Page 79 of Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore

Monty leans up and grabs my mouth, groaning as he spills inside me. I’m not sure if I’m the one pulsing or if it’s him, but each little squeeze is like a delicious aftershock.

Limbs heavy and tired, I crash against his chest. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me tightly into him, and kisses my head as I try to catch my breath. “You did so well, Xuxuzinho. So perfect for me.”

I close my eyes, allowing myself to revel in this feeling. Wondering if it really could be this perfect. This easy.

I’ve never experienced anything like this before. And maybe it’s because we’re friends already but this is the moment I’ve read about so many times in my books—the moment when everything clicks.

I try to shake him off before I get ahead of myself, but Monty just squeezes me tighter.

“Please, Penny. Just give me a few more minutes.”

***

Twenty minutes later, we’re both seated in front of the fire, fully dressed again, with full plates of food.

And now I’m moaning for an entirely different reason—Vovo’s chicken and rice. She even snuck in a little pumpkin squash, which I think she’s roasted in cinnamon and butter and, oh my God, it’s delectable.

“Stop making those little sounds or I’m going to have to flip you over and taste you all over again,” Monty says with heat in his eyes.

I shake my head and laugh. “Lesson’s over. Stop flirting with me.”

Monty raises his brows but doesn’t say anything in response. Instead, he takes a bite of his food, and when he moans, I point a fork at him.

“See! It’s impossible not to make that sound when eating Vovo’s food.”

Monty’s face softens as he smiles. “How did you two get so close anyway?”

“It was actually because of a town meeting,” I say, thinking back to that day a few years ago, when Monty’s father brought Vovo along with him to the town hall. “I’m certain she’d never been to a meeting before then, and I know she hasn’t been to one after, but some people in town”—under my breath I mutter Stew—“felt that the brewery shouldn’t be given a liquor license. A few of the other restaurateurs in town agreed. There are only a limited number of licenses that can be obtained in Hope Harbor and people argued that, if we opened too many bar-like establishments, we’d destroy the wholesomeness of our town.”

“Bullshit,” Monty mutters.

I chuckle. “Your vovo said the same thing.”

“Really?”

“Yup. She stood up and told every one of them that she was disappointed they were attempting to destroy a young woman’s dream. It was Fletcher’s first year as mayor and he didn’t know how to stand up to the Liberty Ladies. It was because of your grandmother that Rosie’s Brewery exists.”

Monty hums before his brows furrow. “But that only explains why Rosie would be close to my vovo. Not you.”

“And you’re correct. But you see, because of that, Rosie told Vovo she could have free meals at the brewery for life.”

“Oh no, please tell me she doesn’t sneak out to Rosie’s daily.”

I laugh. “No. She took her up on one cider after the opening. And I just so happened to be there that day, too. We sat together at the bar and she started asking about my favorite books. She wanted to know if I’d read any of yours—which of course I had—and then she asked if I had any suggestions for her.”

He huffs out a breath. “And there was born Vovo’s spicy-book addiction.”

I smack him. “You say it like it’s a bad thing.”

“The books, no. Picturing Vovo reading the things you sent me this week.” He shudders. “Absolutely.”

We both grin at each other and the moment feels a touch too good. So I take another bite of food, trying to stop myself from overthinking what is happening between us.

“Can I ask you another question?” he says, and I nod. “Have you ever seen my father out with anyone?”

“Like dating, you mean?”

He tilts his chin downward.