Page 9 of Love You
“I have him penciled in for March. You’ve always been December, the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.” She cackled while leering lasciviously at his crotch. It made him feel dirty. The woman was almost old enough to be his grandmother.
“What about Chip, then? He hasn’t been in the calendar for a while.”
“Never again!” Rita’s expression went sour.
Back when Chip had been drinking, there’d been an incident. No one knew for sure exactly what had transpired between Rita and the Fish and Wildlife warden. But it had something to do with a bottle of Jim Beam, a bear rug, and a lewd proposition.
He could see they weren’t getting anywhere and he didn’t want to waste an hour arguing with Rita so he humored her. “All right, let me think about. We’ve got time.”
“Not much.”
The calendar came out in January. It was only June. “You can afford a day.” Or a week or month. It’s not like the calendar was high art or that Annie Leibovitz was taking the photos. Just Rita with her ancient Nikon. He and eleven other local guys, including his brothers, had been volunteer models for the last three years. But Win got the most ribbing for it, including some of the female shopkeepers tacking December up all year long. While he liked the idea of raising money for the GJVF it was, well, embarrassing—and undignified to have his junk on display across town.
“You better make up your mind while I’m still young.” She harrumphed, got back in her truck, and drove away. It was hard to believe they let someone like that be mayor.
He continued to the rental shop, wending his way through throngs of tourists who strolled along Main Street and the boardwalk, taking in the sights. There was a line outside of Oh Fudge! And the Morning Glory appeared to still be doing a brisk breakfast business, even though it was past ten. He waved across the street to his sister-in-law, Hannah, who was creating new window displays in her store, Glorious Gifts.
“Looking good,” he called, giving her a thumbs-up, and she waved back.
He credited Hannah with saving Josh. After his brother nearly lost his leg in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, Josh had returned home in a deep funk. The kind of depression you didn’t easily come out of. But Hannah had whipped his ass into shape by helping him get through physical therapy and generally not letting him feel sorry for himself. Thanks to good doctors and a succession of successful surgeries, Josh barely walked with a limp anymore. He’d been able to come back to the family business, guiding tours, though Win took the more challenging ones.
When he got to Paddle and Pedal, Sawyer and Ethan were busy assisting two families with bikes. A couple of teenage girls were waiting to rent paddleboards so Win jumped in to give the shop owners a hand. It was a good town that way; everyone helped one another.
When Sawyer and Ethan came up for air, Win shot the breeze with them for a while. He told them about FlashTag’s interest in Garner Adventure and Glory Junction. Corporate accounts like that were a boon to the entire town. Hotels, restaurants, and shops all benefited from the business. Win tried to remember what he could of Madison De Wolk but nothing was standing out. He’d spent most of his time on that humpback whale–watching trip with Haley.
On his way back to the office, he popped into the Morning Glory, hoping to find Darcy. She wasn’t there so he grabbed a tuna melt and ate it at his desk. He didn’t like spending time in the office, or indoors for that matter, but part of his plan to become more involved in the day-to-day business at GA was to put in more face time.
Darcy passed his office on the way to the bathroom and he called her in.
“I’ve been looking for you. What do think of us working together?” He cleared off a chair for her to sit in but she remained standing.
“It’ll be weird.”
He cocked a brow. “Because you tried to have your way with me in my sleep?” When her face turned fifty shades of red, he said, “For Christ’s sake, I’m teasing, Darcy.”
“No you’re not. You’re never going to let me live it down, are you?”
It wasn’t as if she were fragile, at least not where he was concerned. She gave as good as she got, so much so that he’d started thinking of her as an honorary Garner. Still, he was pretty sure Saturday night had been an aberration. Darcy didn’t strike him as the type who made sex calls in the middle of the night. He started to visualize her in that teeny teddy, got a little hot, and made himself shut it down.
“We’ve all got weird shit.”
“Really?” She sat in the chair and folded her arms over her chest. “What’s yours?”
No way was he telling her all his baggage so he stuck with what she already knew. “Britney.”
“Britney was a witch. You have nothing to be embarrassed about where she’s concerned.”
Yet he was. She’d duped him and made him look like a fool to his entire family. Not to mention that the debacle had confirmed their opinion of him as a reckless, irresponsible womanizer. “Let’s just say it was an unfortunate situation. The point is we all have them, so get over it.”
She let out a breath and gave him a long, hard look that made him hot again. It was just the moratorium, he told himself. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman. His eyes darted to her breasts.
“You never did tell me what happened.” He nudged his head at the stain that had now faded to a discolored, brown-edged kidney shape on the floral fabric of her dress.
“I spilled coffee.” She deliberately turned sideways in the chair as if she knew he was checking out her rack. For a small woman . . . He stopped and forced himself to level his eyes at hers. Cornflower blue. And those fucking dimples.
“I guess we should start strategizing.” The truth was he’d never had to work for an account. He’d attracted clients to GA like wasps to a Sunday picnic without much effort. Certainly not because of any sales job he’d done. He just chatted people up, made the less experienced outdoor-sports enthusiasts feel comfortable and the hot dogs know Win would up their game.
“All right. But I have to help TJ with payroll right now.”
