“I know, and I love that. But I think I’ve decided what I’m going to do.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m gonna stick it out—at least for a while longer. I chose this career. I gave Nate my word. And I’m going to give it my all for a while. I’m going to learn from Nate because he’s got to be the best in the business. And I’m going to work on building up a gig on the side.”
My mom smiled. “Bakery?”
“Yeah. I think I could easily do more with Chad once he sees a difference in his sales.” I rolled my eyes as I continued, “But with selling stuff at the fruit stand, I’ve had some inquiries about making a couple birthday cakes and treats for a wedding reception.”
“That’s a pretty good start for a side gig.”
The rumble of a familiar Ford pulled into the driveway. My mom chatted with Logan for a few minutes before excusing herself and walking back to the house. Logan took her chair and immediately pulled me onto his lap.
“How come we didn’t just go full-blown into cuddles and make outs when we started this thing this summer?” Logan asked.
“Hmm,” I said, snuggling into his chest. “If I remember right, I think one of us was a big fat chicken.”
Logan began tickling my side. I squealed and tried to get away, but he held me tight. Finally, he released me only to kiss the top of my head, sending tingles down my spine. “That big fat chicken was a big fat idiot. The solution wasalwaysmore kissing. My bad.”
We were sitting opposite each other with our hands to ourselves by the time the other truck showed up. This time, the truck was big and black and beefy—the kind of truck you heard before you saw it. The paint gleamed, and the windows were tinted. It looked like it was freshly washed. There was no squeak of the door when Jake opened it.
“Game face, Jailbait,” Logan said, and we stood up and went to greet Jake.
He was all smiles as he stood next to the truck, arms folded, studying us.
“Looks like you survived the camping trip. Barely.” He nodded toward my bandaged leg.
He was looking at us expectantly, but Logan and I held strong. We stared back at him casually.
“Yeah, it was alright,” I said, looking up at Logan.
He shrugged. “If you’re into nature and hot blondes.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I think you’re into hot blondes.”
“Okay, hi. My name’s Tessa.”
Jake looked at me innocently. “And how about you, Tess? How’d you sleep?”
Although everything had worked out better than I could have imagined, I was still miffed at the audacity he had to steal my tent. There may have been an imperceptible nostril flare before I tamed my natural reaction into something more wholesome. “Good.”
We were giving him nothing, and I didn’t think he was really buying it, but a glimmer of doubt crossed his face.
He cleared his throat. “Well, the time has come.” He jingled the keys toward us. “What will it be? Love or truck?”
Logan folded his arms and moved forward, eyeing the truck in mild disdain. “What kind of gas mileage does this thing get?”
Jake shrugged, a hint of amusement on his face. “I’ve never bothered to check since I was planning to blow it up.”
“It’s probably terrible,” Logan said, peering into the passenger side window. “And the color is terrible. Does it have to be so shiny? It wouldn’t last a day on a construction site.”
“I agree. It needs to be taken out and shot.”
“It’s too high, too.” He turned to look at me. “Hey, Tessa Robbins. That’s your name, right? Could you come here for a sec? I need to make sure a woman can actually climb in this thing.”
I hobbled toward Logan, barely keeping the smile from my face as I made a sorry attempt to get into the truck. “Yeah, see. That’s not going to work.”
Jake was grinning by this point. “Do you want to fire it up and try driving it? I can give you both a boost.”
