The summer would be good for all of them to build their friendship. For over a decade they’d grown their relationships through texts, emails, and FaceTiming, with the occasional get together.
Having a boyfriend would be pretty cool too. Owen’s rugged face and engaging eyes drew her into a lust-filled daydream and a deep sigh.
She’d given up hope on him calling when, three weeks later, he finally contacted her about setting up a cake class for Olivia. She’d been a blubbering fool on the phone cracking stupid jokes and dropping baking pun after baking pun until she realized there was radio silence on the other end of the line.
“Um, Owen?”
“Yeah,” he’d said, and her knees had turned wobbly.
“Sorry. I, uh...”
“Livy’s looking forward to baking this green forest cake.”
“Black forest cake.”
“I know. I was kidding.”
Damn. Why couldn’t she sound as cute when cracking corny jokes? She didn’t know why she was so nervous.
It was a lesson.
It was only Olivia.
It was only... Owen.
Which didn’t matter at all. He didn’t mean a thing to her. They were friends, sort of. Their only connection was Brooke and now his sister. If anything was going to happen between them it would have happened already.
Right?
She read through the recipe she’d printed one more time and triple-checked the pantry to make sure she had all the ingredients.
There was no need to be nervous about Olivia coming over. Nope. No biggie. A cooking lesson with an eleven-year-old who happened to have an incredibly hot, older—much older—brother.
The screen door to the mess hall creaked open and slammed shut. Pushing any stray hairs she had behind her ears, Charlie rolled her shoulders as she went out into the main part of the mess hall.
“Hey guys.”
Owen dripped sex on a stick as usual in his thigh hugging jeans and McDougall Carpentry shirt. The heavy work boots on his feet gave off a lumberjack vibe.
Charlie’s body moaned in appreciation.
“I’m ready to make my cake.” Olivia wore jeans too, only hers were cute capri-style, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail like Charlie’s.
“First, I have to say happy birthday to the birthday girl.”
“My birthday isn’t until Friday.”
“I know. I wish we could make your cake tomorrow, but I have a crew of campers coming and they’ll be here right in time for dinner.”
“Can I come to the camp?”
“Livy. It’s not polite to invite yourself.”
“We’d love to have you, but this weekend is a bit different. The children coming all have type 1 diabetes.”
“What’s diabetes?”
Charlie took her hand and led her to the kitchen. “It means their pancreas, it’s an organ in your body, doesn’t work. They have to give themselves shots whenever they eat.”
“You know how Dr. Julian pricks your finger when you go for a check-up?” Olivia nodded at her brother. “These children have to prick their fingers quite a few times during the day, and at night too.”
Olivia bit her bottom lip and wandered about the kitchen. Charlie eyed Owen with respect and admiration.
“I dated a girl in high school who was diabetic,” he told her. “I don’t think I could do it. I’d eat and forget to give myself a shot.”
“Many children, and adults, forget from time to time as well. They want to be normal,” she air-quoted the word, “and need encouragement from friends and family to stay on track. It’s a twenty-four-seven disease. These kids are warriors, which is why we wanted them to have a safe place to be kids.”
“That’s really cool.”
“We have extra staffing coming in tomorrow for a refresher course, and two on-site nurses this weekend in case of emergencies. Only two children are still dependent on their parents for their care. The rest are pretty good about testing their blood sugar and doing their own injections or using their insulin pumps.”
“What you and Brooke and Gina are doing here, it’s admirable.”
She’d received plenty of compliments and accolades about the camp before, but the same words coming from Owen brought on a whole new level of the warm and fuzzies.
“Can we start my cake now?”
“I’ll get out your way. You said two hours?”
“You’re more than welcome to stay if you want.”
“Owen can’t cook anything except frozen pizza and baked potatoes.”
“Easy peanut or you’ll find yourself on the other side of my table eating my famous burnt pancakes.”
“How do you burn pancakes?” Charlie laughed.
“They’re black on the outside and gooey on the inside. I won’t let Owen make breakfast for my anymore.”
“I can’t say I blame you.” She quirked her lip at him. “I can give you breakfast lessons anytime, big brother.”
She winked at him and was shocked when she felt her cheeks warm. Flirting with him had been second nature before...
Before.
Before she got to know him.
Before she learned he was a big brother and what appeared to be caretaker of his little sister.
Before his emerald eyes kept her awake at night.
Before she daydreamed about his too-long hair getting tangled in her fingers.
“I didn’t mean... we should start the cake.”
“Okay.” He backed toward the door. “I’ll be down the road at a construction site finishing up a deck. I’ll be back at six.”
After he left, Charlie’s legs grew stronger, and her heart slowed to a steady beat. Funny. She hadn’t realized how shaky she’d been.
For the next hour, Olivia proved herself to be an excellent student and followed directions to a T. As soon as they put the cake in the oven, she carried the measuring cups and mixing bowls to the sink and turned on the faucet.
“It’s your birthday, sweetie. I’ll do the clean up today.” Charlie dragged a tall stool from the corner over to the center island. “Have a seat. Want some lemonade or a glass of milk?”
