“Seriously, Wolfe,” Amy said, following him through the living room and into the kitchen. “It’s just one rocking chair. How hard could it be?”
“It’s not hard, darlin’. But it takes time, plus—” Wolfe turned to face his woman and smiled. “You know what? Why don’t you come by the shop later this afternoon. Lynx has the day off, so I’ll walk you through the process. If you want a rocking chair, I’ll help you build it.”
He was surprised to see the beaming smile on her face. “Perfect. This afternoon, then. What time?”
Wolfe had absolutely no idea whether he’d have free time or not, but there was no way he could say anything more than a time. “Three?”
She nodded. “I’m pretty sure my boss’ll let me take a break at three.”
Since he was her boss, he couldn’t very well tell her no, could he?
“Are you ridin’ in with me this morning?”
“Nope,” Amy said quickly. “I told Reagan I’d have breakfast with her at the diner. Then I’ll be in. I promise, I won’t be too late.” She smiled. “Love you.”
“Love you back, darlin’.”
Amy walked up to him, planted a quick kiss on his mouth before pivoting away, heading back to what she was doing.
Grabbing his hat from the rack by the door, his keys and phone from the table, Wolfe headed out for work.
The instant he was in his truck, pulling down the bumpy driveway toward the main road, he placed a call to Rhys.
“Hey. Shouldn’t you be at work?” Rhys greeted.
“Heading in now, Sheriff. How’re you doin’? Get that incident taken care of?”
“Mostly, yeah.” Rhys yawned. “I’m about to head home for some shut-eye.”
“Sorry I missed you,” Wolfe told him. “But maybe I can make it up to you. Amy’s still on me about another rocking chair. Figured I’d let her work on it herself.”
“Yeah? A project of her own, huh?”
“Maybe you could meet us there,” Wolfe suggested.
“What time?”
“Three.”
“I can do that.”
“See you then,” Wolfe told him. “Oh, and Rhys?”
“Hmm.”
“I love you.”
A soft chuckle sounded on the other end of the line. “I love you, too. See you at three.”
With a smile on his face, Wolfe headed to work. He needed to get a few things knocked out early. Perhaps then they could make an afternoon of it.
By the time three o’clock rolled around, Wolfe was knee-deep in sawdust. He’d managed to stop long enough for lunch, but with Lynx taking the day off, that left all the work to him and they had orders piling up thanks to some new business they’d acquired in Coyote Ridge. Not that he was complaining. Business was business and the more they had, the better off they were.
The sound of the metal door opening had him glancing over to see Rhys walking in, pulling the door closed behind him.
As the sexy sheriff sauntered over, Wolfe wiped the dust from his hands with a rag from the table.
“Am I early?” he asked.
Wolfe grinned and answered with a kiss, one that didn’t linger, unfortunately.
“Amy should be down in a minute. She was confirming orders.”
As though summoned, the door to Amy’s office opened and she stepped out onto the second floor landing. She glanced their way as she walked down the stairs, a beautiful smile on her face.
God, she was beautiful. Perhaps more so now than when he’d first met her. Her blond hair had grown longer, cascading over her shoulders and down her back. Usually she kept it in a ponytail, but today it hung free. And her brown eyes had lost that haunted look, though from time to time it would return, but not as often these days.
“Are you ready for me?” she asked.
Wolfe wondered if she’d meant it as a double entendre, but opted to answer politely. “Always, darlin’.”
She paused long enough to kiss Rhys in greeting before turning toward Wolfe.
He led the way to the back where he’d taken the time to set up the project for Amy. She’d been on him about a new rocking chair ever since one of theirs had broken. Of course, he had to accept some of the blame for the things destruction considering he’d been in it when it splintered into pieces. Then again, so had Amy.
The memory of that sexy moment made him smile.
“Why are you smiling?” Amy asked, her gaze bouncing back and forth between them. “I know that look.”
“What look?” Wolfe feigned innocence. “You’re here to build a rocking chair, right?”
She didn’t appear convinced, and her drawled, “Yes”, sounded more like a question.
Their woman knew them so well.
“Come on,” he urged, taking her hand and leading her deeper into the back of the warehouse, past the tables and chairs that were in various stages of the build.
“Wolfe Caine, what are you doing?” she asked, glancing around as though she didn’t trust him.
He couldn’t very well blame her. Wolfe might’ve come up with a way to deviate from their plan. Just a little.
“We’re getting your project underway,” he said innocently.
“Then why do you have five rocking chairs right there?”
Pulling her closer, he released her hand. “I figured I could give you some options.”
Amy peered over at Rhys then back to him. “What options?”
“One, you can build the chair by yourself.” He motioned toward the stacks of wood he’d already cut for the job.
“And the second option?”
“You can select one from those.” He gestured toward the five already built.
“What’s the catch?”
She knew him well, didn’t she?
“The first option will cost you nothing,” he said simply, then glanced at Rhys. “Unless the sheriff has any rules he’d like to add.”
Rhys smirked. “Now that you mention it, I’ve never actually seen one of these being built.”
“I can assure you, the process is rather intriguing,” Wolfe told him. “Although it’ll be far more enjoyable to see her working naked.”
Amy smacked his arm. “You wouldn’t dare. I’m sure there’s some safety violation there.”
Wolfe nodded toward a pair of safety goggles on the table. “You’d be wearing those, of course.”
“Would I?”
“Yep.”
“And boots,” Rhys noted. “We could let her keep her boots on.”
“Yes,” Wolfe agreed. “And boots.”
Amy glared at the two of them. “And if I choose one that’s already finished?”
“In that case, I’ve got the paperwork all ready for you. It’s in my office.”
Rhys chuckled, clearly having caught on to his plan.
“In your office?” Amy asked, peering at the second floor at the far end of the warehouse.
“Ready and waiting.”
She took a moment to look at the pile of wood, then the row of chairs, and once more at the second floor. “I think I’ll take option two.”
“Suit yourself, though it would’ve been rather appealing to watch you build the chair naked.”
She giggled. “I bet it would.”
“Come on,” Wolfe urged. “I’ve got the paperwork all ready for you.”
A minute later, they stepped into his office, which, of course, was completely void of any paperwork. With Amy handling all of that, Wolfe’s office rarely saw a piece of paper, but she already knew that.
When the three of them were in the small room, Wolfe nodded toward the door. “Lock that, would ya?”
Rhys gave him a knowing grin. “It would be my pleasure.”
Amy planted her hands on her hips and turned to face them. “I’m assuming your payment requires me to be naked?”
Wolfe chuckled. “As a matter of fact, it does.”
“Fine.” Her eyes glittered with mischief. “But if I have to be naked, so do both of you.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
A few minutes later, their sexy lady was sprawled out naked on the sofa, a come hither look in her eyes. Since he couldn’t think of a better way to spend an hour than naked with the two people he loved most in the world, Wolfe didn’t hesitate, pulling off his shirt and tossing it onto his desk.
An hour later, Wolfe was wondering if she hadn’t just earned two rocking chairs. Or even the whole fucking shop.
