Chapter 9
Meg
“So, he is HOT— right? He sounds hot and it sounds like he is into you,” Piper states as she folds up her napkin and starts tossing our trash into the now empty bag. I laugh.
“What makes you say that,” I question a little frustratedly. She hasn’t even seen him. How would she know? How do I even respond to that?
“Well, you are trying not to share too much—so that is a red flag right there—- you like him. C’mon you at least find him attractive. Let’s face it, he wouldn’t be carting you around AND fixing that leak under your sink if he didn’t like YOU,” she states triumphantly.
I wrestle internally with myself, I hate sounding like I have low self-esteem, but I know logically that guys like Sterling are usually attracted to blonde model-type girls. I settle for being honest.
“I don’t think that I’m his type, I’m sure he has his pick of women,” I vaguely state. I turn to grab my phone to see if I have any messages and hear her huff in frustration.
“Sure, you aren’t,” she says. I practically can hear the eye roll before I see it. “I’m not going to try to convince you otherwise, right now. Just know that I will love saying ‘I told you so’ very soon,” she says cheekily.
Now it is my turn to roll my eyes. My friend is very sweet, but delusional.
We have a lot in common, but my head is not up in the clouds like hers.
I am very aware of what I am and am not.
Cute, chubby, brown haired girls rarely get the tall, dark, mysterious handsome, muscular guy.
It’s time to shut down this uncomfortable conversation.
“I have to wrap up a few things before I head out today. What do I owe you for lunch? It was delicious by the way,” I add.
“Nothing, you can get mine next time. We end up passing the same $10.00 back and forth over and over,” she states as she stands up.
“This conversation isn’t done, just postponed,” she says seriously.
She checks her phone and sighs loudly. “I have to run, my new help is having issues, call you later,” she promises as she rushes out the door.
I roll my eyes as she slams the door and bolts down the stairs.
I still have about an hour before he said he would be by to pick me up, so I decide that I will work a little bit more.
I am having difficulty concentrating. My mind keeps wandering to the letter, email, and my truck.
That leads me to think of Sterling. I didn’t want to tell Piper how hot he was.
That would just make it worse. I was already struggling with keeping my libido in check around him, I was afraid what would happen if I shared his attractiveness out loud.
I didn’t need her filling my head with unlikely possibilities and scenarios. My life was not a romance novel.
Turning my head back to my laptop, I mess with the social media graphic a little.
It was a thank you post to everyone for the campaign the city council, chamber of commerce, and the ecotourism group asked me to design.
Without the support of the local community, we would not have been able to convince the developer to back out of the deal with the private landowner.
High Ridge is situated in a picturesque mountain area.
People come here to get away from the hustle and bustle of the cities.
Developing that land would have been a huge mistake for the tourism market here.
It also would have destroyed wildlife habitats and put many of our local stores out of business.
The town really showed its support during the campaign to conserve the land and to preserve the area as we knew it.
A lot of long nights went into forging partnerships, developing clever slogans, flooding local media outlets, and talks with locals paid off when the potential land developer backed out of the deal.
Everyone was so relieved, and I have to admit I was proud that all that work paid off.
Now, I was at a bit of a loss as to how to articulate the gratitude everyone felt.
My brain was fried, and now I had the inconvenience of this anonymous individual that apparently was mad at me. AND my truck— and of course Sterling was distracting me. He wasn’t even here, and he was causing me trouble. All of a sudden my phone vibrates, making me jump. I look down at the screen.
Sterling: I’m in Doe’s.
My heart lurches. No. Why couldn’t he wait in the truck? Piper is never going to let me out of there now. I swallow down my panic and respond. Making sure I don’t use an exclamation point before I hit send. Yeah, because that will make you seem less deranged.
Meg: Be down in a minute.
I gather my things and shove the note in the side pouch of my backpack.
I probably shouldn’t be handling it so much.
I’m sure anything of evidentiary value has been wiped away by my constant inspection of it.
I do one last sweep, and walk out locking the door behind me.
I take a few deep breaths as I round the corner and walk into Doe’s.
I see him. I don’t know how someone can look so casual and dangerous at the same time.
Piper is behind the register helping a customer and I hope they have a long list of things to order. Walking up to the table, I notice he has a second cup sitting there across from him. I cautiously approach, wondering if he has company.
“You good,” he asks. His voice does things to my insides that I try to ignore. He takes a sip of out of the cup that is in his hands. His large hands practically engulf the white single-use cup.
“Y-yes”, I stammer and clear my throat. Suddenly, I remember that I need to get out of here.
“I’m ready to go,” I state. He looks up at me and raises his dark eyebrow. In this lighting his eyes are an eerie light blue. The combination is striking against his dark hair.
“You in a hurry,” he asks smirking and takes another sip out of his cup. He rocks back in his chair and examines me. Waiting for my response.
“I-I just figured that you had better things to do,” I stammer again, cursing myself for not being smoother. The way he continues to stare at me makes me nervous.
“Why don’t you have some coffee,” he gestures to the cup across from him.
I look around the room and notice Piper is staring at me from behind the pastry case.
Apparently, I am not getting out of here without her noticing.
I ease myself into the seat and place my backpack next to the chair. I gingerly reach for the cup.
“Thanks,” I say simply. I am trying not to runaway at the mouth. Less is more— at least that is what they say, right? He nods, wordlessly and looks over my shoulder. I hear footsteps behind me.
“Meg, who is your— friend,” I hear Piper ask slyly over my shoulder. She paused for a beat too long before she decided on the word friend. I open my mouth to try to introduce him, but I am cut off.
“Sterling,” he says amicably. My head whips back around to him. He has never taken that tone with me. He sounds polite, pleasant even. He chuckles at my expression and then reaches out to shake Piper’s hand.
“I’m Piper, the best friend,” she explains while she gives him the once over. She looks over at me and her eyes widen a fraction. I immediately understand. In best friend speak, she is basically saying that calling him hot is an understatement.
“I’m the mechanic,” he states simply. Piper’s eyes light up and she smirks. I glare at her a bit. Trying to warn her. She just steamrolls on.
“Oh yes, Meg was telling me about how much you are helping her right now. It is very thoughtful of you to go our of your way like that,” she practically gushes. I roll my eyes and attempt to interject but Sterling beats me to it.
“It’s not a big deal,” he brushes off her statement casually and shrugs a bit. He almost looks a bit embarrassed. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that would be the case. I’m sure it isn’t.
“Piper, we should get going. I don’t want to hold him up,” I try to explain. She can see right through me and rolls her eyes.
“I have the part to repair the leak under your sink,” he states as he stands and stretches his arms over his head. His muscles bulging, making the tattoos on his arm dance.
“About time you get that fixed, it’s only been leaking for 3 months,” Piper states. I glare at her. Busted.
“3 months, huh,” Sterling chuckles amused. “I thought it had only been leaking for a few weeks.”
I roll my eyes. “It has been a long couple of months, I have been busy,” I explain. I grab my backpack and stand. Signaling that I’m ready to go as well.
“I’ll see you later, Meg,” Piper giggles as I walk away. I know I will be hearing from her. She won’t be able to help herself.