Chapter 8

Our food arrived, and Joelle did not hesitate to devour her dinner. I was right there with her, even though my beer was not nearly as potent as her hot pink drink. She popped a cheese curd into her mouth and groaned.

“How did I never know about these?”

“It sounds to me like you’ve lived a very sheltered and boring life.”

She nodded, her face falling with my words. “You’re right. I’ve let others tell me what to do for so long, and I’ve allowed myself to be deprived of everything fun. Like cheese curds.”

“And falling in love. What else have you been deprived of?”

She sighed and leaned back, reaching for the water she switched to after her pink drink was gone. “Everything. I can’t think of any decisions I’ve made for myself before I came here.”

“Okay, so you’ve yelled ~fuck~, you fell in love with a drink, you’re enjoying greasy food. What else would you do?”

She looked at me from beneath those long lashes again, her hazel eyes turning navy as I stared back at her. She sat up, setting her water down and leaned toward me. “Well, I feel pretty sober, and I still can’t stop thinking about kissing you, so…”

I smirked. “You think there’s any chance I’d say no to you?”

“You wouldn’t be the first,” she mumbled.

I caught her hand before she pulled it back.

She gasped and looked up at me.

“Anyone who says no to you is a fool.”

“I haven’t heard a yes.”

“Oh, there’s definitely a yes coming. But not here. I’m going to kiss you when there are no witnesses and no one to tell us to stop. I’m going to kiss you until you’re just as twisted up as I am.”

She sucked in a breath, her eyes falling half-closed.

“Are you still at the Inn?”

She nodded. “Are you angling for an invite back to my place?”

I laughed. “Not tonight. I was just curious. How long are you in town?”

Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know how long you’re here for vacation?”

“It wasn’t entirely planned. But I’m not looking to leave right away.”

“Good.” I saw the server approaching with our check. I thanked her and signed the statement, pocketing my card before I reached for Joelle’s hand.

She let me help her out of the booth and didn’t pull her hand from mine as we walked toward the door. Or when we stepped out into the warm evening.

“Where are you parked?” I asked her.

She pointed the direction I’d parked, and we started down the sidewalk together, hand-in-hand.

“Are you going to be here this weekend?”

She nodded. “I am.”

“Any interest in a festival to celebrate MacKellar Cove?”

“I was already planning to attend. Will I see you there?”

“I was hoping so.” I spotted her car a few spots down from my truck. Instead of continuing to her car, I stopped us and pulled her body against mine. I cupped her jaw with my free hand, tilting her head back to meet her gaze under the streetlight.

She bit the tip of my thumb, then slid her tongue over the pad.

My cock twitched against her belly. “Are you still sober enough to know you’re kissing me?”

“I might look for another hot man to kiss if you don’t stop talking and start doing,” she sassed.

I didn’t need more of an invitation, or threat, than that. I yanked her closer, my hand sliding to the back of her neck and up into her hair, tangling in the strands as I brought my lips to hers.

She gasped as our lips touched. I ignored the zap that spread through me instantly and licked the inside of her lips.

She sighed and tightened her grip on me, her hands clutching my shirt. Her tongue slid alongside mine, her breath rushing past my cheek. She little sounds she made added to the heaviness in my dick.

She tasted of sweetness from the alcohol and fried cheese curds. Her perfume was subtle, like a forgotten memory. Her hair was soft in my fingers.

I backed up until my back hit the side of my truck and dropped a hand to her waist, sliding it around her back to keep her body against mine. Her curves were full and soft and so fucking tempting I could barely control myself. I ached for her. For more than a kiss.

She moaned softly, the sound and the feeling hitting me at the same time. I took over the kiss, plunging my tongue deep into her mouth, letting my teeth clash with hers. She gasped, then sighed, then slid her hand around my neck to tease the hairs on my nape.

Her ankle wrapped around my calf, and I tightened my hold on her, letting her rub against my erection. The moan that slipped past her lips was not one of casual enjoyment. That was a sound of pure pleasure.

“Joelle,” I whispered against her lips, breaking the kiss enough to get the word out. “Fuck, I want this more than you know, but not on the street.”

“I thought you weren’t trying to get an invite to my room.”

I chuckled. “I’m not. Right now. Especially when you said you wanted to kiss me, not go home with me.”

She sighed. “Are you always this perceptive?”

“I try to be. I have no intention of being your vacation regret.”

“What about my vacation fling?”

I groaned. “You’re killing me, gorgeous.”

She giggled. “I was the one trying for more than just a kiss.”

“And I’ll happily agree to whatever it is you want when you know you’re good with it.”

