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“Hey, boss,” Will Upton said, getting off the machine and walking toward them. He was sixteen and worked summers and after school on the Jacobs land. When he caught sight of Annie, he stalled.
“Uh, hi, Annie.” He looked a little frightened of her. Great. Just great. Will had actually come into her café a few times and seemed to like her food. Probably another patron now lost to her flying-fist rumor.
Fortunately, Will caught sight of the box on top of the other four-wheeler and smiled. “Ah, sweet! These are the best sandwiches.”
“Help yourself, Will,” Luke said, then he returned his attention to Annie.
“I’ve got to go,” she announced loudly, and a bit shakily.
Luke grabbed her hand, but she yanked it away. He didn’t say anything. Just let her leave. Which was smart, considering she was so wired she wasn’t sure if she was about to jump him or hit him. Her body was extremely confused, and her mind was in worse shape.
“Thank you, Annabelle,” he called as she walked to her car. “For the sandwiches.”
The fact that he felt the need to clarify exactly what he was thanking her for caused a fresh dose of confusion and embarrassment to rush through her.
She couldn’t speed out of there fast enough. With her heart racing and her stomach in knots, she left Luke in her dust and wondered if this was how he’d felt when he was the one doing the leaving.
“Shit!” Luke kicked the gravel and watched as Annie drove away. So close. He had been so close to convincing her they were perfect together. Something he had figured out a bit too late, it seemed.
He saw the look on her face when he pushed into her. Felt how her body instantly molded to his. Felt her give in. There was hope still. And he wouldn’t give up.
“Got the whole north block picked, and the crates are on their way up to be loaded,” Will said around a mouthful. He was chowing down on his sandwich and didn’t seem to have a clue as to what had just happened. “Man. Annie sure is amazing,” he said, staring at his turkey sub in appreciation before taking another hefty bite.
Got that right. The woman was all sass and vinegar, but when she showed that softer side, it made a man melt. Luke knew this from experience. Which, if he was honest with himself, was a reason he’d left the way he did.
There were no secrets between him and Annie. He’d told her he was going, and that the job offer was a great opportunity. He got to develop a piece of land that, while still attached to the family name, was all his own.
“If you go back east to harvest, can I come with you?” Will asked.
The kid was ambitious, and Luke liked that. “There’s already a crew there. And there aren’t any trees on the land quite yet.”
Before he left, he hired a staff and a right-hand man who would oversee the planting and maintenance. That would allow him to live in Sweet Hill and make trips only a couple times a year, to check in on things. The profit from the new farm would secure the Jacobs legacy, which his grandfather had built. A legacy Luke himself had helped with.
“Well, maybe someday,” Will said. “If you go back?”
Luke loved his town and his family and had always planned to grow old in Sweet Hill. But after that night with Annie, he’d realized there was even more to come back to. Realized what kind of woman she really was compared to what kind of woman she let people see.
“Maybe someday,” Luke said. “Finish your lunch and help the crew load up when they bring the crates. Then call it a day, Will.”
Will gave a small salute.
Luke wanted to curse again, his thoughts refusing to turn from a tall redhead with pouty lips. He knew how most of the men in town saw her. Annie wasn’t her mother, a fact that seemed lost on many of them. She wasn’t the kind that made a man run away; she was the kind that made him stick around.
Luke grabbed a sandwich. He needed a clear head and cold shower if he was going to go another round with Miss Annabelle Thompson.
Chapter Three
Annie threw the covers back and huffed. Her skin was too hot and her mind was racing. All thanks to Mr. I-Don’t-Believe-in-Shirts.
She glanced at the clock. Three a.m. and she still couldn’t sleep. The afternoon had been a nightmare. All day she’d walked around with a clouded head. Ever since she saw Luke at the bar, she couldn’t find her balance. She got up, walked to the bathroom, and splashed some cold water on her face.
“You just stood there, like a moron,” she said to herself in the mirror. There was no way she could let that happen again.
No. He couldn’t get the last word. It couldn’t be that easy for him to just waltz into town, back into her life, and kiss her. And it was time he knew that.
She threw her hair up in a pile of curls on the top of h
er head, yanked on her boots and leather jacket, and grabbed her car keys.
