“Shh, geez, tell the neighborhood why don’t you,” I groaned, looking behind me. I was relieved to see the guys were in the house, putting the food away. “I’m not all sexed up!” I whispered and then snorted at the look on her face.
She made the motion with her hand for me to spit it out. “Was it worth marrying him for?”
I shoved her in the shoulder with laughter on my lips. “More than worth it. It would be worth staying married to Bishop for that perk.” A shiver rolled through me, and she grinned with enthusiasm.
“Being compatible between the sheets is huge, Amber. I’m happy for you. Bishop will make a good husband.”
I rolled my eyes to the darkening sky and sighed. “I’m not staying married to him, Hay-Hay. I’m just saying the sex alone would make it worth it.”
“I don’t know. It’s easy to see how much Bishop loves you every time he looks at you,” Haylee said, her brows in the air. “He hovers over you the way Brady hovers over me. It’s obvious to everyone but you, I think.”
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” I asked, rubbing my hands on my legs.
“I believe in what I call souls at first sight. Your soul knows it just met the one person they’re supposed to be with forever. How long it takes those two souls to come together is varied.”
“Like you and Brady taking six years to share your first kiss.”
“And it only took you two weeks,” she said on a wink.
I shoulder bumped her as the guys came out of the house. “That doesn’t mean we’re staying together.”
We ate smores, drank wine, and laughed as we talked about our childhoods. Bishop introduced them to Athena as a proud dad, and I sat back, a smile on my face while he touted her accomplishments. It was nice to see him talking about her openly rather than hiding the fact that he was a father.
“We’re almost all moved in now,” Brady said, taking Haylee’s hand. “We have a few things left at the apartment, and that’s it. I can’t wait until we don’t have to do those stairs all winter.”
“What are you going to do with the apartment?” I asked, suddenly realizing it would sit empty.
“We thought about using it for an office,” Hay-Hay answered, “but then we remembered you couldn’t get up all those stairs.”
I grimaced and nodded. “Sorry, that would have been a good idea, too.”
Brady shook his head. “No apologies necessary, we found a solution.”
Haylee wore a smile on her face when she spoke. “As long as you’re okay with it, we thought we’d rent it to Taylor and Sara.”
“Yes! I’m totally okay with it!” I said, nodding immediately. “Wait, how is that going to work? There’s only one bedroom.”
Brady nodded and tipped his head at me with his brows in the air.
“Oh my God, they’re a couple?” I asked, stunned.
“Is that a problem?” Brady asked, his words tinged with a tone of an argument.
“Absolutely not!” I exclaimed. “It’s perfect. They’ll be working similar shifts, and they’ll be close to the bakery now that they both work there.”
Hay-Hay smiled and grasped Brady’s arm to chill him out. He was always going to be the defender of humanity. Sometimes I wish he’d figure out I was already in his corner. “We thought so, too. They’re so excited to make it their home. I’m happy that it will be rented and we won’t have to worry about the upkeep. You’re the books lady, but if we could figure out how to give them a break on the rent, or make the rent part of their compensation, the accountant says we can benefit from that tax-wise.”
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” I promised, crossing my heart. “I have everything else done and ready to bring back as far as the paperwork goes. How is the office coming?”
Haylee was sheepish when she answered. “We hired it done,” she said, glancing at Brady. “It was just too much on top of moving and all the baking.”
I held up my hands to stem her explanation. “That’s smart. I’m sure it took them way less time than it would have taken Brady.”
Brady laughed, his head nodding as he finished his beer. “For the price of six dozen donuts, it was done in under four hours. I hired three teenagers from the ski team who are also part of a Boy Scout troop. All I had to do was donate the donuts for their next couple of meetings, and the work was done. It was a win.”
“I think you’ll find it very comfortable now,” Hay-Hay said. “I like that it keeps you in the bakery. I don’t like the idea of you upstairs or offsite all the time. We miss not having you there.”
“But not this week, right?” Bishop jumped in to ask. “She doesn’t have to come in this week?”
I turned to face him. “I have to go in for interviews and to get the paperwork filed.”
“I know, but I don’t think it’s smart to go back full-time until you know for sure the leg is healed from the infection. Right?”
“Listen, you don’t get a say in what I do with my business or my body, Bishop. We might be married, but you don’t control me. Considering our marriage isn’t even real, your opinion doesn’t matter. I’ll be the judge of when I can do something and when I can’t. Not you or anybody else,” I ground out, my eyes blazing mad, and my fists clenched at my side.
He glanced at the lake for a moment and then pushed himself up. “Well, look at that. We forgot to cover the pontoon boat. I better do that. I hear storms are on the way tonight.” The way he said it told me he was trying to hit me in the solar plexus. It worked.
