Page 100 of More Than Words
I winked and bit my bottom lip.“Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea what will happen next.”
His eyes grew wide, and I laughed.“But first, how about another taste of that new brew?And that stew smells delicious.”
ChapterTwenty-Five
Ethan
The room was quiet, the only light coming from the lamp on Delaney’s nightstand.Outside, snow had started to fall softly, but inside, everything was warm and cozy.And perfect.
Delaney’s hair was fanned over the pillow, her leg draped loosely over mine.Her fingers traced light circles over my chest like she didn’t even realize she was doing it.
After another pint of Chapter One and a bowl of stew, we’d left the brewery and slipped up to her apartment through the backstairs where we couldn’t be spotted and had been wrapped up in each other ever since.
“I still can’t believe you named a beer after us.”She propped herself up on one arm, her hair cascading over her naked breasts.
It took all my restraint not to pull her back into me for another kiss.
“What else are you going to name after me?”
I laughed.“Well, I was considering naming my next stout Stubborn as Hell.”
She swatted me gently, and I pulled her back down to my chest and wrapped her up in my arms.“Or maybe we can pick out a name for the next one together?”
“I like that,” she murmured against my chest.
A moment of quiet passed between us before she spoke again.“So…what now?”
I took a breath and released her enough so she could slip to my side, and we could look at each other.“Now, we figure this out,” I said.“One thing at a time.”
“Day by day?”
I nodded.“I don’t have a perfect plan, but I want to do this right, Delaney.With you.”
“I’d like that, too.”She looked at me thoughtfully.“But what does that look like?”
I exhaled slowly.“Let’s start with the obvious.The patio.”
She flinched a little, a gentle reminder that at least for the moment, the patio was still a sore spot.
“I’ve already reworked my plan,” I told her.“The tables won’t infringe on the space in front of your shop.And I even asked Grayson for some ideas on how to put together a planter barrier that will make sure not to interfere with your window displays.”
“You reworked it?”
“Yeah,” I said.“Because you were right.I didn’t think it through the first time.Not properly anyway.”
“But won’t that take away business from you?”
I shook my head and grinned.“That’s the best part,” I told her.“I’m going to use this as an experiment.And if it’s popular, I can expand the space in the back to a proper patio space next summer.It won’t impact your shop at all, and it’ll be a good use of space.I can even offer up some live music from time to time.Acoustic, of course,” I added quickly.“Nothing that will cause a disruption.”
She went quiet, thinking it through.After a moment, she nodded and smiled slowly.“I really like that plan.You thought about it.”
“With you in mind.Every step of the way.”
“And Quinn?”
I blinked.“I don’t think she’ll care about the patio one way or the other.”I grinned.
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”She shook her head.“I meant, what about…well…I don’t want her to get hurt again.”
