Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Callie
Luke has jogged past my house at least three times this week, after work.
I know this because I watch for him from behind my living room curtains, where I have a perfect view as he rounds the corner onto Maple Street, his stride steady and controlled.
Each time I tell myself not to look, and each time I fail, coffee cooling in my hand while my pulse stirs with something I don’t want to name.
I’m starting to wonder if it’s a coincidence or if he’s chosen this path for a reason, like he knows where I live?
I shouldn’t be surprised. It is a small town, and he is a police officer after all.
And God knows he comes equipped with investigative instincts.
Mrs. Faraday from next door is watering her garden, and as he approaches, she pointedly turns her back. He waves anyway. I’ve noticed him do that on more than one occasion, displaying that easy confidence I remember, the kind that says he’ll show up whether people welcome him or not.
The knock on my front door startles me away from the window. I smooth down my dress and check my reflection in the hall mirror before opening it, already knowing who I’ll find on the other side.
Luke’s hair is damp at the temples, and there’s color in his cheeks. Am I a bitch that I’m secretly pleased to see sweat on his forehead, and his breathing is heavier? Unfortunately, his black t-shirt is clinging to his torso in a way that makes my mouth go dry.
“Hey.” He flashes that crooked grin that l loved. Still do. “Got any water? I may have overestimated my endurance.”
I raise an eyebrow. “There’s an Allsup’s two blocks back the way you came. And the CVS on Main.”
“True.” He leans against my porch railing, not looking particularly concerned about the distance. “But I thought this might be a good opportunity to talk about your proposition.”
Right. The fake dating scheme I pitched two days ago after no more than a moment’s thought.
The words had flown out of my mouth before I’d really formed any sort of plan.
When I looked out the window and saw him with his sisters inside the bakery, I realized how much I missed my best friend and her family.
I found my feet carrying me across the way faster than I could reshelve a misfiled romance novel.
I’ve been kicking myself ever since because it’s not Kirk that I want to make jealous.
I don’t give a damn about him. It’s about proving to Harper, and to myself, that she doesn’t get the last word on my life.
And me dating Luke, even if it is pretend, will only piss Harper off.
What the hell was I thinking?
“I suppose you could come in for a minute,” I say, stepping back to let him pass. What choice do I have? I put the idea out there, and I’d look like a fool if I changed my mind now. And I’m not in the habit of making myself the fool, at least not on purpose.
“I’m surprised you didn’t take over your parents’ place. I’m sorry, by the way. Harper told me.”
Waving a hand, I try to dismiss the stab of pain that still gets me every time I think of Mom and Dad. “Too many memories. I couldn’t stay there. We sold it to a lovely young family.”
“So, you’re the town librarian now.”
“Yup.”
He follows me through my small bungalow to the back, where the kitchen is, and I’m hyperaware of his presence behind me. The house suddenly feels smaller than its twelve hundred square feet and much more intimate.
“I think that’s great. Sort of like the town historian, keeper of all the lore. It fits with the family connection.”
My ancestor was a man named Sam “Cupid” Cooper, who, as legend has it, shot an arrow through the hats of two feuding lovers, pinning them to a tree until they reconciled.
In reality, he saved the town from a group of dangerous cattle rustlers.
The townspeople were grateful and named a small creek that ran through town after him.
Over time, the city grew, and the creek dried up, so they named the town after him.
Ignoring his attempt at small talk, because I need to stay focused, I grab a tall glass from the cabinet and fill it with ice water, trying to ignore the way he’s looking around, taking in details of my life: my book inspired flea market treasures displayed on top of the cabinets, the stack of library books on the island counter, the half-empty carafe of coffee, and the mug I forgot to put in the dishwasher this morning.
Thankfully, I put away my old journal where I still have a photo of him as a bookmark.
I’d dug it out a couple of days ago, torturing myself with memories as I poured through the entries I’d made back in high school.
“Thanks,” he says when I hand him the glass, his fingers brushing mine briefly.
That brief contact is enough to sear my skin and send waves of pleasure through to the tips of my fingers and toes. I cross to the other side of the island, needing a barrier between us. “So. Have you decided?”
