Page 74 of Harvest Heat

Rhys took a sip of his coffee, trying to ground himself. “Because you’re curious.”

“We are, but you kept saying you wanted to keep it a secret.”

“When has that ever stopped Tessa?”

Jonah laughed. “True, but it usually quiets the rest of us.”

Rhys ran a hand through his hair. He’d already been having a shitty morning, now this. “Fine. But…”

“None of us were certain of anything except we’d each seen you at Cloud Nine in the evenings.”

“I could have been teaching Caleb how to pull a proper shot.”

Jonah shook his head. “Caleb is doing fine with that already.”

“Maybe that’s because of me.”

“Since when do you offer coffee lessons to anyone?”

He took a deep breath to prevent himself from yelling. “Just because I haven’t⁠—”

“Rhys.”

“I didn’t want everyone talking about me, but I guess not saying things was just making everyone more curious.”

Jonah nodded. “I think so.”

“But I didn’t talk about it last year.”

“We didn’t have Caleb last year or Agnes on a crusade of revenge.”

Agnes was definitely not helping anything. “Is this really all because her sister’s town won more awards last year?”

“I do think she genuinely wants to help the town, and it’s partially because we’re hosting this year.”

Rhys groaned. “I wouldn’t even be in this mess if she hadn’t started all this.”

“Do you really regret working with Caleb? Would you change that now if you could?”

Rhys thought for a few moments. Plenty of things would be simpler, but what if he’d never found out what it was like to kiss Caleb or for Caleb to… He pushed away those thoughts. He didn’t need to get hard in front of Jonah. “No. I wouldn’t change it.”

“You like him.”

“Yes, but I can’t date another business owner here—it’s too public. What if things don’t work out, and we both still have to exist here?”

“It’s not like he works for you,” Jonah said.

“No, but the business association is…”

“We’re close, and you would have to see him, but are you really going to give up on a chance at happiness because you’re afraid?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Tears burned behind Rhys’s eyes, and he fought to keep them from falling. “I need a minute.”

He walked into the back as Jonah called, “I’ll leave you alone, but text me if you need anything.”

Rhys waved at him, not sure he could get himself to speak again.

CHAPTER 27