Page 14

Raeann

“ T hat wine he bought was over a thousand dollars! I looked it up last night.”

I rub the area between my eyes. I’ve had a headache there since Tab made me stay up regaling her with stories from my date with Micah.

“How you didn’t end up on your back with your legs spread is beyond me.”

I glance up at Jace, who’s pulling this morning’s orders, and then cut my gaze to Tab to tell her to shut up. “It wasn’t like that,” I whisper as I walk past her.

She grumbles something under her breath, but I ignore her.

It really wasn’t like that. It was dreamy and beautiful, and we got to know each other in a way that wasn’t just about what the other looked like.

It was a real date. The kind I’d envisioned myself having when I was little.

Not a trip to the Dairy Queen where we ate in the back of his pickup truck, but a real-life date.

Except, since it was Micah Freeman, it was on a whole other level.

Private. Romantic. And he’d oozed sexiness.

With Jace’s help, the orders are done in no time. It turns out, he’s extremely good, and he seems to really love the work. He’s asked me about how I come up with my designs, and he loves on Athena all the time.

It’s only his second day here, and he’s working like an old pro.

Meanwhile, we keep growing and growing. It seems like every time we post an item on social media, it damn near sells out.

Joey suggested we have a Posh Pet photo backdrop and take customers’ pictures with their new outfit.

If they agree, they get a 10% off coupon for their next visit and that gets us new content for our social media.

Tab bought a backdrop already, and today, we’ll clear a corner of the store so we can start that on Monday.

If you’d have asked me two months ago if my life was bound for a one-eighty turnaround, I would’ve said no, but I kept praying about it. And here I am.

“No kiss or anything?” Tab asks around lunchtime when we’re alone in the back room. “Are you holding out on me?”

The fact that she’s still thinking about this makes me laugh. I haven’t told her we’ve already had phone sex, so presumably we skipped an important step. It doesn’t feel right to share that, even though I’m used to sharing everything with her. “Why would I do that?”

She opens her mouth to say something else, but then she snaps it shut, eyes widening before she stares down at the counter without saying a word.

“What?”

She shakes her head, but my suspicions rise. I peer to where she had looked and spot a bouquet of beautiful flowers headed this way. The door opens, and Jace greets the delivery guy, but instead, he says, “Hey, how ar—Holy shit.”

The flowers lower, and I suck in a breath. Micah . He glares back at a starstruck Jace, but when he moves his gaze to me, it morphs instantly. A tender look with a half smile greets me. “Good afternoon, beautiful.”

“Good afternoon.” I can’t keep my eyes off the flowers. Pretty oranges and purples, some pinks and whites. I breathe in deep, and it’s almost like I can smell the scent of Eastern Tennessee.

“I asked for wildflowers that would’ve grown in those fields you grew up running around in.”

He sets them on the counter between us, and I lift to my tiptoes to get a better angle to breathe them in. I sigh. “They’re perfect.”

He moves his hand, and that’s when I realize that the flowers aren’t the only piece of art.

I follow the length of his arm, tattooed to perfection until it slips under the short sleeve of his T-shirt.

It dawns on me then that this is the first time I’ve seen him without a suit or a long-sleeved shirt on.

I’d almost forgotten about his tattoos, a black ink forest of pines chiseled into his muscles.

It’s as if the real Micah Freeman and the one I met are two completely different people and this body art merges them.

Micah moves around the counter, and Tab walks off, taking short glances over her shoulder at me. I turn toward him, and his smile grows ever so slightly. “Come to my game today.”

I swallow. “A game?”

Why is it so hard to reconcile the fact that the man standing in front of me is the Micah Freeman?

He nods. “There’s a seat in my box with your name on it.”

“Your b-box?” My anxiety spikes, a flood of mixed emotions rushes through my body until my hands shake. “I won’t know anyone.”

The click of Athena’s nails sound against the floor as she makes her way over to me. Micah pats the top of her head. “I got this one, girl.”

He reaches out to me, tangling his fingers with mine.

Athena noses our joined hands, making me smile.

Eventually, my gaze makes it up to Micah’s.

He rubs his thumb over the pulse point at my wrist. “I thought about getting you a general admission seat, but then I realized I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on you, and playing football is sort of my job, and I don’t want to let my team down because I’m worried about you the entire game.

In my box, you’ll be safe. No drunk guys getting handsy or fans of the opposite team getting rowdy. Plus, it has a very big draw.”

