Page 50 of Forever Yours
“Well, I’m going to be freezing my butt off later at the hot cocoa stand. It got cold out.”
Gabe tilted his gaze toward Devlin’s loft. “You have time for me to warm you up?”
She glanced behind him at the line of customers still waiting. “As wonderful as that sounds, between the customers and prepping for the cocoa stand, I’m going to be busy for the rest of the afternoon. At least the contest won’t go past dinnertime.”
“Hey, I have the night off, why don’t you come over after? I still haven’t painted the basement so that was my only plan for the evening.”
Devlin had only been to Gabe’s house once, and that was for a quick visit. She wouldn’t mind spending more time over there and getting to see the whole place.
“Now that’s a plan. Should I bring painting clothes over?”
“Sure, why not? I don’t know how much we’ll get done, but it’ll get started. I’ll stop at the hot cocoa stand on my way home.”
He leaned in for a quick peck then turned to leave and she watched him on the way to the door until the next customer in line cleared her throat to get her attention.
“I’m so sorry, what can I get started for you?”
* * * *
Devlin stomped her booted feet on the ground later that afternoon for the umpteenth time, trying to thaw her frozen toes. Her breath came out in white bursts and the hot cocoa cooled almost as soon as she poured it. She enjoyed the cold, but this was miserable.
The ice sculpture competition was in full swing, and the frigid temperatures sent people over in droves to get a hot beverage to warm up. She’d had to call Emma more than once to prepare extra supplies and Prudence had been kind enough to deliver them to her when she needed them. She decided that this was her last round, and she was going to pack it all in when she ran out this time.
Holding a cup of spiced cider in her frozen hands, she watched the sculptors put the final touches on their art. The loudest part had been at the beginning—most of them had used chainsaws to start—but now the gentle tink-tink of hammers on chisels was a soothing background noise.
A frisson of warmth ran through her when she spied Gabe walking toward her from across the town square. He was the most handsome man she’d seen, although that description seemed lacking. Handsome didn’t convey his fit physique with long, well-muscled limbs. She recalled New Year’s Eve, when she thought he had the effortless look of someone who did manual labor for a living, and she now knew she wasn’t too far off with his constant movement at the bar and the strength one needed to make furniture like he did.
His smile, though—that smile was the most attractive thing about him. His lips tilted up at one corner almost all the time, like he was one moment away from breaking out into a grin, or had a good natured quip at the ready. That was something you didn’t learn, and she bet that he was easy as a baby. Whenever he spoke he had a twinkle in his eye, and he listened with such compassion that she was surprised she hadn’t told him her whole life story yet.
“Are you frozen?” he asked, walking behind the table and giving her a quick kiss.
“I’m so cold.” She shivered, and he wrapped her in a side hug. “But you’re helping a lot.”
“How much time do you think you have left?”
Devlin looked around at the dwindling crowd and lifted one of her now empty carafes. “Looks like I’m done. The table is the city’s, so I just have to put the supplies away.”
Gabe helped her pack the few belongings before motioning toward the street. “I’ve got the truck since it’s too cold out to walk and the heat is blasting in it already. I’ve got the basement prepped and ready for painting if you want to come to my place?”
“You had me at heat blasting. Lead the way.”
* * * *
“My arms are burning,” Devlin complained a few hours later. They’d eaten a quick dinner of leftovers and had gotten started painting the basement, speeding through the first coat and starting on the second.
“Here, you switch to the roller, I’ll take over the trim.”
They swapped tools and continued painting, soft music playing in the background.
They lapsed into silence again, as they had a few times over the last hour, and Devlin was grateful that neither felt like they had to fill the air with noise.
She peeked at him over her shoulder and caught him grinning, like he was in the middle of telling the most hilarious joke.
“Youwerean easy baby, weren’t you?” she demanded, as if they’d been having a conversation about his childhood disposition this whole time.
“Of course I was,” he answered without missing a beat. “With a kid that had the flair for the dramatic like Greyson, I must’ve known my parents needed a break.”
“I knew it. You don’t just turn into a charming man like yourself, you’re born like it.”