by Jennie Marts
“Sounds perfect. You said half the town will be there, so you can introduce me as your girlfriend while I help you pass out the poles.”
He nodded, any response he might have had stuck in his throat at the thought of introducing her as his girlfriend.
“And I heard you say concessions, so we can grab something to eat there, if that’s okay.”
He nodded again. “Sure. But you’re missing a key part of this plan. No one’s going to believe a guy like me suddenly has a girlfriend that looks like you.”
Her eyes widened. “That sounded an awful lot like a compliment.” She nudged him in the ribs. “And I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit. You’re cute and funny and have a job—you’re a total catch.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Did she just say he was cute? That was the second time she’d said something like that. Maybe she really thought it. “They’re still not going to believe it.”
“Then we’re just going to have to be really convincing.” She grinned and slid into the front seat of her car. “Pick me up at five.”
Two hours later, he pulled up in front of the bed and breakfast at five on the dot. She was standing on the porch then smiled and waved before she ran down the steps and to his truck.
He’d taken a shower and spent ten minutes fooling with the curly cowlick on the top of his head. The damn thing wouldn’t lie flat. He’d even resorted to putting a little dab of some funny hair gel stuff on it that the She-Devil had insisted he buy, but the dang curl kept popping back up.
He finally gave up. Who cared about a stupid cowlick? Who cared about his hair at all? This was just a ruse to get him to give her information. It’s not like she was really interested in him. So why had he taken extra care in trimming his beard and then splashed on some of his “good” cologne before leaving the bathroom?
He wore jeans and square-toed cowboy boots and had even put on a short-sleeved button-up shirt instead of his normal T-shirt. Not that he was trying to impress her or anything.
“Hey there.” She’d opened the door and slid into the truck before he even had a chance to get out and grab the door for her. Her face beamed with a smile, and her eyes shone as she buckled her seat belt. “I’m so excited. I’ve never been to something like this before. Do you think they’ll have cotton candy? I’ve always wanted to try cotton candy. And what about those corn dog things? Do you think they’ll have those?”
She talked a mile a minute as they drove into town and then pulled into the parking lot of the city park. Colorful tents and awnings circled the small pond in the middle of the park.
This time she let him open the truck door for her, then climbed out and slipped her hand into his.
What the hell? He started to pull back, but she held on.
Leaning in, she whispered, “Remember, we’re supposed to be a real couple. This is what a real couple would do. Just go with it. I guarantee this is the quickest way to get gossip going. And by the way, you smell amazing, and the boots are crazy hot.”
Heat crept up his neck, but he tightened his grip on her hand and led her into the crowd toward the corn dog booth.
They had one corn dog, two glasses of lemonade, a container of ribbon fries, and were working on a funnel cake as they ate their way through the event.
He’d introduced Avery to a half dozen folks which earned him a few curious stares and he was sure got at least a few tongues wagging.
But Avery’s tongue was too busy tasting all of the food to worry about talking. She loved every new thing he bought for her to try, exclaiming over the crunchy goodness of the corn dog and the sweet tartness of the fresh-squeezed lemonade.
She literally moaned when she put a bite of funnel cake in her mouth. He’d never seen anyone eat with so much pleasure.
“You act like you’ve never had a funnel cake before,” he said, almost moaning himself as he watched her lick the dusting of powdered sugar off the side of her lip. How did this woman turn eating funnel cake into a sensual experience?
“I haven’t. I’m from Chicago; we don’t really eat food like this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we have great food. We’ve got the Chicago dog and the best deep dish pizza you’ll ever have in your life—I just haven’t ever had anything quite like this. Maybe it just tastes so good after all that mountain air and exercise I got today.”
Yeah. That was probably it.
“Uh-oh. Target spotted. She’s headed this way. It’s show time.”
What? Target? Show time? What the hell was she talking about? He was still trying to get over the way she licked her lips. He felt like an imbecile around her.
And now she was draping an arm around his neck and leaning in to whisper in his ear. “Leanne is headed this way. Pretend I just said something funny and laugh out loud.”
The feel of her breath tickled his neck, and he fought not to shiver as an electric tingle darted up his spine. He couldn’t move, couldn’t seem to focus.
She nudged him in the ribs, and he barked out a laugh that sounded like a cross between an injured dog and a sea lion.
She raised an eyebrow. “What the hell was that?” she asked, under her breath.
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “I panicked. I can’t laugh on command.”
“Plan B, then.” She slipped her other arm around his neck and pulled his head toward hers.
Before he could grasp what was happening, before he could even blink, she tipped her head up and pressed her lips to his.
Chapter Six
The kiss was quick, over in an instant, but he’d had time to feel the softness of her skin and taste the lingering sweetness of powdered sugar on her lips.
He stood frozen, still feeling the way her hands tightened for a moment around the back of his neck and how her fingers had woven into his hair.
“Crisis averted,” Avery said, looking over his shoulder. “But I’m not sure if she saw us or not. She turned and walked toward the pond.”
“Wha—oh yeah, good.” He shook his head, realizing that his hands still gripped her back. When had he slipped his arms around her waist? He didn’t even remember doing it.
