Crushing on Kate

by Theresa Paolo

  Table of Contents

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  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedicated to Cassie Mae

  Crushing on Kate

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  The End

  Sneak Peek of Moments with Mason

  Other Books by Theresa

  Acknowledgements

  Become a Townie

  About the Author

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  COPYRIGHT

  All rights reserved.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.

  Published by TMP Books

  Copyright April 2017

  Edited by CookieLynn Publishing Services

  Cover Design by Amanda Walker PA and Design Services

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.

  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Dedicated to Cassie Mae

  Who jumped on this roller coaster with me and who continues to hold my hand when fear settles in and I want to get off.

  Chapter 1

  Kate Hayes was content, but more than that, she was happy. It took her thirty-three years to get there, and maybe her life wasn’t exactly how she expected it to be, but she couldn’t deny the smile on her face, the warmth in her heart, and the giddy feeling she got as she stuck a metal rod into the fire surrounded by a curious audience.

  She didn’t have a husband—hell, she didn’t even have a boyfriend—but she had glass blowing, her business, a large family who gave her more love and an even bigger headache than any man could, and that was all she needed.

  The brisk days of winter in Red Maple Falls had melted into beautiful summer days, and she was able to hold her glass blowing demonstrations in the parking lot of her studio. She was limited to her supplies when she was outside, but she was able to do the basics. Most of all, she was able to draw a crowd, and that’s what really mattered to her.

  A smile played at the edges of her lips as a little girl with braided pigtails pushed through to the front of the crowd to watch her more closely. She picked up a pair of tweezers and gave the little girl a big smile.

  “Tweezers are a tool you can use to manipulate the glass,” she said as she pulled the glass like taffy. “Pretty cool, huh?”

  The little girl nodded enthusiastically. Moments like these were what Kate lived for—putting smiles on people’s faces through her art, intriguing them, showing them how to create something from nothing… all little puzzle pieces that made up her happiness.

  She continued the demonstration and finished with a round of applause from the people who stuck around till the end. Usually the small town was filled with familiar faces, but during the summer, tourists from all over visited Red Maple Falls for their picturesque hiking trails, beautiful rivers for kayaking, charming campgrounds, and a simple taste of small town life away from the city.

  The summer was also the time when Kate made a majority of her sales. Most of the time, her summer sales could float her through the rest of the year so it was vital to intrigue the customers enough for them to make a purchase or sign up for one of her classes.

  “Thank you so much. I teach classes twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If anyone is interested I have more information inside. Also, this piece and many more are available for purchase. I hope you all enjoy your time in Red Maple Falls.”

  More applause followed as the crowd broke up. Happy with the turn out, she mentally patted herself on the back for a job well done. She turned to head inside when she smacked right into a hard chest. She glanced up to the man towering over her five feet eight inches and had to stop herself from gasping at the dark brown smoldering eyes staring down at her.

  The man was the picture of perfection with a close shaven beard that bordered on the line of sexy stubble and pretty boy hair that defied gravity in the front with thick strands of chocolate brown. Kate wondered how soft it actually was, but restrained herself from molesting the stranger’s head.

  “Hi. Can I help you?” Kate managed to say even though her throat was dry and that dark gaze of his made her forget her own name.

  “Yeah you can help me,” he barked, “by getting these people out of my damn parking lot.”

  The hot guy spell he had her under completely vanished. “Your parking lot? This is my parking lot. That’s my studio,” she said, pointing to the sign with the words Serenity Glass Blowing Studio written in bold letters.

  “And that is my shop.” He pointed to the place next door that had been vacant after Mae from Mae’s toys broke a hip and had no choice but to shut down. Kate had been patiently waiting, along with the rest of the town, to see who would lease the space. There was even a town bet going around.

  Last month they discovered the place would sell bicycles as hired help hung the wooden sign that said The Chain and Spoke bike shop. Kate had yet to meet the owner, despite her many attempts at stopping by. The man just never seemed to be around when she was… until now, and even though he was hot as sin, that didn’t negate his less than stellar people skills.

  “You must be Caleb James,” she said, hoping they could start fresh.

  His eyebrows pulled together as he narrowed his gaze on her. “How do you know my name?”

  “Welcome to Red Maple Falls where everybody knows your business.” She held out her hand and smiled. “I’m Kate.”

  “That’s nice. Look—” he said, ignoring her offered hand.

  She let her hand fall back to her side with an unintentional roll of the eyes. “Clearly you’re not from around here.”

  “No, I’m from Massachusetts. Not that it’s any of your business, or the town’s for that matter.”

