Do Me Right (22 page)

"They really slammed him." He waved the paper at her. "I knew the voters would come to their senses."

"I think it was that picture of you two that turned the tide." Cherry looked up from tuning her cello.

"You mean the one of us kissing?" He grinned.

"Maybe she means our engagement announcement photo." Theresa couldn't resist teasing him. After all, it was the exact same shot. The photographer had used some kind of filter to blur the edges of the image so that he'd captured the two of them in that incredibly romantic embrace. It reminded her of the shot she'd seen of a soldier kissing a nurse on the streets of New York at the end of World War II.

"I saw that picture," her customer said. He studied Theresa more closely. "I didn't even recognize you at first. You looked like a bride in that white dress."

"Exactly," Cherry said. "After that photo ran on the front page of the Austin paper, Sixth Street's image went from sleazy to romantic in one afternoon. Suddenly everyone wanted to come ride in one of the horse-drawn carriages, go slow dancing at the clubs and share dessert and coffee and gaze soulfully at each other in one of the cafes." She rolled her eyes and drew her bow across the cello, playing a long note.

"And don't forget tattoos," Scott said. "We advertised a couples special and had all the business we could handle doing matching tats for people."

"Yeah, it was a cool idea." Cherry stretched out her ankle to admire the pecan tree and lone star there, a match for the one on Scott's forearm. "But it doesn't feel so special anymore," she teased.

"I'll show you special." He bent and began kissing her neck, while she squealed.

"Children, calm down," Theresa ordered with mock fierceness. She turned her attention back to Kyle. "How's the remodeling going today?"

"It's going good. But I'm sure glad we were able to do a quick closing on the deal. There's a lot of work to do."

"Are you sure we'll be ready by next month? Maybe we should set another date...." They'd decided to hold their wedding reception at the tavern as a combination marriage and grand-opening celebration.

"No way," Kyle said. "It'll be done, even if I have to recruit everyone I know to help." He came over and kissed her cheek. "Besides, I don't want to give you time to change your mind."

She shook her head. "I'm not going to change my mind." Zach had teased her about her haste to get to the altar after she'd refused all thoughts of marriage for so many years. She'd told him she had a lot of lost time to make up for. Besides, wasn't June the perfect time for a wedding?

"I'd better get back to work," he said. "Stop by later and check out the progress." He winked and she felt the same warm, syrupy feeling in her stomach she always felt when he looked at her these days. Who'd have thought being in love would do so much for a person's outlook on life?

"Remind me later to show you the decorations Kristen sent over," he added.

She made a face. "Let me guess--hearts and doves and those white crepe bells."

"Of course." He laughed. "We have an image to live up to, you know."

"Zach's never going to let me live this down."

"When are he and Jen coming down?"

"In two weeks. His semester's over and she has a break from the show, so they'll be able to stay until the wedding."

"If he's anything like you, I'm going to be in trouble."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"One stubborn person in the family is enough, thank you very much."

"Who are you calling stubborn, Mr. I Won't Take No For An Answer?" She grinned.

"Good thing, too." He bent and kissed her cheek. "See you tonight?"

"Maybe." She slid her mouth close to his ear. "Wear your chaps?"

"I was thinking of saving them for the honeymoon."

"No, you won't need them on the honeymoon."

"I won't?"

She shook her head. "In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't bother packing a suitcase. We won't be going out."

He grinned. "Is that so?"

She nodded. A week with her new husband naked seemed as good a way as any to start off a marriage.

He rubbed his hands together and backed toward the door. "In that case, I'd better save my strength. And I think I have to work tonight."

She smiled and switched the tattoo machine back on. He'd said the same thing every night for the past week, but he'd always shown up at her place just the same. She was counting on the fact that he'd always be there. The idea was scary and amazing and downright wonderful.

Exactly like falling in love.

Who knew?

DO ME RIGHT

Copyright (c) 2005 by Cynthia Myers.

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

(r) and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with (r) are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

www.eHarlequin.com