“I’ve never known anyone like you.”

“I hope that’s not a bad thing.”

She disengaged from me, taking a small step back. “No, not like you’re thinking. Maybe it’s bad that I never knew decent people existed. Unless you’re really good at pretending to be someone you’re not.”

I shook my head. “What you see is what you get with me. I don’t like games.” I’d been played enough.

“I think I like that.”

“You think?”

“Some games can be fun,” she whispered.

“Well, damn, when you put it that way.” I tugged her back against me and devoured her, letting her feel how much I wanted her in my kiss and my cock.

She pushed me against my truck again, pressing her curves tight to my body and tugging my shirt away from my shorts. She slid one hand across my bare skin, and I hissed at the contact.

“I’m going to have an even harder time saying no to you if you keep doing that.”

“Touching you?” she asked, dragging her nails over my stomach.

“Fuck,” I hissed.

She giggled again.

I shuddered with her touch and pulled her against me, trapping her hands so she couldn’t tip me over the edge right there on the sidewalk. “And here I thought you’d be the one losing your mind when I kissed you. I didn’t know you were a temptress.”

She laughed, the sound husky and full of desire. “I’ve never had this power over any other man I’ve ever met.”

“And again, they were all fools.”

“Or you are.”

I snorted. “I have no doubt, but not because I can’t wait to get you naked.”

She trembled with her inhale. “I definitely need to go if you’re not going to fulfill all these promises.”

I chuckled. “I will. When I know it’s you and not your lust begging me for more.”

“I’m not begging. Proper women don’t beg.”

“Who said anything about proper? I’ll beg for more of you every chance I get.”

She nibbled her lip, and I wondered what that meant.

“You’re okay to drive, right?” I asked, straightening to walk her the rest of the way down the sidewalk.

“Yes, I’m good,” she said with a side-eye.

“What?”

“You thought I was sober enough to make out with you but not to drive?”

I laughed. “Just making sure. Driving is more dangerous.”

“Says you.”

I laughed again, shaking my head. “I’ll see you this weekend?”

“I’ll be around.”

We stopped at her car, and I pulled her into my arms for another quick taste. I couldn’t resist her.

She sighed and fell against me, giving everything right back to me that I gave to her. She was the first one to pull back. “Thank you for tonight.”

“I’m happy you wanted to meet.”

“I’m happy the sexy landscaper was the one I was matched with.”

I groaned. “Definitely killing me.”

She laughed. “It’s all mutual.”

I stepped back so she could get in her car, then waited for her to drive away. When she made a turn and disappeared, I went to my truck and headed home to Molly.

* * *

The next two days passed in a hurry. I worked constantly, barely getting all my clients taken care of before crashing at night.

Saturday morning, I was up and at it again. With the festival going on over the weekend, the outskirts of town were quiet. I started my day at Mountain View Retreat instead of waiting until Sunday. Natalie, the owner of the property, said there were no events that day. I never liked having things hanging over my weekend, and breaking up the two biggest properties I maintained made two shorter days instead of one long day.

Molly ran around the property while I worked. I started with cutting the grass, moving my way from the far edges to the front. When I finished mowing the grass, Molly meowed at me from the porch of the office building.

“Need some water?” I asked her, grabbing her dish from the truck and a bottle from my cooler.

Molly rubbed against my hand as I poured water for her, then she dunked her head into the dish.

I laughed. “You’re a weird cat.”

She looked up at me with water dripping off her face. “Meow.”

I shook my head and scratched her ears. I finished the water and took the empty bottle back to my truck. When I got back to the porch, Molly was curled up next to her water, a puddle all around her and the bowl empty.

“I guess you were warm,” I said.

She opened one eye to look at me, then closed it and went back to sleep.

I grabbed the trimmer and kept working on the massive property. I switched that tool for another, and kept going, ignoring the sun blazing down on me and the rumble in my stomach.

The last thing I had to do was check the plants around the buildings. Natalie wanted the place to be inviting, so we planted flowers and other plants around the buildings to soften the appearance.

Most of them came back without any issues. I’d been babying a few of the plants. They were the ones closest to the walkways and most likely to be trampled by excited kids on their way in and out of buildings. So far, they were looking pretty good, but summer camp was starting in a few weeks, and my hopes of them making it were small.

I made a note in my phone to speak to Natalie about the options, and a note to ask Landon about more traffic resistant plants, even though I knew what he would say.

~There’s no such thing. ~

I packed up the rest of my things and did a general check of the property. All looked good, so I called for Molly to get in the truck and grabbed her water bowl before going to Blossom & Grow to drop off the trailer.

