“Feeling any better?” he asks.
“A little.” I let out a breath and go up the porch steps. “I miss running.”
“And I miss seeing you in tight pants.”
I purse my lips and shake my head. “I’m in leggings pretty much daily now.”
Lucas squeeze my butt and kisses my neck, pulling me close to him. I let my eyes fall shut and drape my arms around him. “Julian didn’t come back yet?” I ask. He left to check on something, promising he wasn’t going to try and fix the rift just yet.
“No. You weren’t gone very long,” Lucas reminds me.
“My ears got cold.”
“It’s chilly out,” Lucas notes.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Get a treadmill. We have room in the basement, and then you won’t have to work out in the cold.”
I nod. “We do, and that’s a good idea. I should get myself on a good schedule now so I can stick with it come summer.” I rest my head on Lucas’s shoulder, watching the movers carry the dresser from the guest room into the truck.
“Do you want to go out to dinner?” Lucas asks, draping his arms around me.
“Sure,” I tell him, forcing a smile. I’m hungry, and I don’t feel like cooking at all. “I’ll go upstairs and change.”
“Close the door,” Lucas says, putting his lips to mine before I step away. “You don’t want to give the movers a free show.”
“Hah,” I reply, lips curing up into a smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve given anyone a freebie.” I wiggle my eyebrows, thinking back to a time not all that long ago when Eliza got a full-frontal view and openly liked what she saw.
Scarlet follows me upstairs, and I shut my bedroom door, keeping her contained into one room while I shower. The movers are gone when I get out, though I still carefully pad my way into my room. I put on black jeans and an off-the-shoulder dark gray sweater. Not even bothering with my hair, I twist it into a messy bun on the top of my head. Lucas is downstairs, waiting for me.
The living room has been packed up, with all of my photos and personal decor taken off the walls. I’m leaving the furniture but trying to make this house look as impersonal as I can for when Betty moves in. It’s weird seeing the room like this.
Exciting, yes, because it means Lucas and I are one step closer to moving into our dream house together, yet it’s kind of sad at the same time.
“You look beautiful,” Lucas tells me, and I reply with a dubious expression.
“I put zero effort into my appearance.” I shove my feet into my favorite pair of worn combat boots.
“You don’t need to put any effort into your appearance for me to find you beautiful.”
I zip up my boot and look into Lucas’s eyes, feeling emotional. “Thank you for lying.”
“I’m not lying, Callie,” he says, and I believe him. “You are beautiful, no matter what you are wearing.” He wraps his arms around me. “There is a certain physical attraction between us, but you know my love goes deeper than that.”
I hold onto him as tight as I can. “Me too,” I say, unable to voice my feelings as well as he can. “I’d love you even if you weren’t hot.”
His full lips curve into a smile. “Good, though I’ll always be hot.”
I laugh, blinking away tears. “Hopefully I will be too.”“I think we could use a little more garland.” I rest my hand on my chin and look at Novel Grounds’ window display. The week is coming to a close, and we’ve gotten nowhere closer to solving the murders—and neither have the police. I’ve kept busy packing up the rest of my little brick house, and now I’m at the store, helping Betty and Kristy put up our holiday decor.
“You don’t think it’s too much?” Betty asks, stepping back, stapler in hand.
Kristy laughs. “You know Callie well enough by now. Too much isn’t a thing for her when it comes to Christmas decor.”
“Exactly,” I say, smiling at my best friend. “And I ordered a ton of garland for the new house that should be arriving soon.”
“Perfect,” Betty says, looking at our window display. We went with a Jane Austen theme this year, doing our take on a period holiday display featuring some of our favorite books. “Are you guys almost all moved in?”
“We’re really close,” I tell her, feeling a little rush of excitement go through me. “Are you ready to move in?”
“A world of yes,” Betty says eagerly and laughs. “I love my mom, but living with her…nope. There’s a reason I moved out as soon as I could afford it.”
“You’ll be on your own again soon enough,” I tell her. Betty moved back home with her parents after a guy in the apartment complex she lived in tried to date-rape her. She passed out before he could get her to come home with him, and someone found her unconscious in the alley behind the bar before anything worse happened to her.