  “I suppose it’s not.” Kate had hoped she’d be able to turn the conversation around, but with his attitude that was not going to happen. If he wanted to play a hard ass then fine, she was done being neighborly. “What exactly can I do for you?”

  “Get these damn people out of the parking lot. We barely have any spaces as it is without you taking up half of it with your arts and crafts hour.”

  “Arts and crafts?” That was it. She sailed right by annoyed and landed straight into infuriated. “I’ll have you know, Mr. Cool Hair, that blowing glass is not just some after school arts and crafts; it’s a real art that requires a lot of training and dedication.”

  “I don’t care what it is. All I care about is opening up these spaces for paying customers.”

  “Too damn bad. I am out here every Saturday this summer. Mae never had a problem with it, and I suggest you find a way to get over it.”

  He straightened his shoulders, making him appear even taller, but she didn’t let that intimidate her. She had three brothers and two spunky sisters; there was no way she’d let some pretty boy with sexy eyes and pouty lips scare her.


  “Maybe I’ll call the cops.”

  She laughed. She couldn’t help herself really. “Go ahead. I dare you. Better yet, I’ll do it for you. My brother is the Sheriff after all.” Matt would be pissed if he got called down there for a meaningless dispute, but he wouldn’t be pissed at her, which made the idea of calling him very tempting.

  “Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be?”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Oh, I’m worrying about it.”

  “That’s your problem, then.”

  “Has anyone ever told you how delightful you are?”

  He stared at her with an intensity that made her knees weak, her mouth go dry, and caused her heart to pick up speed. She swallowed down the weird desire that gaze evoked inside of her and stood her ground. “Are we done here?”

  His top lip curled in what she hoped was annoyance. “For now,” he spat before turning on his expensive looking boat shoes and storming off toward his shop.

  “Asshole,” Kate muttered under her breath as she let her shoulders slump. Tension pulled tight across her back, and she knew she’d be having a glass of Chardonnay as soon as she got home tonight.

  “Who’s an asshole?” she heard Shay, her best friend and Matt’s fiancée, ask. Shay owned Sweet Dreams Bakery only a few doors down and stopped by when she wasn’t overloaded with custom cupcake orders.

  “Him.” Kate flung her finger over her shoulder toward The Chain and Spoke, but pretty boy was already gone. “The new tenant next door.”

  “Oh! You finally met him. What was he like?”

  “He’s an asshole.”

  She grinned. “Do you have any other adjectives to describe him?”

  “Arrogant, pig headed, mean-spirited. He has that pretty boy hair like Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles. You know what I’m talking about? That puff in the front that is perfectly coifed, but he probably rolled out of bed like that.”

  “So, he’s cute.”

  “He was until he opened his mouth. Figures, a cute guy I haven’t known since Kindergarten moves into town, and he turns out to be an asshole. Just my luck.”

  “Maybe he’s having a bad day. Everyone is entitled to one of those every now and again.”

  “Maybe, but he didn’t have to be such a jerk. Who just walks over to someone they’ve never met and starts demanding things?”

  “My mother,” Shay said with a laugh. “But she’s in her own league.”

  “How is Cruella?” Kate asked, using the nickname she gave Shay’s self-entitled, money-loving mother years ago.

  Shay shrugged. “Wouldn’t know.”

  “I’m proud of you,” Kate said, wanting her friend to know. Shay’s mother manipulated Shay for years until Shay finally stood up to her. It was a long time coming, and though Kate wished Shay would’ve told the woman to bug off years ago, she was happy she finally did.

  “I know,” Shay said with a laugh. “She finally stopped calling, too. I think she finally got the hint.”

  “Let’s just hope she doesn’t drive up here from New York and show up on your doorstep.”

  “Bite your tongue!”

  Kate held her hands up in front of her. “I’m just saying I wouldn’t put it past the woman.”

  “Me either, but let’s hope for once she respects my wishes.”

  Kate gathered her things together while she and Shay continued to talk. Brianne, a sweet girl home from her first semester at college was manning the register inside, so Kate had a little time to waste.

  “I actually came over here for a reason,” Shay said as Kate placed all of her tools into a bin.

  “What’s up?”

  “Matt and I were wondering if you’d be free for dinner one day this week?”

  “I have classes Tuesday and Thursday, but other than that I’m free.”

  “Perfect. How about Wednesday? Matt’s working a double on Monday.”

  “Sounds good to me. What time?”

  “Seven?”

  “I’ll be there, and I’ll bring the wine. Unless you’re pregnant and that’s why you want me to come over?”

  Shay closed her eyes and shook her head, a smile tugging at both corners of her mouth. “No, I’m not pregnant. Can you let me get married first?”

  Kate pouted, letting her body droop with added dramatics. “I guess so.”

