She took another bite of the strawberry, the sweetness softening the blow of recalling her morning. “Yep. A prettycrappy thing to do. But it’s nothing I can’t handle. I got it cleaned up.”
“Did you report the incident to the sheriff’s office?”
“No, I didn’t get the plates, but if they do it again, I will.” But even then, what would the officers do? Give the jerks a warning? And if they denied wrongdoing, it would be her word against theirs. Exactly why she needed those security cameras.
“Good,” Jake said firmly. “People who do shit things like that need consequences.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” The only thing she was worried about was the possibility of escalation. But this was twice now that they’d egged her house, and she couldn’t donothing.
They turned the corner and the market came into view. Immediately, a smile curved her lips. Because this was familiar. This was home.
She looked up at Jake. “Did you explore much without me?”
“A little bit. I felt a bit like a deer in headlights though. This place is huge.”
She chuckled. “It is, and everything sold here is great.”
“I’m excited for a tour from a local. Have you come here much since getting back to Misty Peak?”
“A couple of times. And pretty much everything is exactly as it was, bar a few new stalls. That’s the thing about Misty Peak—not much changes.” Even the town’s dislike for her. At least the strawberries were still good.
She forked another and took a bite.
“So, what’s the best thing here then?” Jake asked.
“Depends on what you like. There are fresh fruit and vegetable stalls from local farmers. Homemade items like knitted clothes and wooden birdhouses and ornaments. There’s hot food. Sweets.”
“You had me at sweets.”
She laughed. “We’re obviously cut from the same cloth.”
He grinned, then stopped walking when his gaze fell on her cheek. “You have chocolate on your face.”
Dammit. She scrubbed at her cheek, but his grin just widened. “Here, I’ve got you.” He reached out and wiped the chocolate off with the pad of his thumb.
For some reason, the second he touched her, her mind went to someone else. Kayden. Because when Kayden touched her, she felt it everywhere. Her skin, her bones…even the roar of her blood in her veins.
But with Jake, there was nothing.
Kayden’s fingerstightened around his coffee cup at the sight of Jake touching Tilly’s face. At the way he stood so close to her. And how he looked at her like she was the damn center of his world.
What was it with the guy always being around her?
“Watch out, brother, you’re about to wear your coffee.”
He forced himself to turn away. Cody had his arm around Harper’s waist, and she was watching the way he stared at her friend far too closely.
Shit.
He forced his hold on the coffee to loosen. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” Eastern mocked. “Because it looked like you were staring at the exchange between Tilly and your fellow team member in a less than favorable way.”
Avery tugged on his jeans. “Uncle Kay, do you like Tilly like Uncle Cody likes Harper?”
A few muffled laughs sounded around him.
He forced his features to soften as he looked down at his niece. “No, Ave, she’s just a colleague.”
