Chapter 3 #2
“You’re going to talk to her about it?” Galen asked, meeting my gaze.
“Since she’ll be here for a month and probably wants to go to the few streets Clover Lake calls downtown, I should. Or Livvy should.”
“She’ll probably mention it,” Ewan answered to the unasked question.
“But you should talk to her. Considering you two seem to be the center of all of this. Even though you don’t know each other.”
I looked down at the ground for a moment, and Ewan cursed under his breath. “It’s not true, is it?”
My gaze shot up, my fist tightening. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? No. I’m not a cheater. I literally met Jamie for the first time when she picked me up on the side of the road. Because that asshole William kidnapped me.”
“I’m sorry for asking.” Ewan rubbed the back of his neck. “Seriously. I don’t actually believe you’re a cheater. Fuck. I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you ever press charges?” Galen asked, his voice low. “He could have killed you.”
That thought had occurred to me more than once.
In the months since the incident as we all called it, my family had rallied around me when they realized that I had been drugged, kidnapped, and left on the side of the road where anybody could have attacked me.
We all knew it had to be William. But we had no proof.
William was the one who knew how to do shit like that and had been known to hogtie people in high school, then toss them in the back of a truck and pretend it had something to do with a prank.
More than once me or my brothers, and even Gwendolyn once, had saved some poor kid from being left out in a field by William and his friends.
“William might not have a badge anymore, but he still has friends at the department. I have zero proof, just a hunch.”
“We see the way that those two act around you. And how both of their families like to perpetuate the idea that it was your fault.”
“And that’s not proof.”
“The fact that Jo and William are already married infuriates me,” Ewan snarled.
“Other than they keep bringing up the incident, and possibly harming Jamie’s reputation? Don’t fucking care anymore. They are welcome to have each other.”
“Well good. Although at some point you might want to tell us exactly why you decided to marry her,” Galen said snidely.
“I think that answer’s I have no idea why. Now let’s get back to work, because the crew is standing around and staring at us, and I’m already the talk of this town.”
“It’s just going to get worse when Jamie walks through it. You know that. You should warn her.”
I ran my hand over my face and slid my hat forward. “On it.”
I moved past my brothers, nodded at a few of our team, who we all trusted, but I didn’t know what they thought when they saw me. Did they see a cheater? The one who left Jo at the altar?
Because in the end, we had left each other. Or rather, I had been pushed.
But nobody would believe me. Not even when they knew the farm truck had been put on the side of the road with no keys. I was the one who was blamed, because I was the one who didn’t spread lies and shit.
I moved past the barn, and stepped towards my truck, only to stop short when a familiar blonde with pink streaks stood next to it, her teeth worrying into her lip.
“Jamie? Is something wrong?”
I was moving so quickly, that I didn’t even realize that I was near her until I could feel the heat of her next to me.
“No. I just wanted to say hi. Livvy had a phone call, and I decided to walk towards your truck. It looks great. I mean, not that I got to see it before.”
My lips twitched, and I slipped my hands into my pockets, unsure of myself for the first time in a long while. “Yeah, I like it. It’s not exactly new, but it gets the job done. Better than the farm truck that you passed.”
“I would never say that.”
“Your SUV is pretty nice though. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”
Jamie threw her head back and laughed. “When I told my parents that story, they still couldn’t quite believe that I had just given my keys to some stranger. Yes, your brother might be married to my cousin, but you were still a stranger.”
“Hey, are we really strangers when you meet me on the side of the road and pick me up like a hitchhiker?”
“Again, my dad wasn’t too pleased with that. Or any of my three brothers.”
I winced. “I’ve met two of your brothers before, and they seem like nice guys. They won’t beat me up, right?”
“I can’t tell you that.” She practically sing-songed it, and I snorted.
“Well, my brothers won’t beat you up. Gwen though?”
“Well, she could take me no matter what. I may work in construction, but I’m still pretty dainty.” She flexed her muscles, and I barely resisted the urge to reach out to caress her arm.
I was losing my damn mind.
“Anyway, I just wanted to say hi.” She looked down at her shoes, and I let out a breath.
“Hi, Jamie. It’s good to see you even though we text often enough.”
She looked up at me then, a smile on her face. “Yeah. I’m glad that I was able to steal your number from Livvy’s phone to check in. It’s been nice chatting with you.”
“Same. I feel like we know each other already, which is weird, right?”
“So weird.” She let out a relieved breath.
“I have no idea what I’m doing here, Sharp.
I realize that I’m here for Livvy, and Amelia, and I enjoy spending time with my cousin, but I was happy to see you too.
Which I cannot believe I’m even saying this aloud.
I do not talk about my feelings like this. ”
“When you said that you were coming to stay for a month, I had no idea what I was supposed to do with myself,” I said honestly.
Her eyes widened. “Sharp.”
“I’m not in love with her. I don’t think I ever was.” I frowned at that. “Which isn’t the greatest thing for me to say. But I don’t know, all these months texting? I’m just glad that you’re here.”
“I have to go back home after a month though,” she whispered, saying the words that I knew were true, and that couldn’t help but bring reality into this awkward yet new situation that we found ourselves in.
“A month.” I let out a breath. “I could work with a month.”
“And what does that mean?” she asked, her gaze not meeting mine.
I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers.
I didn’t mean to do it. It was stupid beyond all reason.
She was Livvy’s cousin, didn’t live here, and there was no lead-up to this.
And yet I couldn’t help but think about the dreams that I had had of her.
The need to touch her since I had first laid eyes on her. The connection I couldn’t quite grasp.
And when she parted her mouth, I slid my tongue against hers and moaned. I cupped her face, deepening the kiss as her hands went to my chest, her fingers tightening ever so slightly. And when I pulled back, I pressed my forehead to hers.
“That’s probably a complication.”
“There’s no probably about that. Because now I have to go to family dinner with you and pretend I didn’t just let you kiss me.”
“You kissed me back,” I teased.
“Yes. I did. And well, I guess we’ll figure out what that means later.”
I tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. “I’d say we will figure it out, but we both know I’m pretty bad at that.”
She laughed. “I’ll see you around, Sharp McBride. Thank you for the kiss.”
And with that, she walked away, looking far more confident than I felt.
I put my hands over my face and resisted the urge to growl.
Just with one kiss, I was lost. There was something seriously wrong with me.
I had never felt like this before, because it wasn’t love at first sight.
I didn’t love her. I didn’t even know her beyond the secrets that we had told each other over the past six months.
But it was a connection at first sight, and that scared me more than anything.
Because she was right, we didn’t live near, we had lives far separate from each other, and Clover Lake was already out to get her.
And once I figured out a way to tell her, she was never going to forgive me.