by Zoe York
She felt it, too.
He swung his leg over the bike and watched Scarlett pull the Jeep back onto the street. Only once she was out of sight did he set off for home.
That gravitational pull was new.
Was he a heartless bastard because he felt more for a woman he’d just met rather than his fiancé?
Cole coasted up the drive to the house. Allie had picked it out, calling it a modernized Tudor style. Modern could only be applied to the exterior color pallet. Greys, white and a dash of red did give it a contemporary feel, and it was updated. What mattered to him was that he could afford rent plus groceries and other bills on his future paycheck. Part of the reason he’d been for moving to Texas was that they could feasibly live on his salary if Allie kept getting fired.
So much of their relationship had been because of that.
He rolled his bike into the house and onto the mat he’d laid down so he didn’t track dirt and mud into the house.
Boxes lined the walls. He’d at least labeled them according to room which made sorting what went where easier, but he hadn’t divided out which were his things and which were Allie’s. He wasn’t ready to wade into their shared life yet. He knew they weren’t totally over. She’d surface once she went through the money she’d took or ran into trouble. They might not be together anymore, but he knew she’d need someone to bail her out, eventually. That had been him since they met.
Then what?
Would she change her mind about the wedding?
He didn’t want to marry her. Sure, for the last little while he’d gotten into the idea, but they’d never truly been in love. At least he didn’t think so.
No, if or when Allie popped back into his life, it would be to end things. If he’d known giving her a ride home that night at the bar would lead to a roommate that slowly became his girlfriend until he woke up with her informing him they were getting hitched, he’d have called her a cab instead. They’d never loved each other. Allie valued her security and having a net to catch her, but she’d never wanted to be tied to him the way he’d wanted to be part of something.
Cole scrubbed his hand over his jaw.
Why had he thought it could work with Allie or anyone?
His phone buzzed with an incoming message.
He pulled it out and part of him hoped for a particular sender, but it wasn’t. Probably for the best.
The subject of the email made his mouth dry.
* * *
Found your brother. Have a lead on the oldest sister.
* * *
Holy shit.
Cole sat on the edge of a box and stared at those two sentences. Did he dare hope?
* * *
* * *
Scarlett winced when she saw both of her cousin’s trucks in the drive.
Of course they were back. She couldn’t just slip in, grab her painting clothes then get out before either of the guys cornered her. Neither had texted her, but she knew the rumor mill had to have reached them about Cole and the canceled wedding.
She shifted the Jeep into park and slumped in her seat, staring at the trees that had grown up around the house, providing a nice, shaded area.
What the hell had happened to her today?
It wasn’t unusual for Scarlett to find a connection with someone. She fell hard and fast for men, sometimes without them knowing. But today? That chemistry? It was off the charts, and he’d felt it, too. She’d seen it in the way he looked at her, and then she’d gone and touched him. It had been an automatic thing, she hadn’t thought about it, but when their hands connected, it was as if her body were on fire.
This was bad.
She shut her eyes and pushed thoughts of Cole down deep.
Right now she had to face down her cousins, get her shit and flee to her friend’s house. With any luck, the guys were at their house and she could perhaps slip in and out before they knew she was back.
A girl could hope.
She jogged up the steps to her place, her mind focusing on the very next thing and not the sexy man she’d left on Main Street.
The pane of glass in her front door perfectly framed two men standing at her kitchen island. They were both tall, well over six feet, with reddish-brown hair. Garth’s face was clean shaven and his clothes neat from the polo to his jeans. Benji, on the other hand, sported a perpetual stubble and only ever got out of cargo shorts and a T-shirt during ceremony hours.
Well hell.
She grasped the doorknob and pushed into the house.
“Do I need to call the cops on you two for breaking and entering?” She hung her purse by the door.
“There she is.” Benji leaned back onto a bar stool and turned to face her, one side of his mouth kicking up.
Garth didn’t offer a greeting. His stern gaze said all she needed to know.
“Get everything ironed out?” She paused next to Benji who looped his arm around her waist and pulled her over for a squeeze.
“Yeah, the ads all look slick. We’re set for the upcoming shows,” Benji said. Of the three of them, Benji was the only one with an eye for marketing materials. This year they were taking out a booth at several wedding shows and they needed something to put in the hands of brides that would make them think of The Love Barn for their nuptials.
“Did you bring me a copy? I have to know what I’m selling.” So far she’d liked each and every design he’d done for the place, right down to the banner signs he’d created for the exterior and interior.
“I’ve got them on my phone.” He dug into his pocket.
“We need to talk.” Garth’s voice was hard, unyielding.
“About why you two are in my house without my permission? I thought we talked about that.” She whisked the two jars she and Cole had left off the counter and placed them in the sink.
“I heard about the Hume wedding.”
“And?”
“Care to give us your side of the story?” His tone went up and she could imagine him standing behind her with his arms crossed over his chest.
She turned to face him, and sure enough, he stood between the island and fridge, arms over his chest, chin thrust out, glaring at her. She crossed her arms and glared right back.
