“We’ll make that part of our kissing terms.”
She pulled away from him enough to look up at his eyes. Such beautiful blue eyes. She wanted to spend the rest of her life juststaring into them. “Is it weird that the best day of my life also involves visits from both the police and fire departments?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “This isn’t going to be the best day of your life. Not even close.”
He lowered his head and kissed her. His lips felt so right against hers, like coming home. One hand pressed into the small of her back, holding her to him. The other made a trail up her spine. Her whole body hummed with happiness. Lucas was her boyfriend again. He loved her.
When his mouth made a trail to her ear, she whispered, “Other days are going to have a hard time competing with this one. Just saying.”
“Not even close,” he said, his lips nuzzling into her neck. “The one where we’re walking down the aisle will knock this one out of the park.”
Her inward gasp was only partly because the feel of his mouth on her neck was gasp-worthy. He was talking aisle-walks. “You’re right. That one will be my favorite day.”
“Good.” He returned his lips to hers. They probably would’ve stayed that way, wrapped up in each other and oblivious to everything else, but they were interrupted by a round of applause.
Riley broke away from Lucas to see that the wayward guests and employees had finally returned, en masse, to the lobby.
She knew she was blushing but didn’t care.
Lucas took hold of Riley’s hand. “Let’s finish our dinner,” he said and led her to the stairs. “We still have terms to discuss.”
CHAPTER 25
For Lucas, the days until Carson and Olivia returned from their honeymoon flew by. Working at the inn became so much better now that he and Riley were together again. Simultaneously, working at the inn also became so much harder. Every time he saw Riley, he got distracted. Every time he thought about her, he got distracted because he knew she was somewhere close by. He could just go find her and talk to her whenever he wanted.
And he often did.
He resolved to kiss her only when he was off the clock, but even then, he ended up breaking that rule occasionally.
Okay, a lot.
Fortunately, the employees were understanding. He got grins and approving looks from them. He also got questionable advice from Glen about how to keep a woman happy. He ignored those comments.
He was doing just fine keeping Riley happy on his own.
As for Carson’s earlier pronouncement that Riley would be able to wrap him around her little finger, well, that was probably true. But his brother had known this fact and made Lucas the manager anyway, socaveat emptor,buyer beware.
It wouldn’t really be such a bad thing if Lucas paid her assistant manager’s wages when she was doing outdoor activities next summer. The inn’s guests deserved the best, after all.
When Olivia and Carson returned to Lark Springs to open their presents and pack them in their Ranger, Lucas and Riley went over to his parents’ house before they left to see them off.
Olivia and Carson were both happy and tan, still radiant from their honeymoon. Olivia gave Lucas and Riley short hugs in greeting, then pulled Riley out of the room to give her a souvenir she’d brought back.
Lucas and Carson stood alone in the front room.
“How was the Caribbean?” Lucas asked.
Carson grinned. “Amazing. Wonderful. And the beach was nice too.”
Lucas laughed. “I’m glad you were able to see it in passing.”
“I highly recommend married life.”
“Good.” Lucas had been thinking about the benefits of marriage himself lately.
“I had a surprise when I got home, though.” Carson’s expression turned more serious.
“Oh?” Lucas asked. Carson’s expression said he wasn’t entirely pleased by the surprise. Had he heard about the drama Mr. Travers caused?