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When I looked in my rear-view mirror, Chance was standing in his driveway watching me. I was nearly back to town before I had any recollection of where I was or what I was doing. Fudge. Had I even been paying attention. What the Fudge did that man do to me? I'd never had a reaction like that to anyone. I parked the SUV next to Snickety, remembering that I had trouble opening and closing the door of the shed. I needed to add repairing the door to my list. I sat in the truck and sent a text to let Chance know I was home. His response said, "Sleep well, City Girl."
I'm not sure how I made it upstairs to my apartment. Though I'd only had one glass of wine, my head felt foggy. The walk up the stairs was like my own personal Bruckheimer moment. I don't know how long I stood outside my door, before I finally opened it. Inside, I dropped my purse and jacket on the chair, and dropped my keys on the table.
I have no recollection of going to bed, but I woke up when my message alarm sounded. Instead of reaching for my phone, I pushed myself up to sitting and leaned against the headboard. Laurie or Krista? I needed to talk to one of my BFFs. I thought for a minute before sending Laurie a text asking if she had time for breakfast before she went to work. Then I checked messages and saw Tom's reminder about our dinner date. Fudge. Was it OK to talk to Laurie about my date with Chance when I had a date with her brother tonight. When did my life get so complicated?
After I showered and dressed, I called Krista. I think she thought the colder temperatures affected my judgment. Her assessment was that I couldn't ignore my reaction to Chance's kiss. Her suggestion, which I did not plan to follow, was to kiss Tom tonight and compare my reaction.
I was downstairs in the cafe enjoying a cup of tea, when Laurie walked in. "Good morning. Thanks for the invite," Laurie said. "Did you finish the painting yesterday?"
"Yeah. It looks great, and I found out that Harry had an SUV in the shed out back. Unfortunately, there's a whole section of the shed that's locked, but Chance says it was Harry's cryptid lab. I'm thinking that means more stuff for me to sort through."
"Sounds like you solved your car problem for the winter. That's great. How much stuff is in Harry's shed?"
"I'm not sure what's in the backroom yet. It's locked, and Chance has the key." Fudge, I forgot to get the key from Chance.
"I heard you have a date tonight."
"I do. He's this great guy. I heard he has an amazing sister."
"That he does," she said. "Saturday night must have been weird for you with all three guys there. I had fun though."
"Seemed like you and Jim were hitting it off."
"He's really nice, but it's so obvious all three of them are hung up on you. Have you decided how you're going to choose?"
"I have no idea. I realize I can't keep dating all three of them, but I'm afraid I'll make the wrong choice. I don't want to hurt any of them."
"I wish I could say I feel your pain, but I really can't imagine being in your shoes. We could use any of the tried and true methods to answer a question—Ouija Board, magic eight ball, flip a coin, pro and con lists."
"Fudge, there are so many decision-making tools available. I need one of them to choose the one to use to choose. This is getting too complicated."
Laurie was just getting ready to leave when Chance walked in. "Speaking of eligible bachelors, here comes bachelor number two. Good luck."
"Morning, Chance." I said when he got to the table. He held out a key.
"Good morning. You forgot to get the key to Harry's cryptid lab last night. Want to go take a look?"
"Sure." I grabbed my jacket, and we headed around to the shed. Chance pushed the front door open. "You'll need to get that fixed. Is that why you parked the SUV outside?"
"Yeah. Anyone around who does that kind of repair?"
"I'll fix it for you after we take a look in back."
We walked to the door in the back. "You ready for this," he asked, taking the key back from me.
He opened the door and stepped back to let me be the first inside. "Uncle Harry must have spent a lot of time in here. It spells like him."
We split up and walked around the room examining what was on the tables. "There's some amazing stuff here," Chance said. "I'll be happy to help you go through this stuff if you want."
"I'd appreciate that, but I'm not even going to start on this until after we get back from the convention."
"Listen, you kind of rushed off last night," he said, wrapping his arms around me. "Are you OK?"
"Sorry. I got a little discombobulated last night."
"You saying my kiss discombobulated you. I've never heard that one before, but it sounds pretty good. I'd better make sure it's a repeatable result."
It was. I had sort of hoped it was a one-time thing. I was impressed with the drawings and the website. I hoped I'd just been overwhelmed. Chance's kiss made me lose the ability to think about anything except Chance's kiss.
He ended the kiss but kept his arms around me. I leaned my head on his chest. It was truly all I could do.
"If you want to get the website going, just let me know. I can have it live in a few minutes. It might be good to have it up and running before the convention."
When I felt sure my legs wouldn't buckle, I pulled away. "Sorry. Were you saying something about the website?"
"It might be good to have it live before the convention. It'll only take me a few minutes to activate it."
"What's the website going to cost me? I think it's a good idea, but I know this IT stuff can be costly. There'll be hosting costs and maintenance fees. I just don't want to get in over my head."
"There's no hosting fees or maintenance. Just let me know when you want to launch."
"So, what, you just call the developer and he pushes a few buttons? How much is the bill for development going to be?"
He stopped and turned me to face him. "Pay attention, City Girl. There's no fee for development or hosting. I created the website and will host it on the same service that hosts my business site."
"You developed the website?"
"Yeah. I told you I have an MBA. I focused on marketing and that means lots of online work these days. I made sure I learned how to do it all myself."
"Let me see if I've got this straight. MBA, hunter, guide, cryptid hunter, Search and Rescue, architect, and website designer."
"You forgot garage door repairman and amazing kisser."
"Oh, and egotistical jackass, too."
He just laughed. "There's a few more things I'm really good at, but you're not ready for those yet." He kissed me again.
When I regained the ability to speak, I said, "Stop doing that." I pushed away, putting both hands on his chest and immediately regretted it. He grabbed both my hands, put them around his neck and kissed me again. Fudge, I was in trouble.
Still in a Chance-induced fog, I was outside the shed when I realized Chance wasn't behind me. I turned and found him getting tools out of a toolbox in the garage.
"I'll take care of this door before I go. You want me to launch the website when I get back home?"
"Sure. That would be great. Thanks."
"I don't suppose you want to reconsider your date tonight?"
"Fudge," I said, and headed to my apartment.