Page 50 of Harvest Heat

Of course, he would prefer to always be touching Rhys. He would prefer for all of this to be out in the open, but he didn’t want to be the focus of town gossip any more than Rhys did.

Jonah called out to Caleb, and he realized it was too late to dodge back out.

“Hi! I brought your coffee over since I heard you were on your own here.”

Jonah took the cup from his hand. “Thank you. How’d you know Luke called out sick?”

“As you’ve both warned me, information travels fast in town. Agnes told me. She always likes to have a long chat when she gets her after-lunch coffee fix.”

Jonah laughed. “That’s because she’s got a crush on you.”

Heat filled Caleb’s face. “That’s ridiculous. She’s older than my mother.”

“She can’t help but notice you, though, and it’s a thrill to have a new, attractive man in town.”

Rhys’s cheeks were bright red, and Caleb fought the urge to smile.

Jonah frowned. “Rhys, are you okay? Is it too hot in here?”

Rhys sputtered, then covered it with a cough. “No. I… I’m fine.”

Jonah gave Rhys a look that let Caleb know he didn’t believe Rhys, but he didn’t ask any more questions. “Okay, let me run and get the book you ordered.”

When Jonah disappeared into the back of the store, Rhys shocked Caleb by reaching for his hand. “I couldn’t help it. He started talking about the hot new man in town, and I…” He kept his voice so low Caleb could barely hear him, but he knew Rhys didn’t want Jonah to catch a word of what he said.

Caleb leaned over and put his mouth close to Rhys’s ear. “I won’t apologize for making you want me, and you know you’re hot too.”

“Stop. You’re going to make it worse.”

Caleb grinned. “Is that so bad?”

The second Jonah stepped back into the room, Rhys dropped Caleb’s hand like it had burned him. Jonah looked from one of them to the other. Caleb was sure he’d clocked them, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything.

Would Rhys put a stop to everything now? Caleb hoped to hell not. “I should get back to Cloud Nine.”

“Thanks again for bringing my coffee over,” Jonah said. “Will we see you at book club tomorrow night?”

“Not this month, maybe eventually. Between the shop and the hockey season starting, I can’t add anything else right now.” Except fucking Rhys several nights a week, and since I’m doing that, I can’t be at book club with him. Caleb definitely couldn’t keep this up much longer. He hated lying to Jonah, even if he was really just being evasive.

Rhys glanced from Jonah to Caleb and back again. “You asked Caleb to join?”

“Of course, I try to get all my customers involved, especially ones who bring me pumpkin lattes.”

Caleb needed to get out of there. “See you later.” He waved to them both and hurried out the door.

CHAPTER 19

Rhys glared at Jonah.

“What’s that for?”

“You didn’t have to go talking about how hot he was.”

Jonah rolled his eyes. “I said Agnes found him hot, not that you did.”

“You said he was hot. You stated a fact.”

“I mean. It is a fact, right?” Jonah was looking at him like he was being ridiculous. He probably was, but he couldn’t help it.