“What’s that?” I ask, trying to keep my voice normal.

He peers over his shoulder. “Well…you actually will know someone.”

I follow his gaze and suck in a breath. A sharply dressed young man is leading my pawpaw into the store. “This is it?” I hear him ask. “Aww, Pet Threads. Look at that.” He points out the words on the door and smiles. “That’s my granddaughter, you know?”

The young man smiles at him good-naturedly, and I’m already running toward the door, Athena hot on my heels.

My pawpaw struggles to get the door open, but with a little help from the other guy, it swings wide just as I get there. “There she is!”

I wrap my arms around his frail body, and he squeezes me back with more strength than I thought he possessed. “I missed you.”

“We missed you, too.” He taps my back and pulls away. “This nice young man came to my door this morning and told me that I had tickets to a Wildcats game, and that you were coming too. Can you believe it?”

“No, I-I can’t.”

Micah stands at my side. “Raeann, this is Joey.”

“Oh, you’re Joey?”

Joey gives a slight bow with a bigger flourish of his hands.

“Which one’s Joey?” Tab calls out.

Joey raises his hand and peers around me.

“You, my dude, need a raise. We love Jace.”

Joey flashes a grin at Micah, then rearranges his dark-rimmed glasses on his face, his shoulders pulled back straight.

“Well, I’ll be…” Pawpaw’s voice trails off with a hint of awe. “Raeann, is that Micah Freeman?”

“It is, Pawpaw.”

He squints like he can see Micah better that way, and then he nods when he finally accepts that piece of information.

“I told you, Mr. Gorman. In the flesh,” Joey confirms.

“But, why?”

“I’ll let you two handle that,” Joey says, walking toward where Jace and Tab are huddled together and staring. Jace is about as wide-eyed as my grandfather, so I’m guessing he’s a big football fan.

Micah doesn’t say anything, even though I look up at him expectantly. I mean, he’s the one who put this together.

Pawpaw’s still looking for an explanation, so I stammer out, “Micah and I know each other. Remember when Tab posted that video of me?”

“And you met on that show with that girl who talks too loud.”

I cringe. “Yes, her.”

He turns toward Micah. “Are you dating my granddaughter?”

“I would if she’d let me.”

Pawpaw’s perpetually moist eyes flip to me. “Did you turn down the best running back the Wildcats have ever seen?”

“N-no,” I stammer.

Suddenly, it’s as if a hundred spotlights are burning down on me. Pawpaw takes my elbow and angles us away from Micah. “Did you know this man owns a private jet?”

“Technically, I don’t own it,” Micah says. “I rent it for important occasions.”

Pawpaw waves his hand above his head as if Micah should stop talking now.

A lead weight drops in my stomach. “Pawpaw, tell me you did not fly in Micah’s plane.”

“I sure did. Do you think I’m going to pass up that opportunity?

Plus, Joey here insisted. He said it would be rude to reject his offer, seeing as how Micah is—unequivocally—the best running back the Wildcats have ever seen.

Are you seeing a pattern?” He gives me a playful wink.

“Also, that was the most relaxing flight I have ever experienced. Of course, the only other one I had was when I flew out to Vietnam, so that might not be saying much. Did you know you can drink alcohol on planes?”

Despite myself, I start to giggle. He must’ve had the entire plane crew laughing. “How much did you have?”

“A couple drops of whiskey.” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “He won’t miss it.”

I weave my arm through Pawpaw’s and peer at Micah. He watches with a tenderness in his gaze. “Joey will be in the box to look after the both of you. So, say yes?”

“She hasn’t said yes yet?” Pawpaw exclaims. “I love you dearly, Raeann, but if you ruin my chances to see the Wildcats in the flesh at my old age…”

A laugh pours from my throat. It’s the complete indignation on my grandfather’s face that does it. “Yes,” I say. “I’ll go to your game.”

Micah draws in a deep breath, then lets it out, his dimples finally coming out to play. “You’ve made my day, but I have to go. Game days are busy, but I’ll see you after? Bring Athena.”

“I guess we’ll stay here,” Tab says loudly. “Working…”

Micah peers up. “You wanna come?”

“Oh, me?” she asks, like she didn’t just beg for a spot. “That would be awesome.”

“And Jace,” Joey announces.

Micah takes a long, hard look at our new employee. Jealousy burns in his gaze, and the energy coming off him is nothing to mess around with. Poor Jace. He probably doesn’t understand why he’s being looked at that way.

