“Excellent,” I said. “I’ve exceeded my wildlife drama quota for the month.”
He grinned, that slow, deep-dimpled one that made my stomach swoop in a way that felt both exciting and wildly inconvenient.
Because Iknewbetter than to fall for a man who didn’t live here. Iknewthe clock was ticking on this thing, no matter how good it felt. But right now? Sitting here with sunshine and iced tea and a guy who looked at me like I was the best kind of trouble?
It felt good.
It felteasy.
And it felt like something I didn’t want to lose.
“Deal,” I said. “I’ll pencil you in.”
He gave me a look. “Just pencil?”
“I have commitment issues when it comes to pens.”
Ben laughed, and I decided right then that I wanted to make him laugh more often. Every day, if I could.
He walked me back to my truck, hands in his pockets, not touching me but close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin.
At the door, he paused.
I glanced up. “What?”
“You’re kind of amazing, you know that?”
I blinked. “Did you inhale pie fumes or something?”
“No.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I just thought you should hear it.”
I smiled, softer this time. “Then I guess I’ll see you after the rhubarb apocalypse.”
He stepped back but didn’t take his eyes off me. “Looking forward to it.”
And somehow, even with everything unspoken still hovering between us, I knew he meant it.
Chapter Thirty
Ben
I didn’t mean to come down to the festival.
In fact, I’d promised myself Iwouldn’t.
The plan was simple: sleep in, grab a quiet coffee from the lodge kitchen, and maybe finish the book I’d pretended to start four days ago.
But then I made the mistake of walking past the lobby window.
And there she was.
Fifi.
Wearing a sleeveless chambray dress, hair pulled into some kind of loose knot, with a smear of what looked suspiciously like berry preserves on her cheekbone and a glittery sun sticker on her collarbone like she’d been accidentally branded by a preschooler.
She was darting from one pop-up booth to another with a clipboard, a headset, a smile that should’ve been outlawed,and the unmistakable air of someone holding the entire town together by sheer force of personality.
I didn’t even change clothes. Just grabbed my hoodie and headed toward town before I could stop myself.
