Hooked on Love (Cotton Creek Romance)

by Jennie Marts

  “Yep. She is. And the article worked. I heard that she got offered the job at the other magazine.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, I guess she’s stayed in touch with Leanne. They’ve become pretty good friends, and you know, since Leanne and Matt are a couple now, she’s around here all the time, and she told me about the promotion.”

  “That’s good,” Miss Abigail said. “That she got the promotion. That something good came out of this. Especially considering she wasn’t even planning to turn it in.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The article. The one that you turned in for her. She wasn’t planning on submitting it at all. She just wrote it for herself, to try to capture the time that you two had spent together. She was out at the house that last morning, picking up her stuff, and she told me all about it. She’d written another article, one that didn’t name you or the shop—a fluff piece, I think she called it—and that’s the one she’d planned to turn in.”

  “There was a second article? I never saw it.”

  “Oh? You didn’t see it when you were snooping through her computer?” She lowered a stern eyebrow at him.

  “I know—it was a stupid move. I wish I hadn’t done it.” He wished he could go back and change that whole morning. Change it so that he hadn’t opened her computer, hadn’t sent the article, hadn’t kicked her out of his life. Hadn’t been such an idiot.

  Even if he had seen it, if he would have just shut up and let her talk, listened to what she was trying to tell him instead of assuming she’d lied to him, maybe she would still be here.

  “But how did you know about the computer?” he asked.

  “Leanne isn’t the only one that Avery’s kept in touch with. She made an impression on several people in town. She told me what happened that day. Not at first, but I finally got the truth out of her. And I thought you needed to know the truth, too. That she wasn’t planning to submit the piece. She wanted to show it to you—thought it would make you happy and proud. And it wasn’t until I told her that Sheila had gotten remarried that she thought there was a chance you’d be okay with her submitting the story that had your name in it.”

  He rubbed his hand over his face. “I can’t keep up with you. Did you say Sheila got married?”

  “Yep. To some rich guy out in California. So Avery knew that she couldn’t come after you anymore. When she left my place, she was all excited to go back and tell you, and she had it in her mind that you’d actually like the article, and with Sheila out of the way, that it could actually help you, help your business.”

  His head was spinning with all of the new information, and he couldn’t keep up. Sheila was married? He was free? And Avery knew? And she hadn’t planned to submit the article anyway? He sighed, running a hand across his beard. “Well, shit. So it seems she wasn’t just using me.”

  “Using you?” Miss Abigail scoffed. “No. That girl was in love with you. She told me so herself.”

  “She did?”

  “Yep. And she probably still does.”

  “I doubt it. I was a real asshole.”

  “I think that about sums it up.” She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow at him. “But there’s only one way to find out.”

  He reached under the counter, grabbing his phone and the keys to lock the shop. “I’m way ahead of you.” He hurried to the display of lures and grabbed three packages of wooly buggers.

  After giving her a quick hug, he handed her the flies and ushered her to the door. “On the house. But you have to take them to go. The shop’s closing for the day.”

  He raced home and found a flight to Chicago out of Denver that left in four hours. The boarding pass printed while he threw some things in a backpack. Grabbing it off the printer, he whistled for Sadie, planning to drop her at Matt’s house on his way to the airport.

  He rehearsed what he wanted to say the whole way to Denver and as he rushed through the airport to get on the plane. Stuffing his pack into the overhead compartment, he squeezed into the middle seat between an overweight man who smelled like cigars and a woman holding a crying infant.

  The baby cried in one ear for most of the flight, and the man snored loudly in his other.

  He clutched the arm rests, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths as the plane pitched with turbulence, sending his stomach into a tumbling rush.

  This is why I hate flying.

  The silence of the cab ride from the airport was a relief, but he’d never been to Chicago, and he tried not to assume the cabby was cheating him on the price of the fare.

  He had to learn to trust. Not just Avery but people in general. Not everyone was out to cheat or use him.

  The cabby pulled up in front of Avery’s apartment building, and Sully handed him his debit card, not even looking at the fare or checking the receipt when the driver handed it back. It was a small step, but it was still a step.

  He grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder as he climbed out of the car. He’d gotten her address from Miss Abigail, and his heart raced as he entered her building and took the elevator to her floor.

  What would she think of him showing up like this? Maybe she wouldn’t even want to see him.

  Only one way to find out. He knocked on her door.

  No answer.

  He knocked again, his palms sweaty and his heart pounding against his chest.

  Well, hell. All this way, and she’s not even home. He slumped to the floor next to her door, his defeat weighing heavy on his shoulders.

  He checked his watch. It was half past five. Maybe she was just getting off work. It didn’t matter. He’d wait. He’d wait all night if he had to.

  The elevator dinged, and he looked up as the doors opened.

  He froze as he saw her step out of the elevator, and his heart caught in his throat.

  She was laughing at something the other person in the elevator was saying, and the sound of her laughter tore at his chest.

  Turning toward her door, she stopped, her eyes blinking as if he were a mirage and she couldn’t believe he was there.

