“No problem at all.”
With an inward sigh, he returned to his ladder. She was a paying customer, he was on the clock, and she already had a man in her life.
Once on top of the ladder, he pulled out his phone and found three text messages from his horny and equally smitten brother.
You are so damned lucky! Will you tell her I said hi?
What did she say? Did she say hi back?
That’s it. I’m coming over there and making up some work to do for her. I’ll volunteer to polish lightbulbs or something.
Josh typed a quick reply, knowing without a doubt if he’d been the one left at the office to do that paperwork, he’d be trying to think of a reason to come to Violet’s store as well.
Chill out. She needed me to help her with a heavy box. And guess what? We bumped into each other in that tight office space of hers and—
He was in the middle of typing when her cell phone started ringing up at the front of the Emporium.
“Figures,” he muttered as he finished typing the text about the two of them getting caught in the doorway and rubbing up against each other. “That’s probably Lucas calling her right now, while I’m wasting time answering his texts.”
He sent the completed message as she came running from the back of the store. “Hang on! I’m coming. I’m coming,” she said to no one in particular.
He hoped no one else in the store noticed the way he practically drooled on himself as she flitted by the ladder, breasts bobbing, hips swaying, and those gorgeous, silky calves peeking out from the side slits in her dress. He breathed deep and thought of baseball stats as she grabbed up her phone.
Josh’s phone vibrated in his hand and he looked down at Lucas’s reply. It must not be him calling Violet then.
Lucky motherfucker. Does she smell like lavender today?
Yeah, he typed. She’s killin’ me.
He put the phone up and went back to work. Once this job was completed and she was no longer a paying customer, he and Lucas were going to have a heart-to-heart talk with her, long distance relationship or not. He just couldn’t walk away for the last time. Just couldn’t. He pulled his phone out one final time when it buzzed.
It’s killin’ me, too.
* * * *
Violet Tyler hurried to the front of the Emporium, where her cell phone sat ringing on the sales counter. Not recognizing the number on the caller ID, she accepted the call. “Violet’s Emporium. This is Violet. How can I help you?”
“Hey, baby.”
Her heart sank as she recognized the rugged voice on the other end. “Hey. How’re you?”
“I’m here at work, looking out the window and watching a thunderstorm…and wonderin’ how you’re doin’.”
She could hear the yearning in his voice. Boy, how his husky drawl had gotten to her in the past. All Bodie Cox had to do was add that sexy rasp to his accented syllables and she’d been a drooling fool. A total fool.
“I’m fine. Staying busy.” You should hang up, girl.
“Lovin’ small-town life?”
“Uh-huh,” she replied in a neutral tone. He’d get to the reason for the call soon, she hoped. For your sanity, hang up now, girl.
“How’s the shop doing?”
She cast a gaze around the vintage brick-walled interior of Violet’s Emporium, recently beautified by the compellingly handsome Abbott Brothers. Customers meandered among displays featuring all manner of handmade pottery, art, quilts, furniture, body care, jewelry, and just about anything else a person could want in a unique Texas Hill Country shopping experience.
“It’s wonderful.” She purposely kept her answer brief, a flicker of pain rising in her chest.
Tex, her super-sized ginger tabby cat, picked that moment to leap onto the sales counter, ostensibly to give her a little chin-loving before he snooped around, looking for any treats or catnip she might’ve stashed away. Not finding any, he flopped down on the stack of tissue paper in his trademark rub-my-belly-please pose. She smiled as she scratched under his chin.
“How’s Divine?”
“Fantastic. It’s beautiful here. I love it.”
“That’s good.” His tone was sweet and heartfelt, but she knew where this was going and braced herself. “Wish it wasn’t so far from Dallas.”
The distance was part of the appeal for her. It was also completely different from Dallas. “I love the area. You know I was never really happy in Dallas.”
“I sure miss you. I was thinking about comin’ to see you.”
Okay, this is where you hang up, girl. Hang up! Don’t do this to yourself again!
“Bodie, does Victor know you’re calling me?” His soft voice on the phone made the question even harder to utter. For the longest time, him calling her out of the blue had been what kept her hanging on, kept her hoping, but no more.