Page 36 of The Burbs and the Bees
She grins and jerks her thumb over her shoulder. “I went to Trader Tim’s, but the store was closed. If I hadn’t wasted all that time getting stung, I might have made it on time.”
I check my watch. “Shit. Olivia closes up at six on Sundays. I forgot.”
“I’ll try again tomorrow. On Monday, the farm opens later in the morning.”
“I know,” I say.
She laughs and it curls around me, seeps under my skin, massages my swelling dick.
“Of course you do,” she says. I look her over, check out her face and lips, and look for any delayed reactions. Rare, but it can happen up to ten days after a sting. I’m going to have to keep a close eye on her.
Yeah, like that’s the real reason you want to keep her in your crosshairs, dude. And I doubt she’ll still be here in ten days.
“How are you feeling?” She left in a hurry after I returned with the boots. Probably because I was a little gruffer than I should have been, and of course, I did tell her to go. Just hearing her ask Capone about his mother—Juanita—caught me off guard and put me on the defense. She didn’t deserve that. She doesn’t know my past, just like I don’t know hers, and it’s best that way.
“What exactly is going on here?” She looks past my shoulders again.
“Colin’s fiancée wants a surprise dance.” I do air quotes around surprise.
“Oh, I get it. She really wants it, but it’s going to be a surprise, even though she expects Colin to do it for her.”
“Nailed it.”
“That sounds like fun,” she says, and for the first time I spot genuine delight in her eyes.
“Then you obviously don’t know what fun is,” I grumble.
“I know how to have fun.”
“Well, that makes one of us,” I say, and she gives me an odd look.
“Who’s choreographing the dance for you?”
“Colin, and he has no idea what he’s doing.”
She nibbles her bottom lip, and her eyes keep darting from me to the guys, then back to me. “What?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I can help. If you’d like.”
I cross my arms and lean against the doorjamb. “What do you know about any of this?”
She glances at the ground for a moment, but when her gaze lifts and slides to mine, there is a new brightness, a new sense of hope in her blue eyes. “Lots actually. I did dance lessons for years, and I used to help with the choreography. I kind of had a knack for it.”
“Maybe the better question is, why would you want to help?” I ask, treading lightly because for some reason, I don’t want to be the guy to squash that small measure of enjoyment radiating off her.
“You helped me today. Maybe this is a way I can give back.”
Oh, but there are so many other ways she could give back.
“Hey, Colin,” I say and wave him over. “You remember Alyson.”
“Alyson,” he says and tips his ball cap. “Nice to see you again.”
“She’s offering to help,” I tell him.
“Is that right?” he says and folds his arms, matching my stance. “Now why would you want to do that?”
“I don’t know… I just…”
