Page 73

“Oh,” she said, her eyes going wide. “I brought you something else.”

She found her bag and pulled a few things out.

“I made this sticker a while ago. I guess I had bees on the brain.” She handed me a sticker and three bookmarks from her shop. They were all gorgeous. I loved her products so much.

“Thank you,” I said. She’d gotten me matcha and this? “I think you like me a little bit, Bren.”

She cursed under her breath. “Is it that obvious?”

Bren was hopeless, but so cute.

“You like me,” I sang softly.

“Can you sing?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve heard you with your family but never just you.”

“Yeah, I can. Do you want me to sing for you, Bren?”

“Maybe,” she said.

Silence fell between us, but it was a silence that was full of things unsaid.

“I really wish I could kiss you right now,” I whispered.

“Me too.”

The problem was, if I kissed her, I might not be able to stop and then we’d get kicked out of the marketplace for public indecency.

“Definitely gonna kiss you later though,” I said. “Let me know if you want to go out and maybe eat somewhere, or if you wanted to stay in. You could always come to the farm and have family dinner with the Holloways.”

I saw her suppress a shudder.

“Don’t worry. I know you’re not ready to tackle all of us at once. It’s a lot. We’re an acquired taste.” Hopefully Bren would be able to handle all of us someday. I wanted her to get along with my family. I needed her to get along with my family.

“If they just weren’tsingingall the time,” she said and she was so disgruntled that I laughed out loud, making a few people around us stare.

“Okay, I need to step away from you or else I’ll want to spend the entire day with you,” I said.

“Go sell lots of honey,” she told me.

“You mean the kind in the jars, I’m assuming?” I asked.

Her face went a brilliant red that made her look so cute. “Yes. Don’t sell yourself. Unless you want to.”

This was a strange conversation, but it was also hilarious.

I leaned close so only she could hear me. “I’m not selling myself because I can’t. I’m already yours.”

Her eyes went wide, but before she could say anything else, I turned around and walked to my table. Let her think aboutthatall day.

Normally I didn’t checkmy phone that much at the marketplace, because it was a distraction from work, but I couldn’t help but keep looking for messages from Bren. That was in addition to glancing over at her constantly. She was laser focused on her work, but I also caught her glancing at me and more than once I’d caught her staring at my ass. Guess she liked it. I put that in my back pocket for later.

Bren was an ass woman. She’d also made comments about my tits too, so she was into that as well. I hope I’d have a chance to go home and change out of my Holloway Apiary shirt and into someone a little more flattering.

The teasing from my family was constant, but I did my best to ignore all of it. Ellie was totally excited and wouldn’t stop coming up with date ideas and gift ideas and even wedding ideas.

“You should have horses at your wedding,” Ellie announced about an hour before the marketplace was due to close.

“Should we? Why?”