  Her mouth opened then closed as if she couldn’t find the words she was searching for.

  He knew the feeling. Suddenly he couldn’t remember any of the things he’d rehearsed. He pushed up from the floor and took a hesitant step toward her.

  Damn—she looked drop-dead gorgeous. She had on a red dress, reminding him of the jacket she’d worn the first day he’d seen her. Her hair was down and curled softly around her shoulders.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, finally finding her voice.

  “Coming to find you.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “To find me? Why? I mean what for?” Her expression changed from shock to anger as her eyebrows knit together and her mouth hardened into a tight line. “I think you made yourself and your feelings about me perfectly clear the last time I saw you.”

  “The last time I saw you, I acted like an asshole, and I’m sorry.”

  “Yes, you did. Act like an asshole, I mean. So what’s different? You saw the article and now you feel guilty?”

  “No. I mean, yes, I do feel guilty. But not so much about the article, but about how I treated you. I was a fool, and I acted like an idiot.”

  “So? What are you doing here now?” She wasn’t giving him an inch. And he knew he didn’t deserve one.

  “So, I got on a plane and came to find you. To tell you that I’m sorry and to beg you to forgive me.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “But I thought you hated to fly.”

  “I did. I do. It was terrible. But I’d do it again. I’d take ten flights to get to you.”

  She shook her head as if trying to comprehend his words. “But why? I mean why now? Why the sudden turn around? What changed your mind?”

  “A wise little old lady. Miss Abigail came to see me today. Right after I’d finally read your article and was feeling like shit about myself and the way I treated you. Then she told me th
at you never planned to submit the article in the first place and that basically I overreacted and pretty much ruined everything.”

  “She said that?”

  “Not in so many words, but it was implied.”

  She let out a small laugh, and his heart soared at the sound of it, thinking he’d been sure he’d never hear it again.

  His stomach spun with butterflies, and he was suddenly nervous as hell. “Listen, I was an idiot. I had no right to go into your computer in the first place, then I jumped the gun and responded with a knee-jerk reaction instead of thinking things through. I should have trusted you. Trusted that you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. I’m sorry.”

  Her expression changed again, the hard lines softening around her eyes and mouth. “I’m sorry, too,” she said, her voice soft.

  Dammit, this is why he liked her so much. “You don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. You wrote this amazing article and said all sorts of great things about me, and I behaved like an imbecile. You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”

  “I’m sorry I left. Sorry that I didn’t stay and fight harder for you.”

  “I didn’t give you much choice.” He took another step closer, his heart pounding so hard against his chest he was sure she could hear it echoing in the empty hallway.

  He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing, blow this tiny chance that she seemed to be giving him.

  Clearing his throat, he fought against the feeling that he might throw up. He’d never been so nervous or wanted anything so much in his whole life.

  He took another step toward her. “I heard you got the promotion. I’m really proud of you. And Avery, I want you to have this. I mean it, I want you to have your adventures. I never wanted to stand in the way of that. That’s really why I sent the article. Not to be a jerk, but because I was in love with you. Yeah, I was hurt and angry, but in the end, I pushed the send button because I knew you wanted this. That it was important to you. And that it didn’t matter what happened to me. I’d be okay. But I wanted you to be happy, with or without me.”

  She looked up at him, narrowing her eyes again. “But you missed the whole point, you jerk. Adventures don’t have to involve jetting around the world. Adventures can happen every day—even in an ordinary life. An adventure can be as big as a safari in Africa or as small as a float trip down a creek. An adventure is just about experiencing something new. I have this poster on my wall that defines adventure as an exciting or extraordinary event or series of events. Anything can be an adventure.

  “Yes, I want to travel the world and see and do new things, but I think the biggest adventure of all is falling in love. So how could I be happy and enjoy my biggest adventure when you weren’t there to share it with me?”

  Her words resounded in his heart, mending the brokenness and making him believe they still had a shot at this. Their adventure.

  If he didn’t screw it up. And the only way to do that was to dive in—to jump off the cliff and hope to fly.

  “Well, that’s the thing,” he said, jumping off the cliff. “I’ve been giving that a lot of thought. And I’ve decided that if adventures are important to you, then I’m willing to go along. To step out of my box. To screw the box entirely. I don’t care. As long as I’m with you.”

  “You’re willing to go along? To have adventures with me? What about the shop?”

  “I don’t care about the shop. I mean, I do. But I’ve already talked to Matt. He can manage it, and we can hire someone to work there full time. And since the article came out, I’ve been getting calls for guided trips and have the fall practically booked. Apparently the local secret has been getting out. But I don’t care about that anymore. We’ll make it work. As long as we’re together. That’s all I care about.”

  “Well, I appreciate what you said about the promotion, and they did offer it to me. But I’m not planning to take it.”

  “What? Why the hell not?”

  “Because I’ve accepted a better offer.”

  “What could be better? It’s what you’ve always wanted.”

  She took a cautious step toward him. “No, what I’ve always wanted is right here, standing in front of me. I just didn’t know how much I wanted it until it was gone.”

