At that moment, her eyes widened at the sound of tires crunching up the drive. Claire stepped back, putting space between us as she tucked her hair behind her ear. I stepped back too, my heart hammering against my chest.
We’d been standing so close, breathing the same air. Had she wanted—? Was I about to?—?
My brain was a maelstrom of hypotheses as Pace parked his truck. Claire looked at me but furrowed her brow at my unreadable features.
Pace skipped up the steps, and his eyes flickered with glee when he registered Claire. For some absurd reason, he wore his firefighter uniform pants and suspenders under a light jacket and baseball cap.
He scooped off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. The gesture was one well and truly rehearsed. “Well, hello.” He extended a hand toward her. “I’m Pace Leigh. This goober’s best friend.”
Claire’s dimples came back out as she shook his waiting hand. Her gaze flicked to his pants and suspenders peeking from under the coat. I wanted to pull them all the way out just to snap them back and whack his nipples.
“Hi. I’m Claire. I’m renting the cabin.” A small blush crept along Claire’s collarbone.
“Well, how about that? You are the illustrious C.L. Wells?”
“Oh.” She nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear again. “Yes. That’s me.”
“I read your piece about the oil fracking in Texas. Fascinating.”Pace had turned to her, his shoulder to me, almost his whole back.
Why had he looked up Claire? What was he trying to prove? The suck-up. I’d also looked her up and read everything she ever published, but you didn’t see me gloating. With every word of their exchange, a low, simmering tension started to bubble, pushing impatience closer to the surface, close to overflowing. Pace had his charm turned up to eleven.
This had to end now. If she fell victim to his personality, I had no hope.
Hope for what? I wasn’t ready to process that yet. I needed to get him out of here. I’d lost most of my friends at this point. Honestly, what was one more?
Chapter 16
Claire
This wasan interesting turn of events. Caught between two incredibly handsome men, what was a woman to do?
I wasn’t sure what urged my feet up to Levi’s place. I was bored now that I’d sent off the article. Maybe bored wasn’t the right word … I was itching for something. Restless with pent-up energy. Normally, I had my next project lined up, or at least a new fixation, to catch my attention. But being up here had me secluded, and aside from the room I was most assuredly not going to break into, I didn’t have anything currently piquing my interest.
Except Levi.
When he opened the door in his jeans and flannel, I was reminded just how handsome he was. It wasn’t boredom that drew me to him … it was something far more primal.
When his gaze lingered on my lips, my body grew heavy with his direct focus. My lips tingled with the need to feel his pressed against them.
Then his friend had arrived. Thankfully?
Pace’s dark blond hair had hints of red when the sun hit it and looked curly but was cropped close when he pulled off his cap. He rocked a mustache that seemed to be swinging back in trend that few people could pull off. He was one of the lucky ones. If the suspenders were any indication, his job as a firefighter made him even more filled out than Levi. Not that it was a competition. They were both good-looking men but in different fonts. And actually, Pace was almost too handsome, the sort of attractive that everybody was aware of, including himself. The sort of handsome that made me leery.
Levi had an attractiveness that grew with time. Every time I looked at him, I found a new striking feature to study, like the hard bump on the bridge of his nose before it sloped down or the gentle strength of his long sculptor fingers. He was far more interesting and distinguished.
I could only imagine what the ladies of Cozy Creek thought when these two went out on the town. Although it was hard to picture Levi going out to peruse for women. In fact, I didn’t care to think about that at all.
I realized I’d been lost in my thoughts of women throwing themselves at the sensitive and caring artist who was hosting me when Pace cleared his throat. I think he had asked me a question, but my gaze looked like it was locked on his shoulders. A blushburned my cheeks, and when I flicked a look at Levi, his eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms.
“I’m sorry, my mind wandered. It does that.” I waved my hand through the air.
Pace chuckled in a perfectly handsome way that almost felt rehearsed. “I’m used to that with this one.” He clapped Levi on his shoulder. Shoulders that tensed closer to his ears. “I was just telling Levi that tonight is the great pumpkin hunt. I was heading down there to help now. You can get your pumpkin to carve for the season and the winner of the largest pumpkin is announced.”
“Fun!” I clapped excitedly.
“Plenty of seasonal gourds competing for the big prize,” Pace said.
“And who doesn’t love a massive gourd?” I said without missing a beat.
