Page 23 of With This Wish

Billie winces. “Sorry. Was I not supposed to say anything?”

I wave off her concern. No reason to make her feel bad when there’s nothing we can do about it now. “No, its fine,” I tell her before turning to Maya. “It’s what we talked about last night. I’m working on something, but it’s not a sure thing.”

“Not yet,” Billie chimes in, a smirk on her face. “Now that I am here to add a little razzle-dazzle to your presentation, your chances of success just increased exponentially.”

I bark a laugh. “Wow. You are either severely underestimating my abilities or insanely overestimating your own. Either way, I’ll take the help.” I won’t have a ton of time today to work with her, but you can be damn certain I will use every tool at my disposal if it means the chances of me staying with Maya and JJ increase.

“Good.” Billie looks around the shop, rubbing her hands together in a comic book evil villain fashion. “Now, where is my nephew? I have two years of tickling and cheek pinching to make up for.”

Maya looks at her remorsefully, her eyes flicking to me as well. “I’m sorry,” she tells us apologetically. “Our Aunt Sue came by earlier today and picked him up. She hasn’t had much time with him this visit, and since I have a few things I need to catch up on and Carter is busy working on a big project, I figured it was as good a time as any for the two of them to hang out.” She smiles sadly at me. “I’m sorry, I should have texted.”

“No worries,” I tell her, sliding her drink and the bag over. “The muffin is yours now.” While I’ll miss time with my boy, it’s probably good for me to get used to sharing him with others. How could anyone not want to hang out with such an incredible kid?

Speaking of which, as I look over at Billie, I can see she’s looking slightly deflated. “Okay,” she says sadly. The expression on her face closely resembles one she would have when she was little and would pout to get her way. “I guess I can wait a little longer.” My gaze flicks to Maya and we share a smile, but a low whistle next to me pulls my attention back to Billie who is staring wide-eyed at Carter as he walks into the back of the store. Despite the fact it’s forty degrees outside, his hair is dark and his white t-shirt clings to his body from sweat. Whatever project he’s working on, it must be a doozey because he looks exhausted. “Well, hello…”

Carter heads right into the office and comes back out moments later chugging water from a bottle. When he’s done, he nods a greeting to me before his gaze wanders over to Billie. “Oh, it’s you,” he says, not unpleasantly.

Billie preens under his gaze. “That memorable, am I?” she asks. She smiles brightly and reaches her hand across the counter. “We didn’t get to formally meet last week. I’m Billie, friend of Jake’s and big fan of yours.”

Carter shakes her hand as he narrows his eyes at her. “Big fan? Have we met before? I mean, other than last week.” He tilts his head to the side. “I don’t think I would forget someone like you.” His eyes widening tells me the admission was a slip-up on his part, as does the deepening blush on his cheeks.

Billie twists her body, tilting her head to the side and fluttering her eyelashes in a move I recognize as flirting, and I make a mental note to warn her away from Cater. Billie isn’t one for commitment and the last thing I need is for her to make things messy with Maya’s brother. “No, we haven’t met, but I’ve been following your work,” she tells him, giving him an obvious once-over. “You may remember me from such social media comments as ‘lose the flannel’ and ‘show us the goods.’”

Carter drops her hand and steps back, his already flushed cheeks becoming more so. “Oh, I see,” he says, sounding slightly disappointed. “I would apologize for blocking you, but I don’t really enjoy being teased.” He clears his throat, looking uncomfortable as Maya rubs his back for a moment.

Billie chuckles lightly. “Oh, while I can most certainly be a tease, I meant every word I typed,” she tells him. She shoots another flirty glance his way and leans closer to him. “There’s a market out there for women who would love to see a little shirtless woodworking action, and I am one of them. If you need someone to take the pictures, or better yet, some video, do let me know. I have a Ring Light and a very vivid imagination.”

“Billie,” I warn. She doesn’t bother looking at me as she waves me off with a flick of her wrist.

“I’ll, uh, keep that in mind,” Carter says, coughing into his fist. He cheeks are still red, but I don’t think it’s from the exertion of his work out in the shed.

“Please do,” Billie tells him with a wink. She soon shifts back to her slightly pouty face and blinks up at him. “In the meantime, do you think you could unblock me? I really am a fan of the stuff you make.”

Carter nods thoughtfully before nodding his head to the back of the store. “Do you, um, maybe want to see what I’m working on right now?”

Billie’s eyes widen and the flirty act drops. She smiles genuinely over at Carter, not using one of the phony smiles she sometimes plasters on for just about everyone else in the world. “Hell, yes, I would.” She shoves her purse at me to hold and the two of them walk out the back and over to Carter’s workshop.

With a heavy sigh, I turn to Maya and grimace. “I’ll try to reign her in a little when it comes to him.” Billie is a man-eater and the last thing I need is one more complication in the form of her chewing Carter up only to spit him out. “She can be a bit much.”

Maya snorts, a smile on her face. “Oh, please don’t,” she says with a chuckle. “Let her have all the fun she wants. If we’re lucky, Carter will have a little too. Lord knows he needs it.”

Wanting no more talk of my friend or her brother, I tuck a finger under her chin and lift her face toward mine. “And what do you need, Beautiful?” I ask, loving the way her expression goes soft when she looks at me. “Name it and I’ll give it to you.” I have a lot of time to make up for, and I plan on giving her the world.

“I just need you,” she says. Bracing herself on the counter, she leans over and lightly brushes her lips against mine. With the counter between us, there’s not much we can do beyond a few gentle kisses, but that’s okay. I plan on saving up for later anyway. When Maya leans back, her eyes looked dazed, reflecting how I feel inside. I don’t have a way with words, but her kisses have me wanting to spout poetry about love and beauty and happily ever after.

Making my way around the counter, I pull her into my arms to show her a little more of the poetry I’m feeling when Billie comes back into the store, shaking her head in frustration. Maya tries to step back, but I pull her close and tuck her into my side where she belongs. She may not feel confident enough to be as public about us as I am, but she will be soon. “Jeez, you turn on one table saw and the man kicks you out,” she fumes, one hand propped on her hip. “I was just trying to see how it worked.”

Maya makes a yikes expression and shrugs a shoulder. “Yeah. Carter has always been good about safety in the workshop, but he’s gotten even more vigilant since…” she trails off. There’s no need for her to say the words aloud for me to know she means since they lost her parents. “He won’t let JJ anywhere near there, which I appreciate because I kind of like our little boy having all his fingers and toes.”

“Me too,” I say. My arm pulls her closer to kiss the top of her head and hopefully provide a little comfort for any sadness thinking about her parents might have brought up.

“Aww,” Billie says, a wistful smile on her face. “You guys are cute.”

I smile at the compliment and the bashful look on Maya’s face. “We are.” I lean down and give Maya one last kiss on the temple. “Since you have work to catch up on and Billie here showed up out of nowhere,” I explain, glaring at my best friend. There’s no malice in it, but a heads up from her would have been nice. “Why don’t we work somewhere else today and I’ll see you later for our date?”

“Really?” Maya asks, looking a little down. “I’m sure I can still concentrate while you two work on your plan.” Seeing her disappointed expression has me wanting to change my mind, but even after those few kisses, she’s not the one I’m really worried about staying on task.

“I appreciate the offer to stay,” I tell her. Stepping back, I look her up and down before looking pointedly at her face. “But I don’t think I’d be able to concentrate.”

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