Make Your Move (16 page)

“G
INGER, YOU SIT DOWN
for a while. You shouldn’t be on your feet so much,” Jodie said, directing her friend to the kitchen to sit, while she waited on the seemingly never ending parade of customers.

“I’m fine. The exercise is good for me,” Ginger objected, but still did as she was told, taking a seat.

“You just look a bit tired, is all,” Jodie said gently. “But happy.”

“You, too.”

Jodie grinned. “Yeah, but I’ve been missing sleep for an entirely different reason.”

She and Dan had been married the week before, three months after the evening of his presentation. They’d had a wonderful wedding with just their friends and family as they’d negotiated around both of their busy work schedules. But now the holiday rush was almost past, and the semester was over, and they were nearly free to spend all of their time together.

Business was booming. The reporter who’d come to the presentation was so taken with their story, he’d done
a huge feature, focusing on the bakery. After the story hit the papers and they appeared on some local talk shows, answering questions about how Dan and Jodie met, the cookie icing formula and their wedding, Jodie couldn’t make Passionate Hearts fast enough.

Life was good. Better than good.

Dan had never had to use the recording they had against Jason. After what had happened that night, Jason had quietly resigned and left the university. Neither she nor Dan had any idea where he was and didn’t care. Good riddance, Jodie thought.

“Just you wait. Your turn is coming, you keep this up,” Ginger warned with a grin.

“You need to be more careful with those predictions of yours,” she teased. “I’m barely used to being married let alone have a family yet.”

It had been Ginger, after all, who told her that her playgirl lifestyle would one day come crashing to a halt, and thankfully, it had.

“I’m just saying…things happen,” Ginger teased.

“I know, but don’t rush me. We just got hitched. I want to enjoy being us for a while.”

“Don’t blame you one bit,” Ginger said. “I can’t wait until this baby is out and Scott and I can get back to normal life, whatever that is.”

“No one deserves it more.”

Ginger had stopped her work at the hospital, for now anyway, and was helping full-time at the bakery as Jodie’s assistant manager. She’d be taking care of the place while Jodie was out of town for the next month.

The bell over the door rang, and Jodie turned to find
Scott entering the shop. No doubt he was here to take Ginger to her doctor’s appointment. Dan filed in right behind him.

The four had become good friends. Ginger always teased her about getting pregnant soon so that their kids could grow up together, but Jodie knew that she really wasn’t ready for that now. Her business and Dan were more than enough.

She had gotten in touch with her mother for the wedding, and it had been a healing thing. Dan had been there for her, as always, and Jodie was trying to understand her mother’s choices, and to find a new kind of relationship with her. It was nice.

Still, it was her relationship with her new husband that she wanted to focus on.

“Hey, wife,” he said, walking behind the counter and slipping his arms around her.

“Hey husband,” she said. It was how they’d been playfully referring to each other all week.

Ginger and Scott quickly said their goodbyes and were on their way.

“Two days and counting,” Dan said lustily, seeking a hot kiss that took her over so completely she didn’t even hear when the bell rang again.

When she closed the shop on Sunday, they’d be leaving on their slightly delayed honeymoon to Europe. A solid month of nothing but her, Dan and enjoying every minute of their time together.

She’d been buying lingerie and special, sexy toys to bring with her since they’d started planning the trip. If
airport security checked her bag, they were going to find several sexy surprises, she thought with a grin.

She and Dan had a lot of lost time to make up for.

“Do you think you two newlyweds could part long enough to sell me my cookies?” asked Mrs. Mitchell, her ever-faithful customer. The older woman’s eyes sparkled with humor, as Jodie slipped away from Dan.

“Absolutely, Mrs. Mitchell. I even have something special for you today.”

Jodie went to the back and brought out the box of cookies that Mrs. Mitchell had ordered, and handed them to her with a small gift bag. The woman looked in the bag, pulling out a small bottle.

“Men’s cologne?” she asked curiously.

“It’s Dan’s formula—for men. That’s a special pre-market bottle, available only to regular customers who buy Passionate Hearts. It won’t hit the shelf for another few weeks. I think you’ll like it,” Jodie said with a wink.

Mrs. Mitchell’s eyes lit up, and she shook her head, laughing. “Well, maybe we’ll have a bit of a honeymoon this month, too! You kids enjoy yourselves,” she said, heading back out, obviously excited to go home and give it a try.

“Oh, don’t worry, we will,” Jodie said, flipping the sign to Closed and locking the door. She eyed Dan seductively and pulled the string on her apron.

Dan watched appreciatively as she discarded the apron, then started unbuttoning her blouse, walking
toward him with clear intention. “Want to break a few more of those health codes?” she asked playfully.

“Don’t you have a few more hours until you close up?”

“I don’t want to wait another day to get this honeymoon started,” she said, leading him into the back room.

“But what about your customers?” he said against her lips.

She smiled. “They’ll understand,” she said, slipping the shirt off. “I need a little energy boost,” she said sexily.

He didn’t argue, reaching around to unclasp her bra, filling his hands with her breasts. Jodie sighed then moaned as he touched her in all the ways she loved and that never stopped turning her on. Dan turned her on more than anyone ever had, ever would.

“I love you, Dan,” she said earnestly, as he took her breath away with his touch.

“I love you, too,” he whispered against her skin, and Jodie knew she’d never get tired of hearing it, or saying it. Though right now, they had better things to do than talk.