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She propped herself up on her elbows as he got out of bed, totally checking out his sculpted rear end. "Won't your jet wait for you? Since you own it."
"Totally. I was just trying to be witty and hilarious. But your Christmas party won't wait, so off we go." He yanked on his sweats. "Meet you downstairs in fifteen?"
"You got it."
He dove onto the bed for one more kiss, and left her laughing as he jogged out the door and down the hall.
She lay back in bed and clasped her hands above her head. "What am I going to do about him?" she whispered.
Then Gabby came bounding in, and Sofia didn't have time to think about herself anymore.
Which was probably for the best.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
"I miss him, Mom."
Sofia looked over at Gabby, who had been serving up punch to their guests at the holiday party. "I know. Me, too." Their Christmas party at the store had been amazing. Seventy-five attendees, the most ever. Over a hundred gifts sat under the tree for the women's shelter. The trade-a-book table had been busy all night, with friends recommending books to new friends, and book addicts finding new treasures.
And she'd rung up a lot of money in sales as well, because what romance addict could go to a party in a bookstore and not buy more books?
But best of all was the laughter, the warmth, and the camaraderie of women at the party. Only two guys, both of them husbands who had fallen in love with the romance genre after deciding to see what their wives were spending so much time reading.
It felt like home, like Christmas, like where she belonged.
Which made everything so much more complicated, because Sofia also felt like she belonged in Keegan's arms at his home in Oregon.
Six hours was too far to commute to work on a daily basis, and it wasn't simply work. It was her passion.
Gabby sighed. "We can't even talk about him, because people care too much about what he does."
"I know." They hadn't even had the chance to talk much to Jocie, because as soon as they'd arrived, they'd been in full gear with party prep, with assorted volunteers and delivery people around all the time. Plus, honestly, she hadn't been ready to talk about it yet.
To Jocie, Keegan was a celebrity.
To her, Keegan was her heart. Not that she'd told him yet. She felt like taking that step was making promises she wasn't ready to make. Like, did that mean she needed to take her focus off her business to nurture the relationship? He couldn’t move—his family was all in Oregon. But she didn't want to lose what she had either. And what if it didn't work out? Right now, they were cool together, but if things went terribly, how would that impact Gabby?
Saying good-bye to him on the plane had been hard. He'd remained inside to stay out of camera range, and his security team had hurried her and Gabby off the plane into an Escalade. It had been cool, actually. She'd felt like a celebrity, and it had been pretty crazy.
She looked out the window and saw the Escalade parked across the street. True to his word, Keegan had sent security. The men had been wandering around outside, keeping an eye out for any sign that her ex had found them.
How long would they stay?
How long until she didn't have to worry anymore?
The room was full and crowded, and everyone was chatting. It was perfect…but right now, it didn't fill her up the way it always did. It just felt…like it was missing something.
"Excuse me," a man called out from the front door.
Sofia and Gabby spun around, certain that it was Keegan, but it was an older man in the door wearing a cowboy hat. He was hunched over, with a huge nose, and a paunch. He had enough wrinkles on his face to qualify as an old-west cowboy, and his jeans were old and tattered as well. He tipped his hat to the room. "Howdy, folks. I have the rest of the Hart's bakery order. Sorry we're late. Shall I set it up?"
Jocie stood up from her spot on the couch. "We have our complete order from the Harts. You must have the wrong address."
"Is this…hang on…" he shuffled around in his jacket and pulled out a receipt. "Thirty-six Main Street?"
"Yes, but—"
"Then I got stuff for ya."
