Page 82 of You Chive Me Crazy

My mind was fixated on two things, specifically.

The cookbook. That was a biggie.

And the kiss. That was decidedly even bigger!

Lucas had stirred up feelings I thought were long dead. Little did I know they had just been in hibernation and were now waking up like a hungry bear in spring.

“Where did that smile come from?” Lucas asked as he slipped on the food-prep gloves and got ready to prepare the first baked potato of the day.

I was honest. “It came from you.”

“What a coincidence . . .” He grinned, then pointed to his own face. “This smile came from you.”

I couldn’t resist getting on my tip-toes and kissing him for that.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Rolando said, shaking his head. “Fraternization among the employees here at Potato Heaven is strictly prohibited. Don’t forget, potatoes have eyes. Don’t make me tell the boss. She’s a personal friend.”

“I guess that means you’ll have to end any thoughts of fraternization you’ve been having yourself.” I tilted my head toward Savannah and wiggled my eyebrows. “That’sreallytoo bad.”

“Hey—no need to go all crazy on me,” Rolando said, chuckling. “What the boss doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Carry on.”

“That’s what I thought,” I said. “Silliness aside, thanks again for making my birthday so special. It was an absolutely wonderful night.”

Although I felt a little guilty about how it had ended.

After we soaked in the hot tub, we went back up to the room to shower separately. I went first, then crawled into bed, getting all cozy and warm, nervously yet excitedly anticipating what might come next between us.

Unfortunately, I dozed off while Lucas was in the shower, and the next thing I knew, it was morning, and the alarm was going off. And Lucas mentioned nothing about it! He just greeted me with a sweet good morning kiss and asked if there was anything he could do for me. That question was more loaded than my most popular potato, with everything imaginable on top!

Why hadn’t he woken me up when he came out of the shower by smothering me with a thousand kisses? I’m guessing it was because he knew how important sleep was to me. And to be honest, I preferred to take things slowly, even though part of me wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t fallen asleep. To be perfectly blunt, most of me wished I hadn’t fallen asleep.

But enough of entertaining my silly fantasies.

It was time to get this food party started!

Dolly the Donut Diva waved to me from her food truck, and I waved back.

If the number of people in my line was any sign, today would be an even better day than yesterday. At least, that was what I hoped for.

I glanced at Rolando and Lucas. “Are you guys ready?”

Lucas nodded. “You bet.”

“Yeah, baby.” Rolando tried to spin another red and white paper food tray on his finger and ended up dropping it on the floor, just like yesterday.

“And what would the boss think of that?” I asked.

Rolando smirked. “She’s way too busy with her office romance to notice.”

“Lucky you. You get to keep your job then.”

“Thanks, boss!” Rolando said, winking. “What an embarrassment that would be to lose two jobs in the same week. Hey, speaking of that, Savannah is also looking for work.”

Come to think of it, I had no idea what she did for a living.

“What kind of job is she looking for?” I asked, glancing at her as she happily passed out menus to the people standing in line.

“Marketing. She’s a social media expert,” Rolando said. “It’s mind boggling what she knows and what she can do.” He glanced over at her and smiled in admiration.