Page 42 of Trick or Tease

Almost.

“What is the deal with you guys?” she asked.

“Nothing!”

She laughed. “Clearly.”

I groaned and dropped the sweater, then covered my face with my hands. “Why is he so hot?”

Lucy laughed, enjoying this. “I fell for a Hogan boy, so I know what you mean.”

“Objectively speaking, Garrett has gotten ridiculously good-looking. Like, unfairly so. It’s not even fair that one person gets to look like that.”

Lucy grinned and picked up another sweater. “I mean, I guess if you’re into that whole brooding, intense thing he’s got going on.”

“You guess?” I stared at her. “Lucy, the man looks like he stepped out of a magazine. Those blue eyes, that jawline, the way he fills out a basic T-shirt…” I trailed off, realizing I was getting carried away again. “It should be illegal. Or there should be a warning label slapped on his forehead.”

“Eh.” Lucy shrugged, clearly enjoying herself. “Billy’s always been the better-looking Hogan brother, in my opinion.”

I snorted. “You’re completely biased.”

“I am not biased,” she protested. “Billy has those warm brown eyes and that easy smile. Plus, he’s got that whole gentle giant thing going for him. Much more my type than Mr. Uptight City Lawyer.”

“You are absolutely biased,” I insisted. “You’ve had a crush on Billy since we were in grade school. Of course you think he’s better looking.”

“He’s my man,” she said proudly. “You can have the other one.”

“I doubt that’s going to happen,” I said with a sigh. “He’ll be gone again before we know it.”

“Just promise me you’ll be careful,” Lucy said. “I know you, Sabrina. When you fall, you fall hard.”

I felt my cheeks flush. “I’m not falling for anyone.”

“Maybe not yet, but you’re teetering on the edge. I can see it in your eyes when you talk about him.” She set down the sweater she was folding and turned to face me fully. “Look, I get it. He’s gorgeous, he’s successful, and there’s all that history between you two. But he’s also made it pretty clear that his life is in New York. Make sure you keep that in mind.”

“I know that,” I said. “Trust me, I’m very aware of where his priorities are.”

“Are you though? Because you’re spending an awful lot of time with him for someone who’s supposedly aware he’s leaving.” Lucy’s expression softened. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, okay? You’ve got such a good thing going with the farm, with your life here. Don’t let some fantasy about what could have been mess that up.”

I grabbed another sweater, fussing with the sleeves, folding it over and over until the edges lined up just so. It gave me something to stare at, so I didn’t have to look at her. “It’s not a fantasy. We’re just… I don’t even know what we’re doing.” I smoothed out a wrinkle with my thumb. “But it doesn’t matter. You’re right. He’ll be gone soon.”

“And until then?”

I sighed, finally meeting her eyes. “Until then, I guess I just try to survive however long he’s sticking around without doing anything stupid.”

“Like what?”

“Like kissing him.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Lucy’s eyes went wide. “You want to kiss him?”

“No!”

“You are such a liar!”

I groaned, realizing my mistake. “It’s not what you think. It was barely anything. Just a moment when we were in the city. Billy’s big mouth stopped it. But we totally would have kissed.”

“So, it’s a good thing he interrupted you?”