Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 94897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Joany replied simply, “Yes.”
“Why?” Archie demanded.
“I wanted an unadulterated view. If you were close, my verdict might be skewed by your loved-up vibes. I had to experience him undiluted. This, I have done. My takeaway, by the way, is he…is…fine.”
Archie looked to the ceiling.
As funny as this was, and as cool as it was to meet one of Archie’s crew, Jag was done with it.
“We don’t do this,” Jagger said to Archie.
She turned her attention to him. “Do what?”
“I show and you don’t come right to me and give me your mouth.”
“Oh…my…God,” Joany groaned. “He’s a bossy hot biker. That’s more than fine. So much more, I think I just came a little bit.”
Fortunately, Jagger didn’t have to respond to this since Archie walked to him, put both hands to his stomach and tipped her head back.
He dipped in and kissed her, a stroke of tongue, and that was it, seeing as she was at work and they had an audience.
“Yup, just came a little bit more,” Joany declared when he lifted his head.
“I like her,” Jag told Archie.
“That’ll fade,” Archie replied.
“Excuse me,” a new voice entered the mix.
Archie moved to his side, Jag threw an arm around her shoulders, and they both saw that a customer had approached Joany.
“Do you work here?” she asked Joany.
Joany looked down at the nametag on her cropped tee.
The tee said It’s a beautiful day to leave me alone.
Her nametag said, Hi, my name is…but didn’t have a name, though it did have a black piece of that shiny tape you could punch letters in. There just weren’t any letters.
And although the nametag declared her employment, even if it had no name, Jag read the two as Joany being someone you didn’t approach to do anything but take your money at a cash register.
The customer didn’t have this same bead.
She lifted up a lamp and asked, “Will you take ten dollars for this?”
“Oh shit,” Archie mumbled.
But before Archie could do more, Joany reached out, nabbed the price tag on the lamp, inspected it, dropped it and asked back, “Does this look like a flea market?”
“All prices are as marked,” Archie called out quickly. “Sorry, we don’t barter.”
“It doesn’t hurt to ask,” the woman said to Joany.
Joany opened her mouth.
“Joany,” Archie warned.
Joany shut her mouth.
Archie relaxed.
Joany opened her mouth again and said, “Do you haggle when you’re at Pottery Barn?”
“I don’t shop at Pottery Barn. I only do vintage. It’s about reusing. It’s about the environment,” the woman returned.
“Well, shit. Now I gotta like you,” Joany replied.
“We can hold that lamp for you at checkout if you want to keep shopping,” Archie offered.
“Cool,” the woman said to Archie, then to Joany, “I want your shirt.”
“Well, girl,” Joany started, taking the lamp from her and extending it Archie’s way without looking at her. “We happen to have these in stock. Allow me to lead the way.”
Archie moved forward to grab the lamp.
Joany took off with the customer toward the clothing section.
Archie came back to Jagger.
“I would have texted, but you were already on your way. Fabe had a situation and he had to take off. I’m down an SA and I can’t leave Joany alone to close. We lock the doors at seven. You cool to hang?”
“Absolutely,” he replied.
She grinned at him and moved.
He followed, and they hit the checkout area that was to the left of the front door.
They walked up the two steps behind it and she set the lamp on the back counter.
He pulled his ass up on it.
She then rested her back against it close enough her body was touching his knee.
From their perch, they both studied the store.
“Any trouble with the twins?” he asked.
“No,” she answered.
“Mal doing okay?”
“Far as I can tell.”
“Otherwise good day?”
“Some days, I’m lucky I own the building. Other days, I rejoice I’ll be able to upgrade my yurt when I go to Big Sur. Today’s one of those own-the-building days.”
“Sorry, baby,” he muttered. Then, “Big Sur Yurt?”
“As noted, today was slow. I did some adventure research.”
“Ah.”
“You been to Big Sur?” she asked.
“No,” he answered.
“Wanna go?”
“Will you be there?”
He looked down at her profile, watched her cheek move with her smile and she didn’t push for a further response seeing as she already had the one she wanted.
“Is this before or after Iceland?” he asked.
“This is for whenever we feel like bagging on life for a few days.”
“So, tomorrow.”
She laughed.
Then she queried, “Your day?”
“Think we licked the rust on the Bronco. May be able to make a stab at getting that fucker running next week.”
“Awesome.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “You need me to go up and start dinner?”
She looked up at him. “Are you hungry?”
“Not overly, but if you are…?”
“I’m making sweet and sour shrimp. It’s a shortcut recipe. It takes half an hour. Work for you?”
He nodded.
She turned back to the store.