"He's my husband, actually," I tell him.
Bruce takes the room key I slide across the counter. "Well, if you two ever decide you'd like to dip your toes into the world of adult content…" He jiggles the key, holding it up near his face. "You know where to find me."
We both smile but say nothing, waiting until he's cleared the lobby before sitting down on the way-too-high stools andbursting out into a fit of giggles. Or chuckles in Buzz's case, since I don't think he's been capable of giggling since his balls dropped.
"Holy shit. I had him pegged as an accountant at, like, a box-making factory or something," Buzz says.
"Middle manager," I supply. "And straight."
That sets Buzz off again, and if I could freeze time and remember him like this forever, I would. I've always loved seeing Buzz laugh and be happy, but somehow, I'm loving it even more lately.
Does it have anything to do with me seriously considering my mother's completely outlandish proposition?
Answer: Hell, yeah.
I know Scooter is on my case to tell Buzz how I feel about him, but something unexpected is happening—my feelings are changing.
All of a sudden, things aren't so black and white anymore. It's no longer a simple case of telling my bestie I'm in love with him so I can move on.
I don't want to just say it and move on anymore.
I think… I think I want to move back to Clovelly and settle down and start a family and be with Buzz forever.
For real.
Not just in a fake marriage for the sake of an inheritance.
But before I can reveal any of that to him, I have to be damn sure in my own mind that this is what I truly want. This isn't something you say and then take back. It would be cruel and devastating and literally the last thing in the world I'd want to do to Buzz.
I just need a little time to get things sorted in my head, and then I'll tell him. It's not a delay tactic, I swear. It's aget things sorted in my head first so when I have a decades-long overdueheart-to-heart with my best friend I'm one hundred percent sure of what I wanttactic.
The phone rings, and I get up to answer it. "Good afternoon. Clovelly Inn. How can I help you?… Oh, hey, Linda…" She's our housekeeping dynamo, but she doesn't sound too good. She tells me she thinks she's come down with something. "Do you have a fever? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. No. Definitely don't come into work. Take some Tylenol or ibuprofen for the fever, get some rest, stay hydrated, and if it gets worse, see your doctor… No. That is fine. Don't worry about your shifts. I'll talk to him… Okay. Get better… Okay. Bye."
"Linda's sick?" Buzz hedges, coming up next to me.
"Yeah. Shit."
"What's wrong? Can't you just find someone to fill her shifts?"
"It should be that easy, right? But, one, I've got Manuel to deal with. He is the roster king as I learned last week when he went ballistic when I approved a shift swap without running it by him first. And, two, we're kind of low on staff at the moment."
Buzz's brows arch as anI’ve got an idealook flashes across his face. "Actually, this is kind of perfect."
"How?"
"I've been meaning to run something past you, but with everything that's been going on, I haven't had the chance."
"Should I sit down for this?"
He eyes the stupidly high new stools. "Might be safer if you keep both feet on the ground." He chuckles to himself then says, "Zane is looking for work."
"Oh. People aren't dying fast enough?"
"Actually, yeah. And he's too proud to ask you directly since you were so nice to him at the tattoo festival, but I have no shame."
I lick my lips. "Oh, I know. And I use that to my full advantage."
His cheeks flush. "Stop making everything about sex."
