Page 26 of Save a Wish

Every few moments, Beckett peered back at me, his eyes a little squinted, then he would dive back into tapping and clicking on the keyboard. He talked to himself as he worked, and it was rather adorable.

That was the other problem I was currently experiencing by working with Beckett on my business. The more time we spent sitting next to each other and talking, the more I liked it.

Liked him.

He was smart and patient and encouraging and certainly pleasing to the eyes. He even smelled nice. Something fresh and masculine and woodsy. I was growing more intoxicated by the minute.

“Okay, how’s this?” Once again, he moved the laptop so I could easily see the screen.

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. The little cartoon version of me in the exact outfit I wore right now, topped with so much red hair, was silly and funny enough not to look like the actual me.

“I’ll take that reaction as approval.” Beckett smiled up at me. “Some people don’t like to have their photo taken and I understand. This avatar, however, is personal enough that it should work on clients.” He tilted his head at the cartoon me. “It still has your vibe.”

“My vibe?” I sat beside him again, relieved I didn’t have to abandon this partnership after all.

“Yeah. You know. Your energy.” He grinned. “Some might call it your aura.”

I poked him in the arm, not able to resist smiling back at him. “Fine. Use the little cartoon.”

“The avatar. We’re professionals over here.” He navigated away from the avatar of me and opened another site. “Let’s get building this website.”

I watched in fascination as Beckett constructed something that truly represented the vision I had in mind for Kalm Kingdom. He chose colors from my note about neutral tones. He typed up descriptions of my services and offerings with my input. He showed me how to use the scheduling app and the payment system he’d included on the website. He led me through a design-making process that resulted in a logo for my new business.

We landed on a regal-looking font for the words Kalm Kingdom with Kalm stacked above Kingdom. While those words were in black, he overlayed them on a mint green background shaped like a mountain range. He then added a little gold crown on the capital K in Kalm.

“Gives it a royal flavor,” Beckett said as we both studied the completed design. “Like, your clients will get the royal treatment from you and that will lead them to ultimate relaxation.” He swiveled to face me. “What do you think? Do you like it?”

“I love it.” The crown was subtle enough that it would be harmless. Plus, my new name was all over the site. No mention of my real name and without my actual photo on there, I’d be safe. “Thank you so much, Beckett. This is a wonderful start and I never would have gotten to this point without you.”

His cheeks actually pinked a bit, and his reaction was so charming, I almost couldn’t resist the urge to show him how grateful I was with a kiss.

Working with him today had felt much like one of Orla’s romance books. Forced proximity I believed she’d called it when the hero and the heroine had been thrust into spending a long period of time together. It may have started out as forced with Beckett’s sister orchestrating our collaboration, but we’d both softened into something more comfortable along the way today.

“You’ll still need at least a short bio for this site,” Beckett said, “but right now I’m starving and you probably are too. I’ve been a horrible host, letting us get all wrapped up in working on this. That happens to me a lot when it comes to techy stuff.”

“You have not been horrible,” I immediately said. “Not at all. You’ve been so focused on helping me and I’m so appreciative.” I gathered up my slips of paper to clean up and leave, but Beckett’s hand over mine stilled me. It felt as if my heart stopped beating at his warm touch.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He pushed my hand off the papers but didn’t remove his hand from atop mine. “Leave all that. We’ll take a break, get something to eat, and dive back in. We can finish this website today.” He slid his hand off mine and I instantly missed the contact. “I mean, if you have time to keep working. I didn’t mean to assume you had nothing else to do today.”

“I have nothing else to do today.” And if I did, I would have cancelled it without hesitation to spend more time with Beckett. I liked being around him.

“Great. C’mon.” He rose to his feet and motioned for me to follow him out of his office.

We landed in his kitchen which had sleek, steel appliances and a lovely, glossy, wooden countertop. I ran my index finger along one of the prominent knots in the wood surface.

“This is a beautiful kitchen.” I glanced back toward the living room then scanned the dining room which had a chunky wood-and-black-iron table with black iron chairs around it. “What I’ve seen of your house so far is beautiful. Did you design this space yourself?”

“I did,” Beckett said. “Each of my siblings—except for Vanessa who now lives with her husband, Spencer—has a house on the property and we all put our own flavor on our living spaces. Most of them went with a more rustic feel that blends with the woods better, but I like modern and I like technology with wooden accents.” He tapped his phone and the lights dimmed then brightened, the windows darkened then lightened, the fireplace flared to life then immediately snuffed.

“Wow. You can control everything from there, can’t you?” I gestured to his phone.

“Pretty much.” His grin was boyish, the electronics clearly delighting him. “It’s mostly powered by solar panels on the roof too so I’m not taxing the grid or polluting the environment.”

I understood pollution. Back in Verdalach, I’d begged my father, the king, to make laws against dumping waste in the Lilyan River that ran through the southern grounds of the palace. He and Cian had laughed at me.

“We have this handled, Aislinn,” Cian had said. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about the river.”

They’d chuckled, completely dismissing me and my ideas.