Page 21 of Ten Kisses

"That's amazing," he said. "Congratulations, Molly, you deserve it."

Chapter 8

Salem

"Thank you, I'm excited," she said. "That guy just left like five minutes ago, and my heart is still beating fast from it."

"Do you like him or something?"

Salem's question made her laugh.

"No, silly. My heart's beating fast because it's a big deal that I got that restaurant thing. It was a whole ordeal this afternoon where he asked me to change the recipe three times before we settled on the right flavors to go with his dish. I felt like I was being watched by Gordon Ramsey or something. He was nice, though. He said he'd always wanted to have a hand in the chocolate production for his restaurant." She squealed. "A big part of this day is this counter, Salem. I'm looking at it right now and I just can't believe you made me this. It's more beautiful than anything I dreamed of. Thank you. It's so gorgeous. I didn't get to tell you thank you properly earlier because Kat was here, and I didn't want her to know how much you've done for me. But I do want to talk about paying you. I can't imagine what this thing's worth. It's a masterpiece."

"I'm happy you like it," he said.

"What are you doing right now?" she asked.

"Sanding. I'm in the shop, working on that mantlepiece."

"Can I come by?" she asked. "I've been making chocolate all afternoon, and I'm just getting the chance to relax and look at this counter. Thank you, Salem. Can I come by and say that in person? I was going to bring you some of this chocolate, too. I have so much from today."

"Yeah, of course. You don't owe me anything, but there's no way I'm turning down chocolate."

"I'm coming by there. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Okay, I'll be here," he said.

It was exactly twenty minutes later when Molly opened the door to his shop. Salem had lost track of time as he was working on that piece, and it felt like only five minutes since he hung up the phone with her.

He turned off his sander when he saw light stream in from the open door. He was dusty and he took off his mask and glasses and set them down as she came inside. He also turned down the music and shook out his hair.

"You were rockin'-out in here," she said.

He glanced at her with a smile. "Hang on, stay over there. I'm going to shake this sawdust off before you come over here." Salem had a practiced move for shaking the dust off of himself. He did his hair again, and then he worked downward, giving himself just the right amount of jostling and shaking to remove sawdust quickly. It clouded up around him and he stepped out of the cloud, continuing to dust himself off as he walked toward Molly.

He could have talked to her with sawdust all over him, but he was glad to have the time to collect his thoughts.

He was officially attracted to this woman. His heart pounded when he looked at her. She was walking into his workshop with those short shorts and that long mahogany hair hanging over her shoulders. She had a loose-fitting, light blue, button-down shirt. It was rolled at the sleeves and tied at the waist, and it was unbuttoned far enough for him to see that she still had on her swimsuit top. She was adorable and irresistible, and Salem had to make himself look away.

"The counter, Salem."

He looked at her when she said that, and she gave him a sincere stare. She was only a few feet away now, and so very gorgeous.

"I want to give you a thousand for it."

"What? No."

"Yes. That's not enough. I was thinking about it. I can afford to do it, especially now with this new gig. A restaurant! What you did is worth way more than a thousand, Salem. I bet the glass was five hundred by itself."

"The glass was not five hundred, and it doesn’t matter. I wanted to make you that. It's a gift. You've been helping me."

"What? All I'm doing is helping you decorate a beautiful home. That's fun. That's hardly payment, Salem."

"You brought me that," he said, pointing to the box in her hands.

She stepped forward.

He was glancing downward when he saw her little low-top Chucks take a step toward him. He looked up, meeting her eyes again.

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