Geez—what was this woman doing to him? He dropped his arms. This was all just an act to her, he reminded himself. She probably kissed men like that all the time.
But he hadn’t kissed another woman since Sheila had walked out his door. Hadn’t had the desire or the opportunity to. It wasn’t like he was playing the field. He had tried to go on a date, took a woman to dinner. She’d asked him, and he thought he should get back on the dating horse. But the whole night had been awkward and uncomfortable, and he’d barely fumbled a kiss on her cheek when he told her good night.
And that had been enough for him. He hadn’t gone on another date since. He didn’t need the embarrassment and discomfort of spending time with someone that he wasn’t really even that interested in. And he hadn’t found anyone else that had even piqued his interest enough to want to spend time with them.
Until now. Until Avery.
What was it about her that had his stomach in knots and his palms starting to sweat?
“I’m pretty sure she saw that kiss, though. It probably looked better from the back,” Avery was saying as she fiddled with the button on his shirt pocket and nonchalantly peered over his shoulder.
All he could feel was the slight pressure of her fingertips on his chest, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and his mouth go dry. He’d thought the kiss had seemed pretty good from the front.
But he hadn’t been pretending, exactly.
“We should probably get to the booth,” he said, turning away from her so she wouldn’t see the disappointment, or the lingering desire, in his eyes. “Matt’s gonna be looking for us to hand out those fishing poles.”
“I thought you said we weren’t allowed to call them that.” She hurried along behind him as he strode toward the booth.
He picked up a pink child’s fishing pole and held it out to he
r. “You’re not allowed to call a fly rod a fishing pole, but if it’s pink and has any sort of princess emblem on it, you can call it a fishing pole.” He handed her a red and blue one. “Same goes if it has a super hero anywhere on it.”
“Got it.”
Kids were already starting to line up in front of the booth as they stepped inside and said hello to Matt. He raised an eyebrow at Avery’s presence but didn’t say anything, just handed her a stack of fishing poles and a red marker.
“Put an X on the back of their hand after you give them a pole,” Matt explained. “That way they can’t come back later and try to get another free one.”
They spent the next thirty minutes passing out fishing poles, marking hands, and sharing tips on fishing with the kids and parents in line.
Well, he and Matt talked about fishing. He overheard a few of Avery’s conversations and most of them consisted of topics like books, TV show characters, and the latest superhero movies. So, nothing fishing related.
But she had the kids giggling as they excitedly took the poles and asked their parents to take them out fishing. So she was getting the job done.
She was just doing it in Avery-style.
After she handed each of them a pole, the kids made their way to Sully and Matt, who helped them get set up to fish in the pond. They had purchased several jars of salmon eggs and enough red and white bobbers for each pole to have one. After they each got their line ready, the kids could walk to the pond and try to catch a fish.
Sully handed Avery a jar of salmon eggs to open as he finished baiting a hook for a cute little girl with curly pigtails.
“They look like those red hot candies,” she said to a boy who stood next to her in line.
He nodded, his eyes wide in anticipation as Sully dumped a few into his hand.
Avery twisted the lid off the new jar while watching the boy lift his hand to his mouth to try one. She wrinkled her nose. “Ewww.”
They both recoiled at the same time as they caught whiffs of the stinky fish eggs.
“That is not candy,” the boy said, making a face followed by a giggle. “It smells like fish farts.”
Out of the mouths of babes. Sully hadn’t heard that particular description before, and he grinned as he watched Avery dissolve into giggles with the boy.
“The fish love them,” Sully said, showing the kid how to push the hook through the squishy middle of a red egg.
“I’ll eat one. For a dollar.” Sully recognized the next boy in line as the kid held out his hand for a salmon egg.
“You will do no such thing, Connor James. That is disgusting,” a loud female voice reprimanded, and Sully looked up to see Leanne grabbing the arm of the boy. She offered them a half-hearted smile. “Sorry about that. Boys will be boys.”
Uh-oh. He figured Leanne would eventually find her way over to their booth at some point tonight, but he wasn’t ready yet. He wasn’t prepared to introduce Avery as his girlfriend.
And what if she kissed him again?
The thought both excited and terrified him at the same time. “Hey, Leanne. You remember Avery?”
Avery took a step closer to him and rested a hand on his arm. He felt the heat of her skin through his shirt, and he swallowed at the nearness of her as she pressed against his shoulder.
Avery opened her mouth to speak, but Matt cut her off, stepping between them as he said hello to Leanne and held a fishing pole out to Connor.
“Hey there,” Matt said. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve eaten worse things than salmon eggs, and for less than a dollar.”
Connor grinned up at him, a gap visible where he’d lost a tooth. “Like what?”
“Like Brussels sprouts. Now those are gross.” Matt glanced up at Leanne’s disapproving stare and sobered his expression. “I mean, sometimes. But they’re also good for you. And if cooked just right, then they can be dee-licious.”
Nice save.
Although Sully didn’t think the kid was buying it. “You excited to try out some fishing tonight?” he asked. “It looks like a few kids have already got a bite.”