Garth hadn’t been her guardian in nine years. She was twenty-seven years old and had managed to take care of herself without his constant supervision. Yes, she’d fucked up and gotten involved with one bad apple, but it didn’t mean she was incapable of conducting herself like an adult.
“What do you think happened today?” she countered after a long pause.
“I heard AK’s bad boy fiancé dumped her and is going round town trying to get his money back,” Benji said.
“What?” Scarlett gaped at him.
“Shut up,” Garth snapped at his brother.
Benji cracked a smile and laughed harder.
He was joking, and she’d walked right into that.
She glared back at him and he shrugged. “Cole came by this morning. Yes, the engagement—and wedding—are off. He helped me get the pig out of my garden and I decided to be nice. I gave him a ride since all he has is a bicycle seeing as how AK left him without a vehicle.”
“I told you she was never going to make it to the altar.” Benji shook his head.
“You do not get involved with clients,” Garth said.
“Seriously?”
“We stay out of our client’s personal lives.”
“Dude, don’t be a dick,” Benji said.
“I’m trying to run a business here that keeps us fed.” Garth glanced back and forth between them. “If it wasn’t for this business that fell in our lap, you both know we’d have lost the land. Our homes. Everything. We can’t screw this up.”
“Helping someone isn’t going to screw us up. We’ve already been paid.” She knew without asking that Garth would not entertain the idea of returning the money.
“This guy isn’t going to hang around and we don’t want to alienate the Humes.”
“Because they have two other daughters of marriageable age who aren’t massive flakes like AK?” Scarlett grit her teeth. “Don’t answer that. I don’t like you very much right now and I want you out of my house. I am a grown ass woman and I will see, speak and help whoever I want when I am off the clock. I know just as well as you do that all actions have consequences. I’d rather go to sleep at night knowing I helped someone rather than protected our precious reputation.”
Garth opened his mouth.
“I do not want to talk to you any longer,” she said with added volume.
“Fine, when you’re more reasonable we can talk.” Garth turned and stalked out through the front door.
Scarlett clenched her hands into fists.
“Oh, he makes me so mad.” She stomped her foot and kept her arms at her sides.
“He’s in rare form today.” Benji slid off the stool and came around the island to pull her into a hug.
“He had to write a check for the marketing, didn’t he?”
“Yup.”
“He is the worst about spending money. I mean, I know we struggled for a long time, but can’t he see the bank account balance? And he doesn’t have to play dad anymore. We’re adults.” She groaned.
“You’re preaching to the choir. Today’s check wasn’t too bad, just more than we talked about.” Benji massaged her neck. “Tell me about the scorned husband.”
“Cole?” Scarlett shrugged. “He seems really nice. You should meet him.”
“Nice enough to leave his clothes lying in your tub making a mess?”
Oh, no…
The blood went out of Scarlett’s face and she stared at Benji.
“I don’t think Garth saw that, but you probably don’t want him to. Care to share?” Benji grinned.
“The pig. I slipped. He came over to help and fell.” She covered her face with her hands, the memory of Cole’s wet hair, those shoulders and the ridges of muscle making his chest and abs a playground.
“That’s better than I’d hoped for.” Benji let out a belly laugh and slammed his fist on the island.
Scarlett kept her hands over her red cheeks. How had she forgotten about packing up his wet things?
“You hungry?” Benji asked, no doubt fishing for an invitation to eat at her place.
“You mean, am I going to make dinner you can steal?”
“Maybe.”
“I’m headed up to the bed-and-breakfast to help the girls paint the new rooms. Ingrid’s picking up a pizza. We could always use someone tall.” She bat her eyelashes at him.
“I think I’ll pass. I’m going down to The Hole, I guess.”
“Avoiding Garth that much?”
“Do you blame me?”
“Not in the least.” Scarlett held up her hand. “Ask around about Sissy, will you?”
“Sissy? Do I want to know?” Benji arched a brow at her.
“I want to know. That’s why I’m asking you to ask her.”
“Okay,” he said slowly as he shut the door behind him.
Scarlett hustled into the hall bath and scooped up Cole’s still wet, muddy clothes. She dumped those into the wash with some of her own, set them to run then grabbed a pair of clothes she didn’t care if they got paint on them. She didn’t bother to change, valuing a speedy exit over anything else.
The drive across town to the old White mansion took less than ten minutes even with stopping for a pair of kids to catch a ball in the middle of the street. By the time she parked in front of the converted bed-and-breakfast her stomach was growling and she’d shrugged off her irritation with Garth.
“Scarlett Lively, you better get in here right now,” Ingrid bellowed from the front door.
“Coming.” She gathered up her things and got out.
The old mansion had once been owned by a self-important family who’d built the place up on another hill, almost across from the barn that sat on their property. The family had long since left the town and for many years the house had fallen into disrepair. A few people had purchased it and put some work into it over the years, but none as much as Ingrid, Kasima and their friend off on a backpacking adventure. Right now it was just Ingrid and Kasima holding down the fort, turning the former mansion into a bed-and-breakfast.