Micah nods once, then leans over and takes me by surprise by kissing me on the cheek. “Later,” he promises.

The butterflies of all butterflies erupt in my stomach. Rabid and intoxicating. I swear my skin burns where his lips met my skin.

He strides from the store, and I watch him walk away, heart pounding.

I’m so distracted that I don’t notice that Pawpaw has slipped away from my grasp.

He swings his hips from side to side. “My granddaughter is going to marry a Wildcats player.” His head bops along in the same direction with his hips, and then he hooks his arm with mine while he walks me in a slow circle before reversing the other way.

“Pawpaw!”

“What? I’m celebrating! And you better get married before I die!”

I give his veiny arm a soft slap.

“Preferably somewhere where Marg can take the private plane.”

“Okay, seriously, you’re not riding on that again. And neither is Granny!”

“Well, except to go home,” Joey states.

“Not even then.” I cross my arms over my chest.

“Then how am I gonna get home?” Pawpaw challenges.

“I’ll drive you.”

“No, thanks. I’m safer in the plane.” He points at Joey. “You’ll make that happen, right?”

“It’s my job, sir.”

Pawpaw raises his brows at me. “I like the sound of that.”

I wrap my arms around him again. It’s been at least six months since I’ve seen my grandparents.

Time flies. A surge of homesickness hits fast and hard.

He smells like home. Like the detergent Granny uses and the smell of the country breeze from where she hangs her laundry out to dry. “Granny didn’t want to come?”

Pawpaw pats my back. “Marg is feeling a little under the weather. But she’s fine,” he reinforces.

Before I can respond, Joey gives us the logistics of the day. His head is in a tablet as he does so, tapping the screen with a stylus.

“We’ll have to close early,” I tell Tab afterward, seeing as everyone is invited.

“I’ll close up,” Jace says. “I don’t think Micah likes me.”

Joey chuckles to himself. We all peer at him, and it takes him longer than a normal person to realize we’re all staring, waiting for him to elaborate.

“Oh, I mean, it’s not your fault,” he tells Jace.

“According to Micah, it’s entirely my fault because when he asked me to find an employee to help out Miss Gorman, he shouldn’t have had to specify that he wouldn’t want another man vying for her attention. ”

Jace and I peer at each other, hardly containing our laughter. No offense to Jace whatsoever…but he’s no Micah Freeman. Plus, I’m a few years older than him, and I’m sure he doesn’t want a cougar hanging around.

“I had no idea,” Jace says.

“Oh, well then, let me show you something.” Tab whips out her phone, and I already know what she’s going to do. She’s going to play that damn video again.

I run toward her, but she darts behind Jace. “Don’t do it,” I warn. “He’s already seen it.”

She smiles too big. We circle Jace again, and Athena starts barking, tail wagging.

“You’re famous,” Tab shouts. “Next time I have to go to the dentist and get put under, record me. Hopefully, Prince Harry pops out of my mouth.”

“He’s married.”

“I don’t mind being a side piece.”

“Side piece?” Pawpaw asks. “Is that like French fries?”

“Pretty sure it’s something totally different,” Joey answers.

With Pawpaw’s distraction, Tab hits Play on the video and hands it off to Jace. They put their heads together, and Jace points at the screen. “This is my favorite part.”

“And now he’s in love with her,” Tab coos.

“Tab!” I growl, peering at Joey.

“Can confirm he is down bad,” Joey states, still tapping away at the tablet, confirming that he is an expert multi-tasker.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I turn away, mostly so no one sees how hot my face has gotten.

A text from Micah.

Micah: I can’t wait to see you later. Just knowing you’ll be watching has me nervous, and I never get nervous like this anymore. I want to score for you.

Micah: If I score, will it earn me a kiss?

My stomach flip-flops. I start and stop so many texts, but then I realize I’m overthinking it. I’m probably overthinking everything when it comes to Micah. Who cares that he plays football professionally? Who cares that we met on a talk show after I made an embarrassing viral video about him?

The things he’s done would have me swooning over any other man. Flying my pawpaw in, taking me to a private dinner, acknowledging Athena.

“Can I actually bring Athena to the game?” I ask Joey.

“When you’re Micah Freeman, you can pretty much demand anything you want.”

I stare down at my phone, type the word Yes, and send it, knowing that whether he scores or not, it’s time. Micah has officially wooed me.

I put my phone away and get Pawpaw a chair from the back while I think about what Athena and I are going to wear to the game.