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Do they know each other outside of here? No, they can’t. Can they? Why does he always seem to go for Jess? Probably because they’ve had actual conversations. Ugh.
Bailey notices my reaction, or maybe a lack of one. He struggles while he looks at me next, saying nothing. He’s so sweet. Clearly, he’s trying to be polite, but he can’t seem to remember my name.
“Will,” I say. And then I realize that’s probably the most I’ve ever said to him. Pathetic.
Bailey smiles again, and he’s visibly lingering on me now. His eyes briefly meet mine before flicking back to Jesse.
Too late, though. I’m not the only one who noticed. Jesse leans closer to me and his arm wraps around my back to hold my waist. “What’s up, Bailey?”
“I’m sorry, I hate to ask this, but uh…” Yet again, he doesn’t seem sure where to let his eyes land while addressing the both of us. “I got a new goods display… for my stall… and I mayhave underestimated how awkward it would be for one person to unload, and—”
“Sure.” Only after I agree does it occur to me that I’ve volunteered my services before Bailey even gets the chance to finish asking his question. Jesse snaps his head to look at me, but I shrug it off. “I don’t mind.”
“You’re really sure?” Bailey asks.
“Yeah.” I gesture to everything we’ve already unloaded. Jess can start setting up some displays without me.
“I can go if you’d prefer.” Jesse frames his offer as if he may be asking both Bailey and me. Only he knows that I wouldn’tpreferletting him go instead.
“You stay.” Then I lean closer to whisper, “I want to be what wrecks your back today.”
Jess smiles, and it seems I’ve gotten myself out of trouble for the moment. He goes one step further and pulls me in for a kiss. Which I’m not expecting, but I go with it. Once he releases me, I leave our stand to follow Bailey.
We walk around to the back of his pickup, still pulled up to unload, and I can see his problem right away. The display doesn’t appear to be particularly heavy and loading it was likely a breeze for him. Yet the shape is awkward and somewhat bulky to maneuver. Getting it out of the bed of his truck alone will only be easy if he doesn’t give a damn about damaging it.
Bailey pulls himself into the back of his truck and dammit if I don’t lose all my focus.Don’t stare at his ass. Don’t do it. Do not stare at it.Of course, I say all this to myself while actively staring. Not my fault, I swear. Thankfully, he never notices, and we begin moving the display together. Between the two of us, we get it unloaded, and it even remains in one piece.
“I should probably break it into smaller parts to transfer next time.”
Bailey’s brow knots as if he’s trying to figure out how the hell to manage disassembling and reassembling this thing once a week, and I’m thinking about him wearing nothing but a tool belt. No! Not time for horny. This is the perfect opportunity.
“Uh…” Even after Bailey looks at me, we spend additional time in silence while I construct my reply. “I could help.”
“Oh, you’re too sweet.” He dismisses me with a small chuckle and a wave. “You have enough to do.”
“No, really. I’m here every week and this didn’t even take us ten minutes. You’d spend longer unloading a bunch of pieces yourself, never mind putting it back together.”
“That is a good point,” he mumbles. When he hits me with his Bailey smile that shines right through my soul, I almost faint. “Thanks.”
Fuck, he’s so fucking cute. He’s doing thatactively standingpose. One leg slightly bent and the opposite hip popped, all while one hand holds his other forearm.
“C’mere.” He swings his head for me to follow him and turns to walk a few feet away.
Bailey squats again to pull a crate of jars toward him. Ah, what I wouldn’t give to slide a hand down the back of his jeans. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s doing all this bending and squatting for me on purpose. He pops back up with a jar of… I don’t know. Something purple. He hands it right over to me with a shining grin and it fits right in the palm of my hand.
“Elderberry,” he says.
Well, I have no idea what the hell he’s talking about, but I’m still grateful, so I try to appear very appreciative and not confused.
“It’s… that’s why it’s purple.” Then he becomes the sort of excited where people stutter and ramble, and it is so sweet to see him launch into a subject he clearly loves. “The bees… they eatthe elderberries on my property… but I’ve been infusing it also to make it more concentrated.”
“Isn’t elderberry poisonous?”
“Yes.” His eyes light up and I can’t believe he’s impressed that I knew. “Makes cyanide in the body. Not at this strength, though. It’s got a lot of health benefits and boosts the immune system.”
“Thanks,” I say. “That’s really nice of you to give this to me.”
Bailey shakes his head. “Inevergive away honey. Bees work too hard for me to do that. You earned this.”