  “I need to head back before poor Louise quits on me.”

  “That’ll never happen. The girl loves you and that bakery.”

  “She does.” Shay’s eyes shone bright with happiness. With a mother like hers she spent years of her life trying to become someone she wasn’t surrounded by people she didn’t even like. Other than her grandparents she didn’t have much of a family, but now the town and the people of the town were her family and she finally belonged. Kate loved seeing the sparkle in Shay’s eyes, the smile that was constantly on her lips, and the lightness in her step. She had always looked at Shay as another one of her sisters, and when she married Matt it would be official. Kate was more excited about their wedding than she was about ever having her own.

  Shay gave Kate a wave as she headed back to the bakery. Kate glanced over her shoulder at The Chain and Spoke, images of the cranky owner immediately flooding her mind.

  “Too bad Mr. Cool Hair. We could’ve had beautiful babies,” she said to herself as she gathered the rest of her supplies and headed into her studio.

  ***

  Caleb stormed through the door of his bike shop, tension pulling tight across his neck and right into his skull. The damn headache he’d been dealing with for months pulsed to life. He’d done damn near everything to make it stop, short of cutting it off his own shoulders. The doctor said it was stress, and Caleb needed to find ways to minimize and cope. Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one who had his life shit all over him in the matter of months, upending everything and making him question every decision he ever made.

  Though, he did heed the doctor’s advice which was why he was in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. Red Maple Falls was a blip on the map, a miniscule town nestled in the White Mountains. Caleb thought moving to the middle of nowhere was a move in the right direction, until he realized that small towns were more of a nuisance than anything. He couldn’t go to the damn grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread without half the town starting a conversation with him. Was it too much to ask to be left alone?

  Just as the thought came into his mind, the bell above the door rang out. He cursed under his breath, pledging to have that obnoxious noise removed as soon as he remembered where he left his tools.

  He didn’t feel much like smiling, but he needed the business. He had more than enough money to keep it afloat for a long time, but he’d prefer not to post in the red every quarter. He forced a smile on his face and looked up to the potential customer. His smile immediately warped into a scowl when he spotted the strawberry blonde he just had it out with in the parking lot.

  Her eyes scanned around the space, wide with what looked like wonderment. “Definitely not Mae’s Toys anymore,” she said, running her finger along the repurposed wood wall he’d paid a fortune for.

  He didn’t respond to her since he assumed she was just making an observation.

  “You sell bikes?” she asked.

  “What gave it away? The two rows of bikes or the sign that says bike shop?”

  “Do you always have an attitude?” she asked as she moved closer to him, her hips swaying with each step. She was tall, and being six-four himself, it was a trait he liked in a girl. She wasn’t model thin either like he was used to; she had curves for days that he could imagine sinking his fingers into while—

  No. He stopped the thought right there.

  Women were nothing but stress in sexy packages, manipulating and self-involved. They were the root of all evil, and the number one stress factor in his life. He’d gone months without as much as glancing in a woman’s direction, and while he wasn�
�t completely stress-free, he had noticed a difference. Taking away the worry of someone else lessened the burden on his shoulders, and he didn’t plan to add it back any time soon.

  “Why are you here?” he asked, deciding to skip the small talk and get right to the point.

  She moved closer—too close—surrounding him in what he imagined sunlight would smell like—sweet with a touch of citrus. “I thought we could start over.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want earlier to be your first impression of me.” Her blue-green eyes pinned him in place. She had that innocent glow about her, friendly and inviting, but it was a glow he’d fallen for before only to find out he’d been duped, and he’d be damned if he fell for it again.

  “Too late. You can’t redo a first impression.”

  “I’m trying to be nice here, but obviously, you don’t understand the sentiment.”

  “Obviously.”

  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and popped them back open. “Look this is a small town. We’re neighbors and neither of us is going anywhere anytime soon, so why don’t we forget about everything before this moment and agree to be civil.” Her eyelashes fluttered which he’d guess she threw in there for good measure.

  Women were calculated creatures, and everything they did had a motive behind it. He wasn’t stupid—at least not anymore—and there was no way in hell he was going to be made a fool again. He wasn’t going to fall for the girl next door act because beneath the baggy t-shirt and rolled up jeans, he could guarantee she was far from innocent.

  “What do you say?” She flashed a smile, showing straight white teeth.. She was trying hard, he’d give her that.

  He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. “Are you going to stop taking up my parking spots?”

  “When the weather gets colder, absolutely.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  She let out an annoyed breath, her hands landing firmly on her ample hips. “I have been in that parking lot every season since I opened. I’ve become a staple to this town. My demonstrations attract customers, and I am not going to let some pretty boy jerk take that away.”