He drains half the glass before answering, and I’m enthralled by his Adam’s apple moving up and down the column of his throat. “I’m still not sure I understand the logistics. How exactly is this supposed to work?”
I don’t have a clue. I’m totally winging this.
“It’s simple.” I lean against the counter, trying to project confidence as my brain spins for a solution that makes sense.
“We make a few public appearances together. Hold hands, share a few meaningful looks.” Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath before the following words pop out of my mouth.
“Maybe a kiss or two for show. Let people draw their own conclusions.”
My parents would be so ashamed of me. I wish Nikki and I had the kind of relationship where I could call her up to talk about this stuff.
But we’ve never been that close. After our parents passed away within months of each other, she stayed in Europe for a few years, only returning a year ago.
Until eight months ago, Harper would have been my sounding board.
Though I obviously couldn’t talk to her about Luke. Now I have nobody.
“And you think that’s going to magically solve both our problems?”
“It’s not magic,” I counter, though my voice wobbles.
“It’s optics. And in a town like Cupid’s Creek, optics are everything,” I say carefully.
“And right now, you’re the bad boy returned home, and I’m the poor librarian who got her heart broken by her cheating ex and backstabbing best friend.
Put us together, and suddenly we’re not individual sob stories anymore. We’re a romance worth rooting for.”
This had better work.
Luke sets his empty glass down on the counter, studying me with those intense eyes. “And what happens when Harper and Kirk see us together?”
“Kirk gets to see that I’m not sitting around pining for him.
And Harper,” my gut cramps, “she gets the same.” She gets to watch her best friend pretend to fall head over heels for the brother she warned her away from, for making me choose friendship over love.
I shrug, going casual, hoping he can’t see my hands shaking or hear the slight tremor in my voice. “Win-win.”
“What about when this fake relationship runs its course? What then?”
The question catches me off guard because clearly I haven’t thought this out at all. “Then we have an amicable breakup,” I say. “No harm, no foul.”
Luke pushes away from the counter and takes a few steps around it, coming closer to me. “You really think it’ll be that simple?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” But even as I ask the question, a flutter stirs low in my stomach, warning me I already know the answer. “We’re both adults. We know what this is.”
“Do we?” He’s near enough that I can smell his cologne mixed with clean sweat, can see the flecks of darker blue in his eyes. “Because I’m not sure, Callie.”
His laser gaze pins me where I stand, heat rushing through me in a way no fake arrangement can explain.
My breath catches like it did all those years ago whenever he walked into the same room Harper and I were in.
It’s humiliating how easily old feelings come hurtling back, how quickly my body remembers what my head keeps trying to forget.
The way he’s looking at me, the way he says my name—it’s like being a teenager again, standing in the Caldwell’s backyard while Harper was inside getting us sodas, feeling like Luke was seeing me for the first time as not his little sister’s best friend.
“It’s business,” I manage to say, my voice not as steady as I’d like. “Mutually beneficial business.”
“Right.” But he doesn’t step back, doesn’t break eye contact. “Business.”
The front door opens. “Callie? You home?”
I jerk away from Luke, putting distance between us just as Nikki appears in the kitchen doorway. She stops short when she sees Luke, her eyebrows rising toward her hairline.
“Well, well,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “I heard you were back in town.”
“Nikki.” Luke nods politely. “Good to see you.”
“Is it?” Her tone is calm, protective. Nikki has never forgotten how I cried for weeks after Luke left town, even though I never told her the real reason.
Nikki and Luke are the same age, but they weren’t friends in school.
She teased me endlessly about my crush on him for years after she initially scolded me for liking an older boy.
“Nikki,” I warn.
“What? I’m just making conversation.” But her eyes never leave his face. “So, what brings you to my sister’s kitchen?”
“I was just—” Luke starts, but I cut him off.
“He was just leaving,” I say firmly. “Weren’t you, Luke?”
Disappointment flickers in his eyes before he schools his expression. “Yeah. I should get going.”
He heads for the front door, and I trail behind, Nikki right on my heels.
On the porch, Luke turns back to me. “Think about what I said, okay? About whether this is really what you want.”
“I know what I want,” I lie.