I shrugged a shoulder. “What if I do?”
“Then, I will tell you not to hurt that girl. She’s one of my oldest friends, not to mention my wife’s best friend, so I will break your fucking legs if you do.”
“Hey, easy,” I said, taking a step back. “Why do you automatically think I would hurt her?”
“Are you moving to Ferris?” he asked.
“No, of course not.”
“That’s how I know.” He leveled a serious look at me. “Because you’re thinking of her as a fun little fling while you’re here in town for work. But that girl? She looks tough, but when she cares about someone, she does it with her whole heart. All you’re going to do is break it.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding. “Message received. But hey, I can still try to help fix some of the damage to her reputation.”
“I don’t see how,” Jake said.
“Actually, I have an idea.”
CHAPTER 17
SHELBY
Working on the farm alone had always been peaceful for me. I could get away from the rest of the judgmental world and let my hair down. But that morning, as I filled the feeders and mucked out the pens, my peace felt fractured. I was a little too alone. Or more specifically, I wanted to be alone with Carter.
I had gotten used to his company way more quickly than I would have ever thought possible. Something about him just got under my skin in a big way.
The whole thing was silly. Hanging out with him was fun, but that didn’t mean anything deeper was happening between us. He was an attractive man, tall and built. His green eyes and cocky grin were easy to get lost in. And that kiss?
My insides melted into goo every time I replayed that kiss in my head.
But so what? He would leave and life would go back to normal for me, no different than before he’d arrived. I wouldn’t even be a footnote in his memoirs.
As I worked, I kept thinking, debating, trying to figure out a way things could ever work between us. The past couldn’t be changed, and as for the future, I would die before I moved toa city the size of Los Angeles. LA County alone had a bigger population than all of Kentucky. And Carter would never settle in a place like Ferris, where he couldn’t even get his car fixed because there was only one real mechanic. There were no long-term prospects for us.
But why did it have to be anything so serious?
Why did my mind immediately jump to love when my body could use some more lust, quite frankly? I had never been able to separate sex and feelings before, but I had also never met a man like Carter before.
On paper, he was everything I hated. A billionaire CEO who had been handed success with his birth certificate. But in person, he was sweet, genuine, and his chest looked superlickable.
It was nice to know I didn’t care about his money at all. I just wanted him for his body. That showed real character and I gave myself a mental pat on the back.Let it be known to the world Shelby Whitaker is horny not greedy.
It wasn’t exactly something I could put on a T-shirt, but I considered telling Lila about the revelation. I would have to come clean about the naughty fantasies blossoming in my midnight thoughts, though. She knew I had been spending a lot of time with him, but she had no idea about the kiss we’d shared—or the kisses I wanted to share with him in the future.
With a sigh, I considered my other problem, which was tonight’s bake-off. Mrs. Presley always had a way of getting me to say yes, even though the idea of being around everybody filled me with dread.
I needed to come up with an excuse to bow out. A sickened chicken? A foul fowl? A fucked duck? No, she would see right through all of those. I needed something more drastic. Maybe I could get into a car accident. Just a light collision with afencepost. Enough to send a picture to Mrs. Presley of my dented van.
I discarded that idea. Shane would ask too many questions when I asked him to fix it. Also, causing myself or my property harm to skip a social event seemed like an overreaction, even for me.
Carter had assured me he would stand by my side. When he had told me that in the moment, it had been comforting, but right then, it occurred to me Carter wasn’t any more popular than I was.
Did people even know he was an Allory?
Some people knew, like Jake and Lila. Mrs. Presley. Maybe a few other people. But I didn’t know if it was common knowledge yet. I kind of assumed it wasn’t because Carter hadn’t been tarred and feathered and run out of town yet.Who knows?The rules might be different for him. I never knew how things were going to work.
What would people think if they saw me with an Allory? Would it confirm all their suspicions that I had been involved in the sale? I shook my head. The facts didn’t matter anyway. Nothing I did would change anyone’s mind. The people who didn’t like me would keep on not liking me.
Screw it. I wasn’t going to bow out with an excuse. I was going to the bake-off, I was going to eat way too much sugar, and if I was lucky, I was going to hang out with Carter and annoy him until he tried kissing me again.