The B&B was a great partnership with their barn. In fact, both Kasima and Ingrid had redone their rooms to let out to brides who wanted to stay close the night before the wedding. It was an inconvenience, which was why they were pushing to finish out the old carriage house and barn as a bridal suite.
Scarlett smelled pizza before she got to the porch and her stomach growled.
“Are we eating before we paint?” she asked.
“You.” Ingrid thrust her finger in Scarlett’s face. “You are going to spill, missy. All I’ve heard is where you are, who you are talking to and what everyone thinks is going on.”
Scarlett’s cheeks warmed. She’d expected this, but the mental picture of Cole still left her flustered.
Kasima sat on the floor of the front sitting room, two boxes of pizza on the coffee table. She waved her hand and flipped her braids over her shoulder with the other hand.
“I guess everyone is talking about Cole then?” Scarlett chuckled, but her heart ached for what he must be going through.
“Is he really as hot as people say?” Ingrid plopped down, legs crossed and snagged a piece of pizza.
“Oh, boy. Yes. But AK’s guys are always gorgeous.”
“Your voice went funny.” Kasima gave Scarlett a sideways stare.
“I feel for him is all.” Scarlett grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza to give her something else to focus on. “I mean, I know what it is to go all-in on someone and have them leave you.”
Both girls kept quiet on that point.
“Part of me is really angry with AK,” she admitted.
“Why?” Ingrid asked between bites.
“I can’t talk to you. You’ll just tell the L.O.L.’s and then everyone will be talking about it even more.”
“She has a point,” Kasima said.
“Cross my heart, I won’t say a word.” Ingrid held up her hand.
Did Scarlett trust that?
Ingrid worked at the local antique store in the tea room where all of the little old ladies in town gathered for breakfast and to while away the hours. It was a hotbed of gossip, and Ingrid was their darling. Scarlett wasn’t convinced Ingrid would be able to help herself.
Garth’s words came back to her, the scorching tone, and all his disproval. He’d heard the bad side about Cole and it was likely that no one was sticking up for him. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if the real story was circulated a little.
“You can’t say anything,” Scarlett looked Ingrid dead in the eyes.
“Promise.”
Kasima shook her head. They both know Ingrid couldn’t keep that one.
“AK left a note and took off. All of their things were headed here. He was supposed to stay with some friends for a month while she set up the house here and ironed out the wedding plans. She left. He didn’t come out and say it, but I think she took his car and money. All day long he never said a mean thing about her or what she’d done. I can’t imagine a nicer guy. What she did was wrong, and I’m quite frankly shocked at how cruel AK was to him.”
“Wow.” Ingrid stared at Scarlett, eyes wide.
“That’s not right.” Kasima shook her head. “AK’s parents should do something. They had to have known she wasn’t likely to go through with the wedding.”
“That’s what Benji said.” Scarlett had wondered, but more than anything else she’d hoped for a happy ending for the woman. Now, Scarlett thought AK didn’t deserve it.
“You like him.” Ingrid stared at Scarlett.
“Well…I… He’s nice.” She felt her cheeks heating.
“You drove him around all day helping him cancel his wedding.” Ingrid shook her head. “You know someone’s going to wonder if you’re the other woman un
less you put it out there otherwise.”
“I don’t care what anyone thinks.” Or more accurately, Scarlett knew Ingrid wouldn’t be able to keep from talking and it would be a matter of time before her version of the day was out there. Then no one would care about her giving the scorned groom a helping hand because people would be buzzing about AK.
“Did you get his phone number?” Kasima asked.
“I had it already. He is technically a client which means I was only acting in a professional capacity.” Scarlett barely managed to keep a straight face.
“Oh, sweetheart, you are such a bad liar.” Ingrid sighed. “What’s the full story? And don’t give me any more of this well phrased bullshit. You haven’t shared everything and I want to know everything. You know, this guy might be perfect for a fling. You’ve got to get back out there at some point.”
“She does not,” Kasima scolded.
“Does, too.”
Scarlett concentrated on her pizza. Benji might have been satisfied with the highlights of the garden episode, but Ingrid and Kasima were going to demand the full story and Scarlett knew she couldn’t get through that without some truth showing on her face. She liked Cole, and she felt for him. But she didn’t have to act on those facts. He was going to be as unavailable as they came and she couldn’t do heartache again.
Chapter 3
Cole pushed up on the handlebars, enjoying the breeze against his skin. He couldn’t stop smiling. His first day at the job, and while it hadn’t been a cakewalk, the staff had welcomed him and his patients hadn’t left scars. Starting on a Saturday where his only schedule was to handle whatever walked in the door wasn’t his ideal way of easing into things, but it had gotten him into the groove fast. By the time he’d clocked out he felt like he might just like it here.
It had all started with Scarlett.
No.
Nope.
Not going there.
He sat back down on the bicycle seat and pedaled.
A month ago he’d been engaged. He wasn’t getting involved with anyone.