“Can I have lemonade?”
“Sure thing, birthday girl.” She filled two glasses and listened to Olivia’s chatter while she washed the dishes.
“Last year when I turned double digits, Owen brought me bowling. Maybe if we go again this year you can come too.”
Her heart warmed at the thought of spending time with the two of them. “That would be fun.”
Fun. She snorted under her breath as she rinsed the mixing bowl. Fun used to mean drinks, dancing, and sex. In any order. The night would end with naked bodies tangled up in someone’s sheets.
Bowling with the McDougall siblings would be quite the modification. Drinks—a soda, sans the vodka. Bowling instead of dancing, and a friendly outing instead of dating.
Brooke and Gina were the ones who could be friends with guys and not fall into bed with them. Charlie, not so much. Yet she kind of liked the idea of Olivia as a tag along to a not-quite-a-date with Owen. Maybe it meant she was growing up, doing the maturity thing her parents were always breathing down her neck about.
“So, you’ll come?”
Charlie set the clean rubber spatula in the dish rack and turned around. “I’d be honored to hang out with you on your birthday. I’m working this weekend so we may have to take a rain check.”
Those adorbs little brown eyes turned down at the corners. “Owen doesn’t work on Sundays. I only have one more week left of school and then it’ll be summer vacation so I can stay out late on school nights. Can you come out on a school night?”
“Depending on the week, absolutely. I’ll talk with your brother and figure something out, okay?”
“Yay!” She jumped off the stool and ran into Charlie’s front, wrapping her in a tight squeeze.
And hell, if she didn’t feel the squeeze right up to her heart.
CHAPTER S
EVEN
Owen let himself into the mess hall and was instantly accosted with the sound of giggles. Like the last time he found Livy in the kitchen with Charlie, he didn’t make his presence known and lurked in the doorway watching his sister glow with an extra sparkle.
“Is this one better?” Livy leaned over a chocolate cake and held a plastic bag filled with frosting, he guessed.
“That’s perfect. I think you have a new calling. Cake decorating by Olivia. You can open your own bakery.”
Livy giggled and then quickly turned serious as she concentrated on her masterpiece. A moment later she leaned back and set the frosting on the counter. “Done.”
He was able to watch them in action for a few minutes before Liv spotted him leaning against the doorway.
“Look what I made!” Liv scrambled off her stool and rushed to him, wrapping him in one of her famous hugs. It didn’t last long before she pulled away and tugged on his hand. “Come see.” Her joy was infectious, and he couldn’t help laughing along with Charlie.
“Did you murder someone? I expected to see you covered in chocolate, not blood,” he teased.
“It’s cherries.” Livy rubbed at the red stains on her light blue apron. “I pitted them before cooking them down to make the sauce.”
The cake was truly impressive. “It looks like one of those cakes at the grocery store.”
Livy and Charlie gasped, and his gaze moved from the cake to the shocked women. Instead of shocked by his compliment, their furrowed brows and pouty lips showed their disgust.
“What? It does.” The top of the cake had a pool of cherries and there were dollops of chocolate frosting around the top and around the bottom like a skirt of some sort. He’d expected them to make a homemade cake from a box and a tub of frosting.
“This cake is a masterpiece. A million times better than what you can find in a grocery store.” Charlie put her hands on Livy’s shoulders in a protective manner.
Understanding, he nodded. “I meant like in the section of those fancy stores that have cakes shipped in from expensive bakeries.” He didn’t know what he was talking about or if what he said even made sense, but Livy’s smile took over her face, so he figured whatever he said worked.
“Does it look like a black forest cake Confection Connection would sell?”
“I don’t think I could afford this cake from Confection Connection. You could sell this gorgeous masterpiece for a hundred bucks. Are you sure you don’t want to sell it instead of eat it?”
“I want to try it now. Can we?” Livy glanced from him to Charlie, who raised her eyebrows in question.
“Hey gang,” Brooke called from behind him. The three of them turned. “Oh, is that cake?” She came over to the center island and slid it closer to her.
“It’s safe.” Charlie patted Livy’s shoulder. “Brooke doesn’t like chocolate, so you don’t have to worry about her swiping a finger through the frosting.”
“What about the cherries?”
“Good question. Brooke? Can you keep your paws off the entire birthday cake?”
“Birthday? Whose birthday is it? Did you make this for your brother? And why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?” she asked him.
“It’s my birthday.”
“Yours?” Brooke put her hands on her hips. “So why did you have to do all the work?”
“When she was helping at the grand opening she asked if I could show her how to bake a cake. My gift to her was teaching her how to make her favorite one. Olivia is a natural baker. And cook.”
His sister beamed again, eating up the compliments.
“Ah. I thought you were just giving a quick cooking lesson. Had I known it was your birthday—”
“My birthday is on Friday, but Charlie said she had to work so we made it today. Can I eat my cake today or do I have to wait for Friday?” she asked Owen.
He opened his mouth to respond but Brooke cut in. “Do you have dinner plans for tonight?”
“Mom is going out tonight, so I’ll be alone again.”