Leanne leaned forward, displaying a generous amount of cleavage. She wore white capris, with some kind of high heels and a tight-fitting wrap-around top that pushed everything up and out, and Sully averted his gaze. Who wore white pants and heels to an event that focused on spending time outside anyway?
“I was hoping you could come over and show us how to do this fishing thing,” she said, not quite batting her eyes, but close enough. She ignored Avery and leaned farther in. “It’s Connor’s first time, and I don’t know a thing about it. I thought maybe you could give me a little hands-on training.”
Geez—could this woman be any more obvious? Now seemed like as good a time as any to reveal his “relationship” with Avery. “Sorry, I’m taken. I’m with Avery.”
Wow. Smooth move. Could he be any more awkward?
She looked quizzically between him and Avery, her brows furrowed as if trying to discern if he meant “with” Avery or “with-with” Avery.
He wanted to reach out and grab Avery’s hand, but suddenly his arms felt foreign and uncooperative like he didn’t know where to put them or how to hold them, so he dropped them to his sides.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Again, Matt stepped in. “I’ll take you down and show you, Leanne.” He turned to Sully. “Can you finish passing out these last few poles while I get Connor set up at the pond?”
“Yeah, sure,” he stammered, thankful that Matt had intervened.
He didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to face Leanne. It sounded easy when it was about letting the town start rumors and having her hear about him having a girlfriend from someone else. It was another thing entirely when he had to stand in front of her and tell it to her face.
This woman business was hard. He just wanted to go home and hang out with his dog.
Two kids in line had picked up a couple of the remaining fishing poles and were having a rowdy sword fight with them, so he waved Matt and Leanne on as he turned to deal with the dueling kids.
He and Avery got the kids settled down and the last of the fishing poles handed out.
With the booth finally empty, Avery sank into the lawn chair with a sigh. “Whew. That was crazy. Little kids are exhausting. All those questions.”
He chuckled, replacing the lid on the salmon eggs and stuffing the remaining plastic wrappers into a garbage bag. “Yeah. But some of them are hilarious.”
“True.” She eyed the leftover bobbers and jars of bait. “I thought you said you didn’t bait fish. That you didn’t even carry bait in your store.”
“I don’t. I had to order these for this event.” He sank into the chair next to her. “I said that I don’t fish with bait, but interest in the sport of fishing is waning in the younger generation, and the goal here is just to get them excited about fishing at a young age and to see it as something fun to do.”
She gazed toward the pond, where rows of parents were helping their kids to cast their lines into the water. “They look like they’re having fun. And that’s great stuff that I could use in the article. I can talk about all of the benefits of teaching your kids to fish.” She nudged his knee. “See, this article isn’t going to be so bad.”
He grunted his annoyance. Why did she have to bring up the stupid article? “Just don’t forget your end of the bargain. Leanne didn’t even bat an eyelash at your presence.” His tone sounded a little harsher than he’d intended, but she didn’t seem bothered.
“She was certainly batting her eyelashes at you.” She offered him an impish grin. “We’ll just have to work harder at convincing her. Up our game a little.”
Oh boy. He didn’t know exactly what that meant. And he wasn’t sure if he was going to like her ideas of how she planned to up her game. But he was more afraid that he was going to like them too much. He cleared his throat, trying to come up with a clever comeback, but a new family approached the booth and a
sked for a pole.
They spent the next hour talking to kids and their parents, then tore down and cleaned up the booth. The tubs he and Matt had labeled ahead of time made it easy, and they were done in no time.
They loaded the tubs and the awning into the back of Matt’s truck, and he offered to bring it back to the shop.
“I guess we’re done for the night, then,” Sully told Avery as he brushed his dusty hands on his jeans. “Unless there’s something else you want to do or some other food you still want to try.”
He was half teasing, but she waggled her eyebrows at him. “Wellll, we haven’t had any cotton candy yet.”
He chuckled. Lord, this woman can eat.
She must work out, though, as evidenced by her slim waist and muscled legs. Tonight, she wore a white V-neck T-shirt, with a multi-colored scarf, denim shorts, and a pair of low-top white Converse sneakers she’d told him she found at the drug store in town. He’d been admiring her legs all night, wondering if they felt as smooth as they looked.
He took her hand, trying to appear casual, even though his heart was pounding against his chest. “We better go find some, then. I don’t want you to miss out on a chance to try a new snack.” He liked that he could tease her and she didn’t get angry—just took it and gave it right back.
“Cotton candy has got to be better than those salmon eggs you tried to pass off as candy earlier.”
He led her through the short row of booths, self-conscious of the fact that they were holding hands, sure that half the town had already noticed.
He noticed, too, the way her fingers linked with his, the way her shoulder bumped against his as they wandered across the park. Holding hands seemed so innocent, but it was actually quite intimate, just touching another person, the spark of connection as their palms pressed against each other.
He didn’t want to admit how much he enjoyed it.
“It looks like they have blue flavor and pink flavor,” he said, letting go of her hand to dig out his wallet.
