“Youkeep saying that,” he said without looking at me. “You’re like the boy whocried wolf. I don’t believe you anymore.”
Wecame to a stop in front of some of the lushest produce I’d ever seen. Shiny,oddly shaped heirloom tomatoes and long, bumpy cucumbers. Perfectly roundradishes. Juicy strawberries. Jars of orange marmalade and raspberry preserves.We were standing in front of a carefully guarded gold mine. My spiritsinstantly lifted.
“You’regoing to be disappointed then,” I told Wyatt as my fingers itched to grab forthe beauties laid out in front of me.
Heleaned in, his breath a whispery tickle over the shell of my ear. “Your denialis cute. But we both know you’ve got it bad for me, Swift. So, so bad.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ihad a flat of produce that I had no idea what I was going to do with or when Iwas going to use it, seeing as I worked every single night. But I couldn’t helpmyself. Jo had the best of the best. Her stand was a chef’s dream.
Andfortunately for us, she worked with Ezra’s restaurants almost exclusively.Wyatt had wandered off to check something out for Jo in her truck. Apparently,he was a bit of a mechanic too. That shouldn’t have been another turn on, butdamn it, picturing him all greasy and shirtless and under a car was pretty muchthe hottest thing I’d ever imagined.
EverythingWyatt did was suddenly hot. I mean everything. He could have flossed his teethand I would have worried about my panties melting off my body. It wasobnoxious.
Joeyed me across a pile of figs. “I haven’t seen Wyatt with a girl in a long time.Not since the last one that hated food. Could have told you she wasn’t going towork out. Personal trainer my ass. She wouldn’t eat his food. That was a bigenough sign that astronauts could see it from space.” She pursed her lips andadded, “Not that I don’t think there have been other girls. He doesn’t bringthem around me anymore. He doesn’t like my opinions.”
Ididn’t know if that was an insult or a commentary on factual history. Steelingmy nerves, I told my courage to cowboy up. I was tougher than Jo wanted tobelieve I was.
“We’renot really here together,” I told her evenly. “You caught us at a weird time.”
Sheraised an eyebrow. “You’re in the habit of kissing boys you’re not with?”
Well,shit. I searched for my usually sharp temper, but I couldn’t seem to find ittoday. Instead, something else came out of my mouth. Something stupid and kindof pathetic. “How many girls do you think there are?”
Herlips twitched like she wanted to smile, but she held it back, reminding me somuch of Wyatt in that moment that my chest pinched. “I thought you said you’renot with him. What does it matter to you?”
Iglanced at the sky, hoping help would fall from it. “Because I’m really not inthe habit of kissing boys I’m not with,” I confessed. “And…”
“Andit’s Wyatt,” she finished for me, sounding as confused and unsure as I did.“I’ll tell you this much, Wyatt has never brought a girl to this stand. Noteven one he casually works with. So, you two could have stepped up here asbusinesslike as you please and I would have known something was up immediately.But you didn’t step up here. I think you circled the damn place fifteen timesbefore I caught you smooching. So, all that to say, there aren’t other girls,honey. There’s you.”
Myheart kicked in my chest, harder and faster than a freaking kangaroo on theoffensive. “I thought he hated me.”
“I’veknown Wyatt a long time. I can honestly say I’ve never known him to hateanyone.”
Shedidn’t know us before the constant making out… “Any words of advice?”
Shesmiled this time and the expression softened her face, making her look yearsyounger and possibly approachable. “Don’t hurt him.”
Itook it back. She wasn’t approachable. She was a grinning viper. Her mouthstretched wide, readying her for her attack. Yikes!
Lickingdry lips, I tried to form the right response. “I’m not planning to,” came outinstead.
“Don’tworry about planning,” she snapped back. “Don’t do it. That boy doesn’t trustpeople. And I mean, not at all. His mama was about as awful as they come, andshe messed him up real good. Don’t be another woman that disappoints him. Don’tgive him another reason to stay alone.”
Shit.And holy shit. What was I even supposed to say to that? I couldn’t promise herthose things! I didn’t know what was going to happen with Wyatt and me, buthappily ever after was a ridiculous stretch of the imagination. More thanlikely I would disappoint him. Probably even today. Hell, I felt like I hadalready disappointed him as his employee about one hundred times in the lastsix months. Don’t give him another reason to stay alone? I was like thedefinition of why men should stay alone. Run. Hide your men. The she-wolf is onthe prowl!
Goodgrief, Jo had messed with my head in about the most severe way possible. Andnow she was looking at me, waiting for a response. All I wanted to do was throwmy hands in the air and run away screaming.
“We’rejust…” Friends? No, that wasn’t the right word.
Enemies?Wrong too. Especially now.
Competition?That felt more like reality, but how could I explain that to Jo in a way thatwould make the kissing make sense?
“We’reuh…” I tried again.
“Yeah,yeah,” she waved me off. “I know what you’re doing. And I also know that two ofhis brothers have recently settled down and it’s started a fire in that boythat he didn’t know needed to be kindled. Now he’s out looking for that girl,the one that’s going to save him from himself.” Her eyes narrowed, becoming shrewder,less trusting—if that was even possible. “My guess is he thinks that girl isyou, Miss Swift. I’m asking that if you’re not also looking for someoneserious, that you let him down before he’s too invested, to give him a chance torecover.”
