AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her phone blared in her back pocket again and she pulled it out with a wince. “I’m sorry, hang on.” Clark let her go and Merry pressed the talk button. “Hi. It’s okay, Ryan.” Clark’s eyebrow arched and she shook her head. “You go have fun. I’m sure I can pick out a dress without your input. Tell Mr. Bartender I said hello and call me tomorrow. I want to hear everything.” Merry looked up at Clark, her lips tilting into a smug smile, and he really wanted to know what it meant. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Talk to you later.”
She slipped the phone into her back pocket and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Sorry. That was my friend, Ryan. With the monster truck.”
Clark’s eyes narrowed, fighting back the bolt of jealousy. “I see.”
“You remember Ryan Welsh?” she asked innocently. “He was in the same grade as me.”
It took several minutes, but Clark’s eyes widened and he laughed. “That’s who was at your house?”
“Yep.”
“But you kissed him…”
“Ah-ha! Spy!”
Clark shrugged sheepishly. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“I figured, and I may have told Ryan I saw you watching. It was his idea for me to kiss him.”
His free hand cradled her face, his thumb stroking her cheek. “So…there’s no other guy then?”
She covered his hand and shook her head. “I would have told you there wasn’t if you’d asked.”
“I’m sorry. I acted like a jealous asshat.”
He waited for her to say something, but she smirked. “Did you think I was going to argue?”
“Fair enough.” Lacing his fingers through hers, he tugged gently. “Come on. I want to show you something in my shop.”
“What about Jace?”
“He’ll be all right for a little bit.”
“What about Sam?”
“I sent him a text about Jace, but he’s at work until ten and will probably head out afterwards, since he agreed to stay home tomorrow while we’re out.” Clark led her out of the house and around to his shop, his breath fogging in front of him.
“I understand if we need to postpone.”
“Not just yet. Let’s see how Jace feels after those antibiotics.”
“If you don’t feel comfortable leaving him, we can do a low-key date. You could come to my house for dinner and a movie. Then if there was an emergency, you would be close.”
Clark stopped just outside the shop doors and wrapped his arms around her. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, of course. Plus I’m a little concerned about leaving Daisy with my dad too much. I think he’s got designs on her.”
“Maybe you could share her,” Clark teased as he opened the door to his shop.
“My dad doesn’t…” Her voice trailed off as Clark flipped on the light and they stepped inside. “Share. Clark…they’re beautiful.”
Pride charged through Clark as Merry stared at the oversized rocking chairs in the corner, each head board engraved with a tree line. In script above the trees were the words His on the left and Hers on the right.
“They’re for your parents. For Christmas. I thought they could put them on the porch instead of that patio set.”
“You made these?” she asked in a hushed whisper.
“Yeah. I’ve been working on them since August in between other projects. I also made you a few things.”
