Nate balked at her assessment of him.If anything, he was too thoughtful, too measured in everything he did.There wasn’t a reckless bone in his body and everyone knew it, including her.With the exception of the night they’d spent together, Nate hadn’t done a single thing out of character in his life and he wasn’t about to start now by letting her accusation go unchallenged.“I don’t know what you think you’re talking about, but I don’t like the implication.”
Lottie just kept smiling, stepping closer to him so that their chests were nearly touching.It was something she had always done since that night, get close enough to almost touch but never going that last inch or two that would finally put him out of his misery and end him completely.“I’m talking about committing to the idea of christening the new town square next year when you haven’t even broken ground on construction yet.”
Nate fumed while Lottie sipped her coffee, hating that she seemed to know about everything that went on in the town before anyone else did, namely him, the man in charge of the place.As infuriating as it was, he also knew exactly why she did.Everyone in Applewood loved her and longed to unburden themselves in her presence.It was what made her even more dangerous to him than she already was.Every second she spent in front of her brought him closer to admitting how he really felt, abandoning his desire to make his hometown a better place, disappointing everyone else that ever mattered to him and devoting himself to loving her as completely as he could.
Instead of sitting with the uncomfortable truth that he was a coward when it came to his feelings, Nate focused on digging into another one.“How the hell did you come upon that information?”
Lottie smiled brightly and whipped out her phone.“I have my ways, you know that,” she winked.God, her beauty was maddening and she was sexy as hell to boot.It was a lethal combination that Nate had spent the better part of a decade trying to ignore while never quite accomplishing that feat.“So is this you confirming my source?”
She started to type speedily with one hand, something he had yet to master despite always being on his phone for work.Watching Lottie do something he struggled with reminded him a little too much of high school and the rivalry they’d had going back then.They’d also come together beautifully once before, but as he would never allow that to happen again, Nate had to settle for having her be a nonstop source of irritation instead.They were destined to lock horns constantly.The thought of never ridding himself of her, of the helpless way she made him feel enraged him even more.He cursed life’s cruelty and his own inadequacies.
“No, it is not,” he ground out.Nate stalked closer to her until she was pressed back against the outer wall of the bakery, ignoring the way her breath hitching at the move had his cock coming to life.His attraction to Lottie and subsequent knowledge that he could never give into it again was his cross to bear, made all that more difficult by her persistent presence in his life.“Stop using your friendship with my administrator as fodder for your gossip sheet.”
Nate knew that the words would get her ire up, and yes, he’d done it on purpose so that they were on equal footing.Lottie having the audacity to be cool and calm while he was a flustered mess grated on his last nerve.Yet at the sight of the vein on her forehead popping, he felt a scrap of relief.Nate could be an asshole.He knew it, she knew it, but it was a necessary evil to maintain the distance between them.
“You would know that it’s not a gossip sheet if you ever bothered to read it, and I wouldn’t have to go to anyone else for information if you would just talk to me.”The anger in her voice melted away as she blinked up at him, her hickory brown eyes softening as they searched his.Nate felt the tip of her glove touch his finger, and he closed his eyes as she ran it along the edge of his hand.“Why won’t you ever talk to me, Nathan?”
The reminder of how things had been and likely would always be between them tipped Nate over the edge.Every moment spent near her without holding her was like a thousand tiny needles to the heart, but it was better than the alternative.He could live with disappointing himself, but not an entire town that believed in him, even if that belief was currently on shaky ground.
“You know why.Just stop badgering the people in my office.”Before Lottie could comment, Nate brushed past her, ignoring the look of hurt that had been in her eyes as he did.No matter how many times he’d seen it over the years, the sadness on Lottie’s face wasn’t something Nate ever got used to, but that never seemed to stop him from putting it there.
In a family with four other brothers, Nate had done everything he could to stand apart from them.Aiden was always the most ambitious and a world-class chef, Beckett was the hero, the firefighter who saved the town one emergency at a time, Travis was the son that would care for and continue the family’s legacy at the farm, and Felix was the smart one, the one who’d created an entire cider business from what was essentially a science experiment.That left little room for Nate to carve out a place for himself in his family, but he was determined to do it, first by being the best all-around guy he could in high school and then as mayor.Where his brothers’ legacies were to look after the farm and the people of Applewood, it was Nate’s to care for the town itself.It should have been easy, but then Lottie Adams had to go and make herself the town’s favored daughter to his favored son.
Nate shook out his arms as he stomped up the stairs of his apartment building.It was the closest in proximity to where he worked at town hall, but it was also the newest addition to Applewood.Nate was all about supporting growth and new construction, so he’d leased a two-bedroom as soon as one became available.Opening the door, Nate tossed the keys onto the entry table and toed off his sneakers, eager to grab a shower and wash away the grime from his sprint about town as well as his run-in with Lottie.Stripping his soiled clothes and ditching them along the way, Nate turned the water on hot and stepped in, trying to let the warmth seep into his aching muscles and sore bones from his earlier fall.
As he soaped up and washed his hair, Nate couldn’t help but think back on the interaction he’d just had.Why was Lottie always around, always in his face, asking questions he didn’t have answers to?Why was her smile brighter than anything else in his world, making his heart kick in his chest in a way that it never did with anyone else?Why was she the most irritating, most beautiful person in the world?
Groaning, Nate took his stiff cock into his hands as his thoughts drifted back to Lottie.He didn’t bother turning the water to cold, knowing from experience that nothing ever took away the desire that always followed an interaction with the woman, but at least the momentary release would take the edge off.Gripping himself hard, he twisted his hand, definitelynotthinking about Lottie’s wide hips, soft waist, and full breasts that would feel perfect in his large hands.Nate also didn’t think about laying her pinup worthy body out on his bed and spending the better part of a week mapping each dip and curve with the tip of his tongue until all he could ever taste was her.Familiarizing himself with her body once more was something he’d dreamt about since they’d lost their virginity to one another, but it would have to forever remain a fantasy.
“Fuck,” Nate grunted, gripping himself harder.
Being with her again would be amazing.They’d be electric together, just as they had been, so well-matched in every sense that it was like nothing he’d ever experienced before or since, which is why it could never happen again.Lottie was the one person Nate could lose himself in completely if he gave himself permission to do so, but then what would become of his legacy?The town?Anything else in his life other than her?As he thought about what that would feel like, burying himself so deeply within her that he never bothered to resurface, white hot lighting shot up his spine and out of his cock as he spilled onto the black tile of his shower.
Slapping a hand against the wall as he panted his breaths, Nate felt less than satisfied but at least more functional now that he’d gotten even a tiny bit of need out of his system.Would he ever be fully rid of her?Nate seriously doubted it, but as he finished up his shower and readied himself for the day, he pushed all thoughts of Lottie from his mind, trying to focus on his work instead of a problem he would likely never be able to solve.
Chapter Two
