“Hear, hear,” I said.
While planning an array of activities for Heather’s bachelorette party, we proceeded to bring out all the nail polish we could find and promptly discovered that it was a terrible idea to paint toes when you were light-headed.
We didn’t even have enough wine to get tipsy, but our decision-making power wasn’t too sharp. Also, Mom didn’t have any nail polish remover. Ah, such was life. Sometimes it gave you lemons, and if you were a Winchester, you turned that into multicolored toes.
It was past two o’clock in the morning by the time we called it a night. Isabelle and Josie left, but Anne stayed with us.
The girls fell asleep almost the minute we stretched on the mattress, but I was staring at the ceiling as bits and pieces of our conversation swam in my mind. Once Rob came back from LA, I was going to ask him to Heather and Ryker’s wedding. I wanted us there together. My heart rate sped up as I saw us attending all sorts of family events and Ballroom Galas together. I could imagine myself introducing him to donors as my boyfriend.
Holy shit, and I’d thought I didn’t have a romantic bone in my body? I’d just discovered all of them.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Skye
The rest of the week was insane. With new designs coming in, Tess and I didn’t know our asses from our elbows most days. When we weren’t packing online orders, we were attending to customers in the store. We started our days early, and by the time evening rolled in, we barely had enough energy to go home. At least Mom’s eyesight had improved considerably. On Thursday, the doctor gave her the all-clear. The infection was gone. Mom declared she didn’t need babysitting anymore.
On Friday, my body began to show signs of overworking. While I was arranging a new display, crouched to put on fluffy slippers on our mannequin, ass in the air, head down, my vision faded at the corners. I leaned against the window display for support, straightening up.
“What’s wrong?” Tess asked, instantly at my side, helping me up.
“Just... balance issues. My vision went dark for a bit.”
“Did you eat today?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe you didn’t have enough water. Go sit down, I’ll finish up here.”
I did as she said, massaging my temples. I only needed a few minutes to recover, then decided to drink a big glass of water, just to be on the safe side. The last thing Tess and I needed was one of us to be sick. We’d fall so far behind on our to-do list that I shuddered just thinking about it. I felt as good as new after yet another glass of water, and just as I was preparing to get back to work, Rob called.
And just like that, the corners of my mouth lifted in a grin. Ah, I should have him call me more often if this was how my body reacted. My heartbeat accelerated. Oh yeah. There was the dose of energy I needed for the rest of the day.
“Hey, you!” I greeted.
“Hey. How is your day going?”
“Bah! It’s a good thing you’ll be gone this week.”
“Why?”
“I have so much to do that you wouldn’t even get laid.”
His laugh brightened my spirits; I totally loved this man. “I can always make that a priority.”
“Aha!”
“Don’t tempt me. I can make that happen even from LA.”
God, I missed him. “And how would you do that exactly?” I teased.
“Flying in, surprising you in the night.”
Hmmm... that was a thought. Suddenly, the urge to see him hit me hard. To stroke that chiseled jaw and jump his bones.
“Where are you now?” he asked.
“In the back, stuffing boxes for some online orders. Well, cheating, actually, and just looking in a mirror at my hair.”