Owen gritted his teeth. This, he did not know. She was supposed to tell him if she had plans. “Livy’s coming over to my house for dinner.”
“I am?”
“I came over here to get Charlie for dinner. Why don’t you two join us as well? We’ll have a birthday dinner at the house.”
“We don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“Please. Drew will be thrilled to have more testosterone in the house.”
“What’s tester-ester-on?”
“A man,” Charlie said. “Drew needs a guy to hang out with, and Brooke is bored in that big ol’ house of hers. What do you say? You’ll join us for dinner?”
This completely went against keeping his family life private.
“Please, Owen? Please can we go? I didn’t invite myself this time. You said it wasn’t polite to and I didn’t.”
“Actually,” Brooke said. “It would be impolite to turn down a dinner invitation without a valid reason not to come over. Unless it was the company you didn’t care for.”
He blew out a sigh and glanced from Charlie, who avoided direct eye contact and fiddled with the cake plate, to Brooke, who had her arms folded across her chest, a wicked gleam in her eye. Then to Livy, who jumped up and down at his feet.
“I suppose, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Yay.” Livy crushed her little self into him and squeezed his waist. He stumbled back bumping into the counter.
“We’ll make a run to the grocery store to pick up some food.”
“No need.” Brooke swatted at the air. “Drew’s already got food on the grill. He over cooks so he doesn’t have to bother with food preparations for a few days. Gina’s working on the side dishes now.”
“Sounds like we’re having a party.” Charlie untied her apron and set it on the counter. Liv followed suit and bounced on her toes. “Looks like you need to burn off some excess energy before your sugar rush.”
“Want to walk over? You can leave your truck here.”
“I can drive us.”
“It’s actually faster to cut through the woods than to head down the road.” Brooke held out her hand for Livy.
Charlie picked up the cake. “I’m not sure about this making it down the path.”
“You can go with Owen.”
“She’s bossy,” Charlie said.
“I know. I worked for her for nine months.”
“Hey. I’m not bossy. I know what I like and what needs to be done.”
“Bossy.” Charlie motioned toward the door. “I’ll hop a ride with you, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” He followed the women out, holding the door open for Charlie. He wasn’t sure if it was her or the cake that smelled like vanilla and sunshine.
The cake. Smelling a woman wasn’t something he did. Not unless they were... nope. Not going there.
The last thing he needed to be thinking about while surrounded by his sister and three other women was Charlie naked. Opening the passenger side door for her, he took the cake while she hopped up and buckled herself in, then he handed the cake back to her.
“You good?” She nodded and he closed the door.
It took less than five minutes to drive over to Brooke and Drew’s house, and the closeness of Charlie and her bare legs nearly did him in. He hadn’t noticed her long naked legs in the kitchen. The apron had fallen to her knees and she’d been on the other side of the counter.
He imaged how her smooth, tanned skin would feel under his hand. Like a sanded and polished piece of maple or Balsa. He shifted in his seat and white knuckled the steering wheel.
“You okay?” Damn her for being so observant.
“Are you sure Drew isn’t going to mind us crashing his dinner plans?”
“I’m more than sure. Gina and I have been regulars at their dinner table lately. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to have a guy to hang with.”
“And Livy?”
“
You should see him with his niece and nephew. It’s a total turn on for a girl to see a guy interact with kids.”
He shifted in his seat again. It was one thing to flirt with him when they were working at the camp and there was no possibility of anything happening. It was another to do so in the close confines of the cab of his truck.
“I didn’t mean...” Ouch. So, she didn’t mean he turned her on. “I didn’t mean Drew turns me on. He’s like a brother-in-law to me. That would be gross.”
So, did she mean he turned her on? He wasn’t one to think any time a woman tossed a smile or a joke his way was because she was interested in him. Charlie seemed like the type of girl who was... friendly. Like flirting came second nature to her. He’d worked hard not to take any of her words or gestures as a sign of interest. Mostly because he couldn’t afford to be interested in anyone or have anyone be interested in him.
He pulled into Drew’s driveway and cast a quick glance at her. Twice now he’d seen her blush. Interesting, since not once in the past nine months of her teasing had she ever appeared to be embarrassed by something she or he had said.
Ignoring what the rosy cheeks could possibly mean, he got out of the truck and went over to her side, taking the cake from her.
“Thanks.” She avoided eye contact and took the cake back from him.
Telling. She was interested. As was he. Once he figured out if it could work, he’d ask her out to dinner. Just the two of them. Charlie could be the perfect woman for him. She was only around temporarily. Once summer ended, she’d go back home, and he could get his privacy back. There wouldn’t be enough time for them to get too close. Keeping a safe distance was key.
At the front door, he held it open and breathed in her scent once more as she brushed past him. So much for keeping a safe distance.
He stepped into the living room and took in his surroundings. Definitely a step up from his digs. The home not only boasted a million-dollar view of Autumn Pond, but the inside wasn’t too shabby either.
Owen appreciated the mahogany wide-plank hardwood floors and the simplistic decor. Windows took up most of the wall space. The furniture was a few steps up from what he could afford as well.
A Thousand Sunsets (Band of Sisters) Page 6