Page 71 of Unforgettable

“Oh, man, I hate to hear that, but we’ll be back another time. Maybe tomorrow night if things are looking good again. Can I help in any way? Do you have someone looking at the heater now? One of our friends who was coming with us tonight is great at all that, much better than me, but I could certainly assist him,” I add, chuckling when I see Magnus’ eyebrow lift.

“Thank you, I appreciate that. I’ve got a friend coming out in about half an hour though. He’s a pro…just can’t get here quite soon enough to keep the dinner rush happy.”

“Okay, call me back if you see that you need extra help.”

“That’s awfully kind of you. Goodnight, Jamison.”

“Goodnight.”

I call Scarlett, hoping I can catch her before she and Grinny leave.

“I was just going to call you,” she says.

“You heard about Tiptop?”

“Yeah. There’s nothing else quite like Tiptop around here…and I think The Pink Ski is full tonight, judging from their parking lot. The Gnarly Vine seemed pretty full too, when I was by there earlier. I don’t know how you’d feel about The Dancing Emu…the karaoke can get pretty excruciating at times.”

“Did you say karaoke?” I make a face at Zac and he rolls his eyes, shaking his head while I nod emphatically. “Oh, we are so in.”

“Okay.” She laughs. “Didn’t expect you to sound so excited about karaoke. This should be fun.”

“Let the wooing begin,” I say.

Pappy snorts out a laugh.

“What did you say?” Scarlett says.

“I said, Whew, I’m in…” And pause to see if that flies.

“Oh…okay. Great.” She giggles and I have to close my eyes and think of my dick on ice. Freezing. Shriveled. Not…hard as steel.

The guys barely hold it together before I’m off the phone.

“Someone has finally got Little Squirt’s number,” Zac laughs, slapping me on the back.

“Nothing little about me,” I groan.

* * *

The Dancing Emu is hopping when we get there, but the whole town is right now. The lodge is at ninety percent capacity tonight, the highest it’s been since I got here, and Heritage Lane is more crowded than I’ve ever seen it.

I’ve been so distracted by Scarlett, we’ve been in the thick of spring break for weeks and it still feels like the crowd snuck up on me.

“We probably should’ve planned your visit after spring break, not during the rush,” I tell Zac as we walk inside.

“This place is so cute,” Autumn squeals. “Oh, there she is.” She waves and I look over to see Scarlett and Grinny.

Scarlett is wearing a sweater dress and I had no idea until seeing her wear them around the lodge that they’re one of my favorite things. Not as much as what she probably has on underneath, but…nothing besides having her laid out bare before me is better than that. This is one I haven’t seen her wear yet, and damn. It’s a bit lower and shorter than what she usually wears to work and with a bow at the waist that makes me want to unwrap her.

Grinny steps forward, bringing my gutter mind screeching to a halt. She’s such a classy lady.

“Grinny, you look beautiful tonight, as always. I’m sorry this isn’t quite the night out I had planned for you. I was hoping to wine and dine you.” I wink and kiss her on each cheek and when I step back, she’s beaming, her hand patting her heart.

“I tell you what, you are a charmer,” she says. “And a handsome one to boot,” she adds. “Oh, what a beautiful child…”

Ivy’s arm wraps around my waist, and Scarlett must have told Grinny that Ivy’s deaf because Grinny does the sign for hello.

Ivy’s eyes light up. “Hi,” she says, signing it back too.

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