by Jennie Marts
“Peaches?”
She shrugged, her lips curving into a grin. “Hey, she was peach-colored, and I was only eight years old. What can I say?” She laughed then covered her mouth. “Oh great. Now I just told you my childhood pet’s name. If you only knew my birthday, you could get through half of my computer’s passwords.”
“When’s your birthday?”
“June twenty-third.” She groaned and smacked herself in the forehead. “Shoot, I mean December twenty-fifth.” She shook her head. “I’m terrible at this. But I’m not telling you the name of the street I lived on as a kid. Oh wait, maybe that’s not for passwords, maybe that’s for my stripper name.”
He choked on a french fry. Unable to speak, he had to take a sip of soda to cool him down from imagining her half naked and dancing around a pole. “Your stripper name? You were a stripper?” Geez, he thought he was getting to know her, but evidently he didn’t know her at all.
She laughed and playfully slugged him in the arm. “No, of course not. You know, it’s one of those funny things they do on Facebook where you take the street name you lived on as a kid and mash it with your pet’s name, and that’s supposed to be your stripper name. Like Fluffy Jefferson or Ginger Pleasant.”
He was glad he hadn’t taken another bite. “Fluffy Jefferson? Oh no.” He chuckled, then laughed out loud as a sudden thought struck him.
“What’s so funny?”
“I was just remembering our first dog’s name was Rosie, and we lived on Cherry Lane.”
Avery’s eyes widened, then she broke into a fit of giggles. “I’m not even going to tell you the name of the street I lived on, but you can imagine that it doesn’t matter what it was when my pet’s name was Peaches. It could be anything, and it would still be funny.”
He laughed with her. Something about the sound of her laughter did funny things to his insides.
Catching his breath, he lay back on the blanket, and she snuggled into the crook of his arm. He didn’t want their picnic to end. This perfect moment of them laughing and him holding her as the last rays of the sun disappeared over the ridge of the mountain, and the sounds of crickets chirping in the distance brought on the night.
Sadie sighed and shifted against his leg, and he didn’t want this time—their time together—to end.
“I’m learning so much about you,” he said. “Tell me more. Are you still close to your family? Have you always lived in Chicago? How do you like your eggs?”
She chuckled. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“Do I?”
She laughed again and shook her head. “Good one. And yes, I’m still very close to my family. My mom is still in Chicago, and we try to get together for lunch or coffee a couple times a month. I already told you that I have a younger brother, and he gives me a hard time more often than not. Probably why getting a lot of grief doesn’t bother me. I’m used to getting it from him and giving it right back.”
“You still close?”
“Sure. He lives in California now. But we talk on the phone once a week or so.” She tilted her head up at him. “And I like my eggs scrambled, in case you were considering fixing me some for breakfast in the morning.”
“I didn’t mean…I wasn’t trying to say—” he stuttered.
She nudged into him. “I’m just teasing you.”
He wasn’t teasing. He did want to make breakfast for her—tomorrow morning and every morning.
“I mean, I do want to make you breakfast. If you would like that.”
“I would. Do you think Miss Abigail would worry if I didn’t come back to the bed and breakfast tonight? Although that would certainly work in your favor to add more substance to the rumors of our relationship.”
He felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Why did she have to bring that up now? He didn’t want to think about that. He just wanted to be with her. Even if it was pretend. He wasn’t ready to stop pretending. Not just yet.
“So, about that,” she said, her tone telling him that she was about to say something he didn’t want to hear. “I need to tell you something. It’s about Leanne.”
He turned to her and put a finger on her lips. “I don’t want to know. I don’t care about Leanne. I don’t care about the rumors and what’s real and what’s pretend. I just want to be here with you. Now. This is real enough for me. You’re real. You’re lying in my arms, and I’m considering kissing you. That’s enough for me.”
Her eyes softened, and she offered him a naughty grin. “That’s enough for me, too. Please continue your considering.”
He leaned in, pressed his lips to hers, and everything else fell away.
…
“I just need to grab my phone,” Sully said, walking up the steps of the shop.
The kissing in the park had turned to touching, and he’d invited her back to his cabin for dessert. Then he’d remembered his phone on the way to his place. “I wouldn’t bother with it, really,” he explained. “Except I want to take the day off tomorrow and figure I should have it in case Matt needs to get ahold of me. I can’t believe I left it here. Although, it’s your fault, really.”
“My fault?” she asked, following him up the stairs. “How is it my fault?”
“Because you’re so dang pretty I can’t always think straight when you’re around.” He turned back to give her a quick kiss then noticed something over her shoulder. He pointed at the lone car in the lot. “Isn’t that Leanne’s car? Wonder why it’s still here?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier. She fell on the steps when she was here this afternoon. You know when you slipped out the back and went down to the creek? Anyway, she banged up her knee and was having trouble walking on it. Matt gave her a ride home.”
“That was nice of him. I hope she’s okay.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure she’s going to be okay.”
“Holy shit. What happened in here?” Sully had pushed open the door of the store, and he stared wide-eyed at the mess inside.