  His hands were shaking, and he stuffed them in his front pockets. Her words were like balm to his ears, working to heal his shattered heart. “So what was the offer?”

  “It was with another outdoor magazine—a bigger one. They saw my article in The Wild Outdoors and were impressed with the depth and emotion of the story. They said my story came alive to them, and they were looking for a new travel writer and offered me the job.”

  “Is it in Chicago? Because I’m willing to move.” He pulled his crumpled boarding pass from his pocket. “I’ve already made the flight once, I could do it again. As long as we can find a place that will take Sadie, I’m in.”

  “It’s not in Chicago. It’s actually based out of Denver, but I can work from anywhere. I was kind of hoping to find a place in Cotton Creek. Maybe a little cabin by a stream.”

  He shook his head, trying to comprehend what she was saying and not believing his ears. “I have a little cabin by a stream.”

  “I know.” She rolled her eyes, grinning as she took another stepped closer and slid her arms around his waist. “That is where I’m talking about.”

  “Wait. You want to move there? To Cotton Creek? To be with me?”

  “You sure ask a lot of questions.”

  “I do?”

  “Smart-ass.” She smiled up at him, pressing closer still. “I was thinking that if I lived there, I could use it as a home base, then you wouldn’t have to leave. And when I do have to travel, you can stay there and wouldn’t have to leave the shop or miss out on the time you want to spend fishing. Unless I was going somewhere that had a place to fish, then you could come along.”

  He grinned. “It sounds like you have it all figured it out. And it sounds great. It really does. Especially the part about you moving in with me and that part about fishing sounds great, too. But—”

  “But what?” She pulled back, her eyes searching his, but he circled his arm around her waist, tugging her closer, not ready to let her go.

  He couldn’t believe she was giving him another chance after he’d been such a jerk. She was all he’d thought about the last few weeks—all he’d thought about since he met her.

  Reaching up, he brushed his fingers against her cheek. Her skin was so soft. He fumbled for the right words to say, his insecurities rising like acid in his stomach.

  “Everything you’re saying, all of your ideas, sound perfect to me. I couldn’t imagine a better life than the one you’re describing. But is it going to be enough for you? Am I going to be enough for you? I was married before, and she left me because she thought I was dull and the life we had together was boring. And not enough.”

  Avery put her hand on top of his, holding his palm to her cheek. “You are more than enough for me. I don’t find you dull or boring. In fact, you constantly make me laugh. And I have fun with you. We have fun together. Granted, the time we’ve spent together so far has been full of chaos and excitement. But life is made up of all kind of moments, and there will be times when our life is fast-paced and busy, and other times when our life is quiet and slow. But what will make our life wonderful is that we’ll be spending it together.”

  “You make it sound so easy.”

  “It’s not. And it won’t always be. Life is never easy. But I know my life has been a hell of a lot harder the last few weeks that you haven’t been in it.”

  “Mine, too. Mine has pretty much sucked if you want to know the truth.” He grinned down at her. “I’m sorry. Sorry I was an idiot. I can’t promise that I won’t ever be an idiot again. In fact, I can almost guarantee that I will be. I was a fool to push you away. But I’m not fool enough to let you go again. I’m in this thing. I’m in love with you, a
nd I want you with me—in my life. In the quiet and the chaos.”

  He leaned his head down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I want to go to sleep with you wrapped in my arms every night and wake up with you next to me every morning. I want to make you scrambled eggs and take you fishing and dancing. I want to sit in front of a fire and talk about books, and I want to travel with you. And I’m not opposed to having an adventure or two, as long as it’s with you.”

  She smiled, her eyes shining with love. “I think living with you will be an adventure. A chocolate frosting-licking, cotton candy-eating, making out on the dance floor kind of life. I want to do all those things with you.”

  “Yeah, even fishing?”

  “Even fishing.”

  “I could put up an extra hook by the front door and buy you your own pair of waders. Even get you ones without a snake.”

  Batting her eyelashes, she offered him a playful grin. “You would do that for me? My own waders? That sounds like an offer I can’t refuse.”

  He kissed her again then pulled her against him, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair as he nuzzled her neck. “And maybe on special occasions, you can wear them to bed with that black bra and panty set.”

  She laughed out loud. “I do love you, Sullivan Reed. And I can do that tonight if you want. It can be our first adventure.”

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  Acknowledgments

  My thanks always goes first to my husband, Todd, the one who supports me and believes in me. I love and adore you. Thanks for taking this and all journeys with me.

  Thanks to my sons, Tyler and Nick, for your love and support. You guys make it all worth it.

  Thanks so much to my amazing editor, Allison Collins for your hard work and dedication to making this book happen. It means the world to me that you loved this book and that you love Sully and wanted to make him your book boyfriend.

  Thank you to my rockstar Entangled publicist, Debbie Suzuki, for your help in organizing me and all of your creative ways to help publicize my books and the Lovestruck line. And thanks to the whole crew at Entangled Publishing for giving your valuable time and energy to publish this book.