Page 58 of Crushes and Confections

“I’ve been working over at Claire’s on the days I want to get out of my office,” Vance said, looking over fondly at me. “But I will definitely take one of those new releases and whatever Claire ordered.”

Natalie bobbed her head excitedly, turning behind her and plucking a book from the display shelf behind her before snagging my book off a different one.

“I forgot to say congrats on your courting! Everyone is super excited for you all, including me,” she said, with a grin, setting the titles down on the counter. “Sorry I missed the ceremony.”

I saw the moment Vance saw what I’d requested, his eyebrows raising in surprise and his cheeks pinkening ever so slightly. Okay, maybe I was imagining things, but he did look a little sheepish.

“That’s what you ordered?”

“Yep,” I said proudly. “The author happens to be really important to me so I’ve decided to read all of his works.”

“Oh my god,” Natalie gasped. “You’re the Vance Laveaux? How did I not know that?! Okay, excuse me while I fangirl here, but would you be open to doing a signing? And I don’t say that just for my own collection. We have quite a few locals in this town that love your novels too.”

“Um yeah,” Vance said with a nod. “We can work something out.”

“Eeek, best night ever!” Natalie said happily. “I don’t want to interrupt the serious courting that is going on here, so I won’t talk your ear off now, but drop by when you’re free. Consider these two on the house as a thank you!”

Natalie, wrapped both books in lilac tissue paper before dropping them into the bag and handing them our way. For a moment I waited to see if she had anything special to give us, but alas, no such luck.

Still, I was very excited to read Vance’s work.

Natalie shot me a huge thumbs up when Vance wasn’t looking, fanning herself with her other hand.

“Where to next?” Vance asked as we stepped outside.

“Would you be offended if I said home?” I asked. “I know it’s still early…”

“But you want to spend time with them too?” Vance mused.

“I’ve had a blast with you tonight, I don’t want you to think that I haven’t,” I rushed out. “I kind of would just rather curl up on your lap then walk all over town, and I wouldn’t mind if our boys were there too.”

The damn dimples appeared on Vance’s cheeks again as he grinned.

“I don’t think that at all, Peach,” he promised. “What I do think is that we’re on the same page about wanting some full pack and quality time. Maybe the two of them will be back early, if not I’m sure we can find something to get up to until they do.”

It was only when we were driving back to Vance and Adrien’s place that I had realized I had called it home, and he hadn’t even questioned it.

When we pulled up to the house and saw Riley’s truck there, I almost laughed. They were standing on the porch with coats on like they’d just arrived. The way their faces lit up as we approached had my chest warming. It was nice having not just one person, but three, who got excited at the mere sight of you.

“You missed us too, didn’t you?” Riley accused as he pulled me into a hug.

“I did,” I admitted without hesitation. “We’ve been all around town looking for our next courting item, and as much as I love spending time with Vance, I missed you and Adrien too.”

“Any luck?” Adrien asked. I narrowed my eyes at his tone, he seemed a bit too casual in how he spoke.

“Can we go inside first, it’s too cold out here,” Vance urged as he bounced from foot to foot. A cold spell had blown in as the evening wore on and he was over it.

“Oh, we can have a fire tonight,” Riley suggested.

“Of course,” Vance agreed as he pulled the beta into a greeting of their own before heading right for the fireplace.

“I think he would have done one anyway,” I laughed at the alpha’s eagerness.

“Vance is always cold,” Adrien said with a small laugh. “Just wait until you get to feel his cold feet in the middle of the night. That’s what nightmares are made of.”

“Speaking of the night,” I said, drawing their attention. There’d been something I meant to bring up recently, and this just felt like the right time.

Vance finished lighting the start log before grabbing a throw blanket. I’d settled on the couch between Adrien and Riley and he draped it over us before taking the empty armchair with his own blanket. Damn it, I wanted to cuddle in Vance’s lap and snuggle into him. Maybe he could come sit where I was on the couch, and I could just lay over all of them at once.

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