Page 45 of The Undercover Billionaire's Baby

“Damn right you would.” Chester winked at me. “Cathy’s a fine baker, and I’m all right myself, but Dora’s peach pie’s in a class all its own.”

Heading back up the beach, we ran into Joyce from the library. She was out jogging, and she bounced up to greet us.

“I blame you for all this,” she said, gesturing at her tracksuit. “I never jogged a day till you did that fun run, and it did look like fun, everyone getting in shape. So I joined Orla’s jogging group, and now I can’t quit. I’m jogging everywhere, jogging to work. Jogging to the corner store to grab my TV snacks!”

“Well, you look great,” said Lana.

“Thanks. So do you.” Joyce cocked her head, taking her in. “No, really, you do. You look fantastic. It’s so good to see you with a smile on your face.”

Joyce ran off. Lana watched her, and I watched Lana. She really was glowing, full of purpose and life. Tomorrow, I’d tell her. Tomorrow, first thing.

I’d made Lana breakfast to go with my speech — French toast with syrup, just how she liked it. But she came out frowning, glued to her phone, and strode straight past the table toward the back door.

“Hey, Lana, wait!”

She stopped. “Oh, hey Brad!”

I gestured at her phone. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just Alice. Her mom sprained her ankle. They’re still at the hospital, so she can’t come to work. And today was?—”

“Oh, right. You’re restocking the shelves.”

Lana blew out a frustrated breath. “It’s fine. It’s just, the grand opening’s next week. We’ve got so much new inventory thanks to the fun run, and it all needs to be shelved and keyed into the system. It’s a two-person job, but?—”

“Hey, we’re two people.” I took her hands and held them, and stroked her palms with my thumbs. That always calmed her, a simple kind touch. It worked this time too, and I felt her relax.

“Are you sure you don’t mind? You didn’t have plans today?”

I stifled a grimace — I’d had one plan. But Lana needed me now, and she didn’t need drama. The truth could wait one more day, while we shelved her books.

We made a good team setting the shop to rights, Lana on the computer, me on the shelves. She’d enter a product code, then I’d grab the books, and she’d tell me where to shelve them, and I’d pile them up. When a pile got big enough, I’d arrange it all pretty, placing the bestsellers with their covers turned out.

After lunch, Lana set to work reshelving her old stock, and I got creative with the window displays. I found a pair of romance books with opposing covers, a woman on one and a man on the other, each with a hand outstretched to some unseen partner. I placed two long lines of them like a hall of mirrors, so it looked like they were reaching forever for each other, never quite touching across the display. I topped off my artistry with some roses from the garden, and Lana caught sight of them and burst out laughing.

I grinned. “Too cheesy?”

“So much cheese. But, remember stuffed-crust pizza? Or those two-layer pizzas with the cheese in between?” She added another rose, right in the middle. “People love cheese. The more cheese, the better.”

We had pizza for dinner (with extra cheese), then we worked through the evening and into the night. I was fixing some streamers to a hook on the ceiling when I glanced down and saw Lana peering back up at me.

“What? Am I crooked?”

“No, it looks great.” Her cheeks had gone pink. “I was just thinking…”

“Yeah?”

“You remind me of Christmas. Of hanging the mistletoe. I was just considering stealing a kiss.”

I winked. “You can’t steal what’s freely given.” Then I leaned down and kissed her, and… tomorrow, for sure. Tomorrow, I’d tell her. She’d understand, right?

The next day, I woke up to find Lana baking, the smell of banana bread sweet in the air. She smacked my hand when I made a play for the first loaf, then she turned so red her freckles disappeared.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to hit you. It’s just, that’s for Alice’s mom.”

“Oh. How’s she doing?” I backed off, shamefaced.

“Pretty sore, but she’s resting. And she’s got her TV. I want to drop by with this before her soaps start.”

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