I heard Landon’s voice as I walked in. He’d been noncommittal about the festival, but I knew it would be good for him to go. I waited for him to finish with the customer he had, then walked out from the back. “Yo.”

He turned and jerked his head my way. “Hey. You here to talk me into going?”

“Yep. I need to shower, then I’ll be back to get you.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, you definitely need to shower. I thought you had plans today.”

“Nothing concrete.”

“I thought you liked Joelle?”

“I do. But I’m not going to ditch you.”

“Why not? You’ve always wanted to settle down. Why wouldn’t you jump at the chance?”

“She’s only here for a little while. She said she’s going home eventually.”

“Where’s home for her?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. She never said.”

“Seriously?”

“What?”

Landon looked closely at me, a little too closely. He saw things I didn’t want anyone to see. Things I wasn’t looking to talk about or face. “What if she decides to stick around?”

The question had my throat tightening. Someone changing their life for me? I heard that lie before and was burned when the truth came out. “She won’t.”

“But what if she does?”

“Why are you asking this? She has a life somewhere else. She’s staying at the Inn. She’s not moving here.”

“Why are you getting defensive?”

“Why are you so curious?”

Landon shrugged. “I’m just wondering why you always say you want to get married and have a family, but you’re pushing forty and still single.”

“Wow, thanks. So happy you can remind me of my failures.”

“It’s not a failure. But I am wondering why you’re spending time with a woman you know isn’t going to be your future.”

“Because I like her. Is that wrong?”

Landon pursed his lips and shook his head. “Nope. I close in an hour. I’ll see you then.”

I nodded. “Sounds good.”

Landon waved as another customer walked in the front door.

I headed out the back, irritated by his questions. I had nothing to defend. Joelle was fun. The fact that she was temporary was not an issue. I didn’t like to limit myself to people who lived in MacKellar Cove. Even though I had no intention of leaving again.

I would find someone. I wanted what my parents had. That person who would always be there for me. I would find them eventually. But if I only dated people who wanted the same thing, I’d be miserable.

There was nothing wrong with how I lived my life. With enjoying time with people who wouldn’t be in my life forever. Joelle and I both knew the score. I wasn’t making promises I couldn’t keep, and neither was she.

An hour later, I was back at Landon’s. The store was locked, he’d changed into something that didn’t say Blossom & Grow, and we were ready to go.

“I got a match,” he said when he got in my truck.

“Did you reach out to her?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Are you going to?”

“I don’t know.”

“I thought you were ready to date again.”

“I did, too, but now that it’s an option, I’m not so sure.”

“You don’t have to meet the woman. Just have a conversation.”

“How in the hell do you do that? I was with Reegan for years. Our lives were so tangled together that I never imagined them being separate. Now, it’s like we’re strangers.”

“I don’t know, man. I’ve never been in a relationship like yours was. Where we did everything together and shared everything.”

“Except live together,” he said. It was the reason they ended things months ago. Landon asked her to move in, and she signed a lease on her own place.

“You guys will figure out if that was the right call.”

He snorted. “Will we? We don’t even talk.”

“Then maybe that’s the answer.” I parked the truck a few blocks from Catherine Park and turned off the ignition.

“You never liked her, did you?”

“Whoa, what? I never said that.”

“You haven’t tried to convince me to get her back either.”

“Because that’s not my place. You ended things with her. That was your choice. I don’t need to be telling you that you made a mistake.”

“So you think I made a mistake?”

“Dammit, dude, I didn’t say that. I want to see you happy. If that’s with Reegan, then good. If it’s with someone else, cool. I can’t tell you what’s right.”

“But you fall in love every week, so you think I should find someone new.”

“Landon, I didn’t say that.”

“No. You say life’s too short for regrets and to hold back. But are you really living your life? You’re screwing around with a woman who’s not staying here and you’re totally fine with it. Why? Do you really want a relationship or are you just saying that because you think you’re supposed to?”

“Why are you trying to psychoanalyze me?”

He tilted his head. “I don’t think I should go to this thing today.”

“Why not? We’re already here.”

“Yeah, but I’m just not in the mood for a festival. You go have fun. I’m going to walk home.” He got out of the truck and headed down the sidewalk, away from town.

“Landon!”

He waved and kept going.

“Dammit,” I breathed. I watched him go, the slump of his shoulders telling me he was not in the mood for company.

I thought he was doing better. I thought he was getting over Reegan. I thought he was going to be okay.

They were just one more couple who failed. One more time love ended. I’d seen it more than I could count. Love always ended.