The T-shirt display had been knocked over, and colorful shirts were spread out across the floor. A stack of papers and a carton of sunscreen lip balm looked like they had been swept off the counter and lay strewn across the T-shirts.
“It looks like you’ve been robbed,” she said, sliding in behind him.
His heart raced, thinking about the possibility, then slowed as his eye caught on a lacy red bra that lay amidst the rubble. What the hell? “Not unless the burglar took off their bra to rob the place.”
They stepped across the mess, noting a lone white tennis shoe by the counter. That’s weird—who took off their bra before their shoe?
The other shoe wasn’t far behind, and they followed a trail of scattered clothing behind the counter and into the back room where they found Matt and Leanne curled up asleep in the latest 3-Season down-filled sleeping bag, their bare arms a pretty good indication that they were both naked.
A pie plate sat next to their heads, what looked like the remnants of a banana cream pie/chocolate cake mixture still in the pan. A round float inner tube sat next to them, a tell-tale smear of chocolate frosting across the side.
“Ahem.” He cleared his throat and kicked at Matt’s foot, or what he assumed was the general vicinity of Matt’s foot.
The younger man’s eyes fluttered, then opened wide as he caught sight of Sully and Avery. “Oh, shit.” He struggled to sit up in the constrictive sleeping bag. He had a smudge of chocolate frosting on his cheek and what Sully only hoped was whipped cream matted in his hair.
Leanne stirred next to him then came awake as she must have remembered where they were.
As she tried to sit up next to Matt, Sully realized she wasn’t exactly naked but had on a tan fishing vest, the single button trying valiantly to hold in her ample breasts but not quite making it, and they spilled out the sides and the top.
The mummy-style sleeping bag wasn’t helping anything, and he caught flashes of bare skin as they adjusted.
&nbs
p; He averted his eyes, trying to pretend he hadn’t seen the smear of chocolate visible across the top of her chest. “Something you want to tell me here, Matt?”
“I’m sorry, Sully, but really, I’ve had a thing for her for quite a while, and I really like her kid, and I thought you were with Avery now. So I thought you’d be okay with it.”
“I am with Avery now, so you two can do whatever you want. I’m talking about the shop.”
“Oh, yeah, well, you see, I took Leanne home earlier, so we came back tonight to get her car and the cake/pie thing she made. It was in the fridge, so we just came in for a second, and I was showing her the T-shirts and then, I don’t know, one thing led to another and—”
Sully held up his hand. “Stop. I don’t need to hear the details. I’m only concerned about who’s gonna clean this place up. We need to be open for business by nine a.m.” He glared at Matt, whose face was as red as a tomato.
Leanne gave him a saucy grin, apparently unconcerned about her somewhat odd attire and the fact that her hair looked like it had been run through a blender. “Don’t worry, Sully. We’ll clean it up. You won’t even know this happened.”
“Except for the images burned into my brain,” he mumbled.
“And I was planning to buy this sleeping bag anyway,” Matt said. “Obviously.”
“Obviously. And the vest,” Sully croaked out. He turned to Avery, who had been strangely quiet behind him.
She had her hand fisted over her mouth, her lips drawn in a tight line, but her eyes betrayed her, shining with the laughter she was apparently trying to hold in.
“All right.” He didn’t know what else to say. He could feel his own ears burning with embarrassment. “See that you put the shop back together by the time we open. We’ll leave you to it then.”
Taking Avery’s hand, he led her out of the shop, grabbing his cell phone from under the counter as he went by.
He’d barely pulled the door shut when Avery let out her breath and burst into laughter. She bent over double, holding her sides, laughing so hard that he thought she might choke. “Oh. My. God. That was hilarious. Did you see his hair? And the fishing vest? Oh no, seriously, I’m going to wet my pants.”
He didn’t say anything. Just stared at her. He might have blinked.
“Did you see their faces? And what the hell were they doing with that inner tube?” She howled with laughter then pointed at his scowling face. “You should see your face. You aren’t seriously mad, are you? That was the funniest thing I’ve seen all year.” She held onto him as she let loose another roll of giggles followed by a soft snort.
The snort did him in, and he couldn’t hold it any longer. He chuckled softly, then his chuckle turned into a hard laugh, and he almost choked himself as he completely lost it.
They stood on the porch holding onto each other as they howled with laughter. Then she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the truck. “Come on, we gotta go.”
“Where are we going?” he asked as he started the engine.
“Back to your place to see if you have any whipped cream or frosting. I’m suddenly really hungry for pie.”
Holy shit. His eyes widened as he glanced at her. She was grinning, but it was a sexy grin full of naughty promise.
He floored the truck. “I think we should stop at the convenience store on the way home, just in case I don’t.”
…
Hours later, they lay spent and smiling across the end of his bed. Sully had his arm around her, and she had her head on his chest.
He brushed back her hair from her forehead. God, she was gorgeous.
It made his heart hurt, and he didn’t want to let her go. Ever.
He knew he was in deep. He had it bad. He wanted to wake up to her in his bed every morning. “About those eggs. How about I scramble some up for you in the morning? I’ve even got bacon.”
