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He is playing with me because he is all lean, chiseled, muscular planes and angles underneath his country button-up. I’ve seen him shirtless while working a time or three, and he is impressive, but still…
“Is everything okay here?” Speaking of shirtless, Chance is stepping in.
“Perfectly, cousin. Please meet Jensen Peterson, a goodfriend.He’s the carpenter I employed to work inside the tiny houses and around the property. He let me apprentice with him for the past six months.” I turn to Jensen and announce, “This is Chance and his wife, Aubrey.” She holds a glass of homemade lemonade out to Jensen after shaking hands with my cousin.
Jensen’s a real gentleman when it comes to treating a lady with respect, so of course, he thanks her and accepts the glass.
“Peterson, I am so sorry I forgot your father’s batch of lamingtons. Chance and Aubrey made me rest all day yesterday after my incident on Friday, and then I got lost in working today.”
He shrugs casually. “It was just my excuse for coming over to check on you when you weren’t answering your phone,” he confesses. “I thought something bad had happened to you. I forgot you told me your cousin was coming over for the weekend. My father can wait for a couple of weeks before he gets that batch of Aussie goodness.”
“Tell Hank I’ll make it up to him and add in a pavlova.”
“A what?”
“It will be a surprise, but for now, I must get going into town and pick up the food orders so I can feed this lot of hard workers.”
“You shouldn’t be driving, Aussie. I’ll drive you.”
“I don’t need—”
“Jensen’s right,” Aubrey pipes up with a mischievous grin, producing my cell phone from her pocket, which she had forgotten to hand to me earlier. There is a slew of missed calls and messages. “You might have a slight concussion from your head injuries, so you shouldn’t be operating heavy machinery,” she says sweetly, doing her best impersonation of acting all innocent while getting my friend in a car with me. It is her way of getting back at me because I didn’t tell her Jensen was a hottie, and she probably thinks I am daft not going on a date with him.
He’s the kind of guy any female would want to go out with, but I’m not that female. He’s like a brother to me. One day, Jensen will fall in love with the right woman, but I’m not her. I am not the right female for any guy now. I come with baggage.
“I like her.” Jensen is almost crowing beside me because he won this round. “We can take my car instead of Manny. I’ll pick up a tray of donuts for Dad and drop them in to him on my way home.”
“I’m only letting you do this because you will only follow me in your car anyway. I feel bad for Hank and his sweet tooth and you coming out here to check up on me when you could be doing something better with your day.”
“Got nothing better to be doing than driving you into town, Aussie.”
I can practically hear Aubrey’s excitement thrumming in front of me.
“After you then, I’ve got troops to feed. I’ll just go get my wallet.”
“I can wait here.”
“I’ll wait with Jensen, and we can have a speedy get-to-know-you chat.”Ugh.I knew my cousin had been too quiet.
I figure I might as well go to the loo while I’m inside, freshen up quickly and make sure my foundation covers as much of the bruising as possible. I can only imagine the gossip among the locals when just one of them sees my face. The phone tree with its many branches will get activated.
Ten minutes later, I am ready to take on the locals and Jensen because I know why he’s offering to take me into town. He wants to learn more about where I was when I got my face knocked into the counter. And no doubt more information on what transpired afterward.
I walk outside and hear Chance and Aubrey fill in some blanks for Jensen.
Oh, boy. Time to break up their conversation.
“Hey, I’m ready, Peterson. Let’s get going,” I call out as I approach them all, reverting to his surname as a nickname when I feel things are crawling into the gray area.
“Hey, Ophelia?” Chance pauses.Here it comes.“I’ve invited Jensen back for the barbie lunch, and he says he’ll help us finish up after we eat. Hope you don’t mind?”
“Of course not. I just thought Jensen would have better things to be doing with his afternoon,” I say in a sugary-sweet voice, narrowing my eyes at my cousin.
My cousin gives me a cocky look. I swear the two of them have got a bet going on. Aubrey will be on my side. But Chance? I figure he is in it to win, and from that smug look, he’s betting against me that I won’t make it over my finish line.
I roll my eyes at the two of them.
I give my family a warning glare, which has Aubrey laughing, and then she checks her phone.
