Harper blinks up at Jackson, his eyes big and round. “I ate breakfast already. Thank you though.”
“Oh yeah, sure,” Jackson says, sounding awfully put out.
I cock my head as I take the two of them in. Harper’s about my height, but stick thin, no muscle on him. But his long auburn waves, bright green eyes, and smattering of freckles makes him seem sweet. From my interactions with him when I was a fakeboyfriend, he’s anything but though. More like a sour patch kid than anything. That boy has a sharp tongue and want for trouble.
Harper looks away toward the crowd, but Jackson’s gaze stays firmly on Harper. I’ve never seen Jackson look at someone with so much longing before. His eyes trace Harper’s face, deep want written all over his own lovestruck face. Oh, sweet Jackson. Our gazes collide and Jackson just shrugs, then he makes a helpless gesture towards Harper with one hand.
“Hey, Harper, isn’t there a pie-eating contest? I bet Jackson could win it.”
Harper’s gaze pings back to Jackson. His eyes slide from the top of Jackson’s head all the way down to his feet, before lifting back up to meet Jackson’s hooded gaze.
“Yeah, maybe.”
Well, that was a bust. Harper looks away again and I grimace, making my own helpless gesture back to Jackson. I’m not going to be able to help with this one. That’s all on Jackson. A frustrated sigh escapes Jackson, but it goes unnoticed by an oblivious Harper.
“What’s going on?” Eli murmurs out of the side of his mouth.
“We’re witnessing a very bad mating dance. Jackson is like one of those birds that bring all the colorful fauna to the other bird only to be denied.”
Eli grimaces in sympathy. “Ouch. Harper seems totally disinterested.”
Seems like it, yeah, but I don’t believe it. I’ll have to play matchmaker later. We wander aimlessly around the festival for a while, sipping at our coffees. Half the time is spent taking photos of Benji around the farm for his social media accounts that have more followers than I could even imagine having. A shudder passes through me at even the idea.
And then my eyes land on Beau cutting through the crowd, eyes firmly set on me.
Even in a crowd of people the man can easily find me like he’s got a homing beacon on me. Like maybe his heart will always be able to easily find my own. Two souls intertwined. The idea is so lovely and nice that I can’t help but smile as he approaches. He grins back, eyes half hidden by the ball cap on his head.
“Happy to see me?” he asks softly.
“Always.”
He kisses me softly, smelling like sweat, the earth, and pure fucking sunshine. Looping arms around his neck, I kiss him again, just to lay claim to him. His hands land on my hips, tugging me closer, before he pulls away from me with a delighted chuckle.
“My mama isn’t far behind,” Beau whispers in a rush, warning in his voice.
“She can’t see us kiss?”
“Not the way I wanna kiss you, sweetheart.” Beau presses a kiss to my temple, and begrudgingly pulls away from me.
Cindy comes around the corner, all messy hair, rain boots, and intention. Her grin grows even wider at the sight of me. I still haven’t done that dinner with her, and this is a good reminder for us to do that.
“Look at all you boys. Harper, your mama is in the office looking for you.”
The words seem to be code, because Harper’s face pinches, and he wanders off with his dog in tow. Jackson stares longingly after him. I think maybe he won’t do anything, before he swears “oh hell” and runs after Harper.
“Aw,” Cindy whispers with a hand over her heart. “Another love match.”
Benji snorts and looks sheepishly away when Cindy glowers at him. “I have to get back to the office, but Beau told me youwere here, and I wanted to say hey. Reminding you of that dinner. You owe me a couple of them, honey. Beau been treating you alright?”
“Beau’s perfect.”
Cindy grins at me and winks. “Don’t I know it. Y’all be good. Take a pumpkin on the house.”
And then she’s gone, like a twister touching down and taking back off. Benji and Eli skip off towards the pumpkins. I start to follow, but Beau’s grip on my wrist halts me.
“Come see the sunflowers with me?”
I grin up at him. “Of course.”