She grinned, her smile lighting up his insides. “I’d like that. I may need to go back to the bed and breakfast to get a change of clothes and my toothbrush.”
“Why don’t you get all of your luggage? Bring it back over here and stay with me.”
“Stay?”
“Stay.” He didn’t know if she was asking him whether he meant to stay the night or stay forever, and maybe he didn’t know, either. Or maybe he knew, but he wasn’t ready to say it out loud.
Although what he was waiting for, he didn’t know.
Yeah, he did. He was waiting because he didn’t want to wreck this. Didn’t want to ruin the last few days they had left.
And if he were really being honest… He didn’t want her to leave at all.
“Okay, I’ll stay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
She let out a happy-sounding sigh and rubbed at a smudge of frosting on her arm. “That was fun. I’d have to say the chocolate frosting was a little too sticky, but the whipped cream was definitely a success.”
He chuckled. “I agree.”
“I’m still wondering about one thing, though.”
A swirl of anticipation stirred in his belly. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
“What were they doing with that inner tube?”
“Oh no. I thought I finally had those images banished from my head.” He broke out in laughter again. It felt good. Really good. Just to let loose and laugh.
“Thank you,” he said, dropping a kiss on her head and trying to catch his breath.
“For what?”
“For everything. For being here. For helping me to see the fun in things. I swear I’ve laughed more in the last several days with you than I have in all of the days in the last year put together. And I love it. I haven’t had enough laughter in my life. Haven’t had anything to laugh about.”
“Well, that scene in the shop ought to hold you over for months. I know I start to crack up every time I think about it.”
“All I’m doing is trying not to think about it. I don’t want to know what they were doing with that inner tube or why she was only wearing a fishing vest. I’m not going to be able to look her or Matt in the eye for months now.” He shook his head. “Who would have thought he had a thing for Leanne?”
“I should have guessed it when I saw him helping her and her son at the Get Outside thing. He told me he’s liked her for a while now.” She sucked her bottom lip under her front teeth, her tone soft. “You know what that means, though? Now you don’t have to worry about her anymore. Her being with Matt lets you off the hook, and you don’t have to pretend to have a girlfriend anymore.”
Her words sobered them both.
He looked down, taking her chin in his hands and tipping her face up to his. “Avery, I’m not pretending. I never have been. Every kiss, every hug, every time I touch you has been real for me.”
There. He’d done it. He’d said it.
His heart raced in his chest, and he swore his palms started to sweat. But he’d told her. He held his breath as he waited for her response, praying she’d say that she felt the same and not laugh at him or make him feel like a fool.
She reached up, tenderly touched his face. “It’s been real for me, too.”
He laid his cheek against her palm, letting out his pent-up breath. “I know we haven’t known each other very long. But I feel like my heart knows you. Like it recognized you the very first time I saw you, and it’s just been waiting for my head to catch up to that fact.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Sullivan Reed, I swear you can say the most romantic things.”
He laughed softly. “No one has ever accused me of that before. I’ve never been good at any of that romantic stuff. All I know is that when my wife left me, I thought my heart was so broken that I wasn’t sure if it would ever be able to beat again. But then you walked into my life—well, fell into my life—and you changed everything. You made my heart beat again.”
“Oh,” she whispered, the word falling out of her mouth on a rush of breath.
“I k
now it’s sudden, but I know what I feel. I know all of this was supposed to be fake, just a show, but my feelings for you are real. I think I fell in love with you the moment you walked around the corner of my shop, holding a plate of cookies and wearing that bicycle helmet.”
She laughed, a small breathy sound, then her eyes widened. “Did you say you fell in love with me?”
He slid his hand up her neck and cupped her cheek, holding her face with all the tenderness he felt. “Yeah, I did. I fought it at first, but there was no stopping it. You got into my heart, and every day I’m with you, I fall for you a little bit harder.” He pulled her face closer and grazed her lips with the slightest brush of a kiss. “I can’t fight it anymore. I don’t want to. I’m in love with you, Avery. And that’s for real.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered, then kissed him back, hard, with a fierce intensity, as if she were trying to prove that love with the strength of her kiss. “And I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t care about the article anymore. I care about you. I’ll find a way to write the story that doesn’t name you or the shop.”
He slid his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him and kissing her back with the same wild passion. Her declaration meant everything to him, and he believed her. Believed in her.
She let out a soft moan and wrapped her legs around his waist.
They never did make it back to the bed and breakfast to get her clothes that night.
…
The next morning, Avery slipped out of the house before Sully woke up. She left him a note saying she’d gone to get her things and would grab breakfast burritos from Lou’s on her way back. Just thinking about them had her mouth watering and her stomach growling.
She’d been up for hours, working on the story. She always carried her computer with her and had snuck out of bed early, leaving Sully asleep, her thoughts full of words and images and her fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed out the rest of the article, editing and polishing the story with her latest thoughts.
Editing and polishing both stories.
She’d actually written two.
One was just for her. She had to write it. It was the real story—the story of her heart. The story of a reclusive fly-fisherman who sought solace on the river and found peace in the tranquility of the sport. One who ran a shop that had been in his family for three generations, a shop that offered lessons in fishing and life.
