gooey. “That’s so romantic.”
“It would be more romantic if I could just see her myself.”
“I’m sorry. I know part of that is because you’ve been doing so much work for the wedding. What time is she done at the shop today?”
I check the time. “In about an hour, I’d say, give or take.”
“You need to get out of here and go spoil her tonight. If she’s been as slammed as you say, then she’s likely exhausted and could use some pampering.”
With a frown, I push my hands into my pockets. “How, exactly, do I go about that?”
“Cook her dinner, or order in, and put her in a hot bath. Rub her feet. Snuggle with her. Be nice to her, Chase. You’re good at that.”
“I don’t have anything—”
“I swear, I have to do everything around here.” Erin rolls her eyes and takes my hand and drags me into the house behind her. She grabs a basket out of the mudroom and then scurries through the house, filling it up. A jar of sauce and noodles go in the basket. “Make her spaghetti. It’s easy and delicious. I even have some French bread you can take.”
After the kitchen, we climb the stairs to the main suite and through to the bathroom.
“Here are Epsom salts for a hot bath. Bubbles are romantic, but these salts will help with sore muscles. It’ll feel better, and they don’t cause…girl trouble.”
“Girl trouble?”
“Trust me on this,” she says, shaking her head. “I’m tossing in some really nice lotion for her feet and hands. You can rub her back, too, but don’t do that just to lead to sex.”
“I—”
“Men do that all the time and think we don’t know what they’re up to. Trust me, we know. Rub her feet and hands, put on her favorite movie to watch, and snuggle with her or talk with her. Or, if she doesn’t want to talk, just relax. You know, pamper the woman.”
“I really like this idea.” I grin at Erin as she passes me the basket.
“So will she.”
On my way back to town, I call Summer at the flower shop.
“This is Summer,” she says when she picks up.
“Hey, it’s Chase. Remember me?”
“Are you the tall, dark, and handsome guy that I went out to dinner with a few weeks ago?”
“That’s me.”
“It’s coming back to me.” I can hear the smile in her voice. “What are you up to?”
“Well, I’m wondering when you’re getting off work.”
“I’m just finishing up here, actually. Why? What’s up?”
“Would you and Lily like to meet me at my house for the evening? As you pointed out, I haven’t seen you in way too long, and we need to rectify that. Lily’s welcome at my place.”
“We’d like that. When should we get there?”
“You can come straight over after work.”
“Great, we’ll see you soon.”
More than satisfied with the way this evening is shaping up, I get home, run upstairs for a quick shower to clean off the sawdust, and then pull on some jeans and a Fall Out Boy T-shirt. The doorbell rings as I’m walking downstairs.
She has perfect timing.
“Hey,” I say with a grin when I open the door and see Summer, along with Lily on a pink leash, standing on the porch. She’s holding a tote bag full of Lily’s things. “You are a sight for sore eyes.”