Page 30 of Love Shots

“You’re looking really good, doll ... in case you were wondering.”

Her eyes remained hooded as she struggled to reply. “Uh ... um ... thanks.”

He reluctantly pulled back. Not touching her wasn’t an option anymore though, so he settled on taking hold of her hand instead. A compromise. He then carefully maneuvered them down the stairs and through Mickey’s, being sure to ignore the looks as they strolled out hand in hand.

“You gonna tell me where we’re going?”

“Well ... first I’m gonna feed you. I recently found out that we’re supposed to have three meals a day.” Summer snorted, and he had a feeling she was also rolling her eyes. “Then we’re going over to Moonrock. I thought I’d take you for a ride.” He glanced over at her to see one eyebrow raised and quickly realized his mistake. “Uh, horse ride. We’re going on a horse ride,” he clumsily clarified.

Shit. Smooth, Teddy.

Why were his ears hot? Damnit. The woman made him feel constantly off-kilter.

It wasn’t until they’d settled into a booth at Get Pied that he finally managed to pull himself together. He already knew what he was going to order, so it made sense to forgo menu browsing and instead drink in the sight of Summer’s face lighting up as she studied the pie list.

“This place is awesome. Until today, I never knew I needed to be able to choose from fifty different types of pie. But now I know ... there’s no turning back. I have no other choice than to try all fifty flavors.”

Teddy felt his lips twitch. “No other choice, huh?”

“Nope. How am I gonna know which one I like best if I’ve not tried all of them?”

“I see your point.” He stopped fighting his smile. “So, which one you gonna try today?”

Summer hummed for a little while, her eyes going back to the menu. “I’m trying to decide between lemon meringue, cherry, or pecan.”

Teddy didn’t get a chance to reply as their waitress arrived to ask if they were ready to order. It didn’t matter though, he’d already decided. If his woman wanted three different flavors, then that’s what she would get.

“We’ll take a slice of the lemon meringue, cherry, pecan, and apple pie, please. And I’ll get a coffee—cream, no sugar.” He glanced over at Summer. “Doll, what do you wanna drink?”

“Oh, uh, a Coke for me, please.”

As soon as the waitress was out of sight, Summer kicked him under the table. “Oh my God. Why did you do that? She’s gonna think we’re having some sort of pie-eating contest.”

“’Cause you couldn’t decide. Now you don’t have to.” He flashed her a toothy smile. “Besides, you need to make a start on those fifty, right?”

“I won’t be able to eat three slices of pie, Teddy. Well, I could ... but I won’t be able to eat them all and go riding afterwards.”

After letting out a chuckle, he reached across the table and took hold of her hand. “Don’t worry, whatever you can’t eat, we’ll box up and take home.”

They stared into each other for a moment. She was so freaking beautiful. If she let him, he would buy her pie every day. A different flavor for each day of the week. Who was he kidding? He’d do much more than buy her a slice of pie every day if she agreed to be his. He’d get her whatever the hell she wanted, whenever she wanted.

Suddenly, she drew her hand back. “Oh, I forgot. I got you something.” She started routing through her bag and pulled out a plain white box. She then proceeded to slide it across the wooden tabletop. “It’s a housewarming present.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything, doll. I haven’t even moved in yet.”

Curiosity won out. Quickly. And he tore open the cardboard box like a kid at Christmas. He pulled at the object until it was completely out, and just stared. Dumbfounded. A sudden clog of emotion filled his throat. When he didn’t say anything, Summer filled the silence.

“Uh, it’s a cuckoo clock. Like when you were little. I remember you telling me about the one your mom had that used to drive your dad crazy, and I saw this ... and, uh ... I thought that uh ... if you don’t like it, I can take it back. I got it at the gift shop down the road ... I didn’t get a gift receipt ... but I’m sure Bob won’t mind exchanging it for something else.”

Teddy finally looked up to see the concern on her pretty face. He wanted to fix that. Immediately. But the only words he seemed able to choke out were, “You remembered that?”

“I remember everything, Teddy.” Her serious expression hit him hard. Because this was serious. He was seriously gone for this woman.

“Thank you, doll. This means ... this means a hell of a whole lot. More than you know.”

He was pleased to see her shoulders sag a little. Less worried and more relaxed as she reached across the table and took hold of his hand again. Teddy looked down at her small hand interlaced with his much bigger one and smiled. This was right. She was right. And his goddamn sister was right. He’d been in love with Summer Willis a long ass time. This time though, there was no way in hell he was going to let her go.

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