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“What’d you think?” I asked. “Did you have a good time?”

“Did I have a good time? It was pretty much the best day of my life.” It didn’t have a hint of exaggeration in it.

“Everyone had a blast, and the customers were going out of their minds when they came in.” It was nothing but the extremity of the pride I felt for her.

Shyness tweaked up at one side of those distracting lips. “They were impressed, don’t you think? I mean, I bet they came in here expecting a bunch of mass-produced junk rather than handmade art.”

“Yeah, they were definitely impressed. Way impressed. It’s good, what you have going on here.”

Tenderness filled her features. “I’m so glad. So glad that you were here with me through it all.”

Then she laughed a tinkling sound. “Though you probably aren’t too happy to have to stick around here with the aftermath.”

She gestured to the mess that had been left.

It wasn’t a ton, like she’d insisted, but more than she let on.

“Half the Crows went across the street to Keg & Creek for a real party.” She rolled her pretty eyes. “You should be with them.”

“Don’t want to be at Keg & Creek.” It creaked out of me. Coarse and jagged.

Didn’t she know it by then?

Intensity billowed in the air.

A bond that keened between us on an electric current.

So much history. So much want.

So many reasons why I couldn’t cross the space littered between us.

In the heaviness, she suddenly hefted out an easy groan and kicked off her heels. She started to ramble as she dipped down to pick them up, “I don’t know how Brinley wears these all day. My toes feel like I put them into a grinder.”

A rough chuckle skated free, and I took two steps in her direction. “Masochist, obviously.”

I didn’t know if I was talking about Brinley or myself.

Elena giggled. “Right? Really, I think she just likes driving Silas out of his mind.”

“Has that man wrapped around her fingers.”

“Oh, yeah. My brother is smitten. Done for. I called it the second I saw him leading her to her room at the clubhouse when she first came to the property. The man was in a stir in a second flat, and I knew the poor guy wasn’t ever going to be the same.”

I remembered it.

The way his whole being had reacted when Brinley had pulled up in front of the autobody shop.

Elena and I smiled across at each other, both of us so happy for them.

It took a herculean effort to shake myself out of the trap.

“Gonna grab the broom and a garbage bag,” I told her, needing to get away before I did something stupid.

“Sounds good.”

I basically ran to the back, drawing a bunch of cleansing breaths into my lungs like it might stand the chance of eradicating her scent.

Apples and cinnamon.