“Baby, there are kids and families here. Language,” I reminded him.
He glared at me. The purple hair I loved so much was swirled into a Shoney Boy swoop and shellacked to within an inch of its life. Navy blue liquid eyeliner on the edges of his violet eyes meant I couldn’t keep myself from staring at them even though I got to live with those amazing eyes every day. Pink lip gloss had been chewed off his bottom lip by me when I’d gotten him alone in the bakery kitchen twenty minutes earlier. The man was a goddamned tasty treat.
“You’re so fucking hot.” I sighed.
“Right? That’s what I’m saying. It’s like Channing Tatum inMagic Mikeout here. I shouldn’t have gone commando. Everything is sticking to… places.”
He continued to set pastries out on trays under the white tent canopy Sugar Britches had set up for the Hobie Hootenanny. Nico’stattoo tent was right next to it, and he’d already stopped what he was doing at least three times to come over and take Stevie by the shoulders to thank him. This time was no different.
“Please don’t ever leave me,” Nico had said across the white-clothed table that formed a makeshift barrier between the two spaces. “I mean, I’m already paying you as much as I can, so don’t use this to negotiate more, but promoting you to manager was the best management decision you ever made for me.”
I laughed and winked at Stevie when his mouth dropped open in surprise. By the third time Nico told him he loved him, Stevie started his usual snarky back talk.
“I’m not having sex with you no matter how much you flatter me. Clearly you’re a bottom, and that simply wouldn’t work,” Stevie had said with a sniff.
Nico and West stared at him. “That’s patently false,” West asserted.
“TMI, Dr. Wilde,” I said with a shudder. “No one out here wants those details.”
Nico grabbed his husband’s shoulder and pushed him closer to Stevie. “Tell him about this morning. Tell him how hard I?—”
West clapped a hand over his husband’s indignant pout. “La-la-la enough of that nonsense. Suffice it to say, Nico’s an animal in the sack, and we change things up at the Wilde house. There, you satisfied?”
Nico narrowed his eyes at Stevie for good measure before pulling West’s hand away and kissing it quickly before dropping it.
Stevie glanced up from where he’d begun setting out more cupcakes. “Huh? What are you going on about? Can’t you see I’m busy over here? Go ink some people. Or whatever. I’ve got cakes to sell.”
He wore the new turquoise bakery T-shirt with the Sugar Britches logo emblazoned across the front in hot pink. It looked amazing on him even though he’d taken the liberty of cutting off the sleeves and tying the excess bulk of the shirt into a tight knot at his lower back to show off his narrow flat stomach and adorable, tightass in snug lavender shorts. I’d pretty much had a hard-on since breakfast.
Stevie caught me staring. “Go put out a fire or something. You’re giving me the creeps.”
“I’d like to be giving you something else.”
His eyes flicked up to the heavens. “Blessed Virgin, grant me peace or I swear to fucking god…”
“I love you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said, going back to his work. He took great pride in making sure everything was just so. He’d been planning this festival display for weeks, and I was thrilled to finally watch him see it all come to fruition. Especially after the challenging few months we’d had.
This month things finally seemed to be on an even keel. Jodi had been doing very well with a combination of antidepressants and twice-a-week counseling sessions. She’d been downright relieved when we’d suggested moving her and Willow to Hobie from Valley Cross and was finally well enough to start a new job working for Leonard Fickle at the accounting office here in Hobie. Leonard had been in dire straits after his wife left him since she’d also been his office manager. From the rumors flying around town, Leonard had taken one look at Jodi Devore during the interview and forgotten Carrie-Ann Clapper-Fickle had ever existed.
The three of us had made a point of driving Willow back to Valley Cross every day for school until the school year ended so she could finish out first grade with her friends. Even though she’d be switching to Hobie Elementary the following month, we still promised to keep her in dance lessons with the twins over in Valley Cross. We also reminded them that while it seemed far away, they’d all be reunited again in middle and high school since Valley Cross and Hobie had plans to merge their schools when the big new ones were built the following year.
More than anything, Willow was Willow. She radiated happiness and joy the way Stevie did. Having her around all the time made all our lives better and more fun. We’d quickly discovered her desire tohave regular family dinners together most nights and had made it a priority as much as possible. Those dinners had turned out to be the making of our little family.
Things between Jodi and me had started out rough. She’d originally tried to be the parent in our little unique family until we’d discovered I was older than she was. That had helped calm her down and allowed her to let go of being in charge of everything all the time. Ever since she’d relaxed her attitude, she’d seemed to flourish. I wondered if she realized how much happier she seemed now that she didn’t have to carry the load herself. Now that Stevie was working more hours at the bakery, sometimes Jodi and I would find ourselves hanging out together in the afternoons with a glass of wine out on the dock while Willow splashed around in the lake. I’d begun starting shifts earlier at the fire house so I could be home in plenty of time to help ferry Willow around wherever she needed to go, whether it was summer day camp, dance, or to visit the twins for a sleepover.
I realized I’d flaked out and missed what Stevie had asked me. “I’m sorry, what?” I asked.
He smirked at me. “Losing your hearing, big daddy? Already? I said tell me something I don’t know.”
I chuckled. He’d handed me the perfect opening just as Willow and Jodi appeared under the tent. I took a step back to get some space.
“I have a ring in my pocket,” I said. “That’s something you don’t know.”
Willow giggled and slapped her hand over her mouth. Both the ladies knew what I was planning since I’d asked both their permissions the night before while Stevie was working late at the shop.
Stevie looked up with his familiar forehead crinkles of confusion. “What? A ring? What kind of…”
