And then Becca murmured softly, “Classic enemies to lovers.”
As we all sat silently and watched those two bozos behave themselves for once, I couldn’t help but think that stranger thingshadhappened. Maybe just because their relationship had always been one way, didn’t mean it couldn’t adapt. People could change. Futures shifted all the time and expectations along with them.
We weren’t simply the sum of our past, I thought hopefully.
A breeze cut through the warmth from the heaters, causing me to shiver.
Just as suddenly, the tides shifted and Mac’s voice rose in indignation as she pointed her loaded paintbrush in Brady’s direction.
I heard a sigh from Chloe and a softly muttered, “Oh shoot,” from Becca.
“Just shy of five minutes,” Larry said in disappointment. “I owe you five bucks, Aunt Maggie.”
Amid Mac’s angry hollering, my idiot brother’s laughter rang out, vindictive and delighted in equal measure.
Maybe change was too much to hope for in certain situations. I probably shouldn’t let my imagination get away from me either.
twelve
MARK
Nerves made my grip on the small Tupperware container unsteady, and I nearly fumbled it when I took the front stairs two at a time.
I needed to calm down.
It hadn’t taken long for the warm afterglow of my kiss with Candace to get snuffed out. Last night, on the drive home, reality had come crashing down with no room for subtlety or the tender, hopeful feelings I’d been entertaining.
Dread sunk like a weight, cold and heavy in my chest. We’d kissed and it had been perfect, but what the hell was I supposed to do now?
There were things about me that Candace didn’t know, and, even worse, things I couldn’t tell her. At best, she just thought I was private about my life. But more likely, she thought I had a daughter out there who I never saw or acknowledged.
In a delirious daze from her lips and her scent and her taste, I’d agreed to more kissing, but what did that even mean? We’d need to keep this—whatever it was—between us. If her family and the town found out, any sort of association with me would have a negative impact on her. They’d whisper about Candace behind her back. I couldn’t stand the thought of my reputation ruining hers.
But here I was, twelve hours later, heart in my hands along with some pumpkin scones.
Tightening my hold on the plastic container, I poked my head into Candace’s office. She wasn’t there, but she must have just stepped out. The overhead light was on and so was her electric heater. It was early, but she was an early riser. I’d wanted to stop by and talk this morning, try to figure out where we went from here.
As I stepped more fully into the room, I caught the scent of lavender that always seemed to cling to her hair and her skin. It was soft and delicate, but it had arousal flooding my system along with memories of her fingers firm around my belt loop and her nails on my scalp. All I could do was shake my head at myself. Shifting uncomfortably, I moved to place the scones on her desk.
I’d pack up my heart, but leave the scones.
It was a good thing she wasn’t here to accept the breakfast and my barely coherent thoughts. I’d probably just stand there staring at her like a lovesick idiot. I was fifteen with a crush all over again. Except now I knew her—the real her—not the half-formed idea I had in my head. She was kind and funny and beautiful in a way I couldn’t have known when I was simply an infatuated teenager.
Distantly, my brain warned that I was a little more than infatuated this time around.
I probably needed to get my shit together before we had this conversation anyway. If I was smart, I’d just put things to rest, tell her there was no point in moving forward and we should go back to being friends. I knew we had an expiration date with her plans to leave in the new year. But it was that same threat of her impending departure that made me think we could do this—keep this secret for a few short months.
It would be easier to keep a relationship under wraps if it had an end date. I wasn’t selfish enough to try to date her for all the world to see. I didn’t want to hurt her. She could leave Kirby Falls once more as one of its best and brightest—a hometown darling untainted by my past and my decisions.
Maybe Candace could be mine for a little while, and it wouldn’t hurt so bad when she left.
Intent on heading out, I stepped closer and placed the Tupperware on the desk. In doing so, I caught sight of her laptop, off-center on the scarred wooden surfaceand open to a webpage. My attention snagged on the job listings.Market research manager. Sales and marketing position. Product marketing. Brand manager and client relations.
I’d known Candace was leaving from the start. When her parents had mentioned the return of their youngest daughter, they’d said she was taking some time away from the city and was coming home. I didn’t know what might drive someone away from their city and current position, but maybe Candace was exploring her options, seeing what else was out there.
Either way, none of those job postings were in Kirby Falls.
It was a stark reminder—a disappointment I didn’t have any business feeling.
