Chasing Love

by Melissa West

  No, no, no. Defense. What was the best defense for someone so naturally flirtatious?

  Then it occurred to her. Maybe she needed to throw him off his game, give him a taste of his own medicine.

  “Tempting,” she said, taking a step toward him, her eyes dropping. “But I can think of better things for you to do with those muscles.” She gripped his bicep, and instantly, a tingly sensation moved over her, a danger sign flashing in her mind.

  His mouth fell slack and his eyes darkened, and Lila had to take a step back or she might not let him go, which would be all sorts of awkward. Okay, so maybe the giving him his own medicine thing wouldn’t work here. She started to release him, but her body decided to operate of its own accord, and instead of simply letting go of his arm, she trailed her hand down his bicep, over his forearm before finally separating from him.

  Charlie blew out a slow breath and scratched his chin. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

  “What?” She wasn’t listening to him. She was staring at her hand and wondering why it was so numb now.

  “Nothing,” he said, taking a deliberate step away from her. Awesome, now she’d officially freaked him out. “Let’s get started with the tour. Then I was thinking we could do dinner after if you’re up to it. Catch up. It’s been a long time.”

  Red alert, red alert. Say no, say no!

  “Sure, that sounds great.” No, no, no. “A girl’s gotta eat, right?” She grinned. Oh my God. First, she stroked his arm like it was a freaking cat, then a girl’s gotta eat? Where was her brain? Clearly, she’d forgotten it in her car.

  “Well, I promised Lucas I’d look after you. Though, I’m sure Annie’s shoving more food down your throat than you can handle.”

  Wasn’t that the truth. Annie took it as her job to keep Lila’s place stocked with fresh baked goods and casseroles. She said Lila needed to gain ten pounds, but if Lila wasn’t careful, she’d double that in no time under Annie’s roof.

  “She does. Too much really, but I’ll deny it if you tell her I said so.”

  “Secret’s safe with me.” Their eyes met, and once again a flutter worked through Lila’s chest, refusing to settle down. Charlie’s mouth set and her gaze dropped down, before returning to meet his stare. This was going to be impossible, horrible, and embarrassing, and did she mention impossible? Her brain and body refused to work together around Charlie, and what was left was some mess of a person, who acted very much like a love-struck teen girl. She needed to breathe, to remember that they were friends. Relax. “If I remember correctly, you’re a steak girl, right?” Charlie asked, bringing her back to the moment. “Captain Jack’s makes a mean fillet and lobster. Thought we could eat out over the water.”

  “That sounds an awful lot like a date. Are you . . . hitting on me?” Lila asked, a smile on her face.

  He stuttered, his eyes diverting. “What? Me? No. I—”

  She broke into giggles as she patted his chest. “Easy, sailor. Just joking.”

  “That’s how it’s going to be, is it? You’re a doctor now, so why not give a man a heart attack?”

  “I’m a vet. Not so much help on a man’s heart.”

  He stared at her then, unblinking, his wild hair matching something in his eyes. “Ain’t that the truth.”

  Lila swallowed hard, her own heart very noticeable in her chest, the need to say something at odds with the need to remain quiet in hopes that if she didn’t speak, didn’t move, or breathe he’d continue to stare at her as though she were more than his best friend’s little sister.

  But then a cowbell ringing brought their attention to the main barn. Though, as they neared, Lila quickly realized it wasn’t used as a barn anymore.

  She thought of the last time she’d been to the farm. It was Halloween and the Littletons had set up a massive event. Everyone in Crestler’s Key was there, and even people from neighboring towns were pouring in.

  Charlie’s mama had decorated with lanterns and pumpkins. They had the cornfield cut into a maze, and even had s’mores-making stations for the kids. It was magical, a perfect starry night overhead without a single cloud to hide their glow, and Lila had decided that was the day—the day she would finally tell Charlie that she loved him, that she’d loved him since she was eight years old and had any idea what the word meant. Loved him every single moment of every one of the eight years after that realization. Finally, she’d found the courage to tell him.

  Because she could feel it, that weird change in him when he saw her. The way he’d light up and then push it back. Until one day they were alone at her house, out back in the old hammock, rocking away, laughing, and all of a sudden, the air became electric, tension snapping between them. The wind whipping through the trees had died down, and dusk had set in, lightning bugs popping all around them. The smell of honeysuckle floated in the distance, so when Lila drew her next breath it wasn’t to take in Charlie, lying so still beside her. It was to smell the honeysuckle, to smell summer. But instead, she’d drawn in his scent, all earthy and so charmingly boyish that her brain had stopped working. She’d reached out a hand toward his, and instead of pushing her away, he took it. Threaded his fingers through hers, something shifting, a new understanding forming between them.

  But then she found him that fateful Halloween night. It was only two days later. Two small, barely memorable days. But apparently they’d been enough for him to forget that she existed and shove his tongue down Bella Grant’s throat.

  Lila had cried for a week, but the hard thing about it, the part she couldn’t reconcile in her heart yet her brain fully understood, was she couldn’t be angry with him. Not really. So they’d held hands for a second. It wasn’t the first time they’d touched, and he’d made no confession of feelings for her, no falling on his knees and making claims of love.

  So why hadn’t that helped the pain?

  * * *

  “Hey, you okay?” Charlie asked, sensing something change in Lila’s demeanor. Maybe it was just him, but her light flirtation had been replaced by what appeared to be sadness. Yet what could have caused the change? He racked his brain for what he might have said, and then his gaze followed hers to the barn and he felt like an idiot for choosing to start here of all places.

  He still remembered the fight he and Lucas had before the Halloween festival. All Charlie had done was hint at his feelings for Lila. It was an innocent statement, nothing overly direct, and yet his best friend for all his life had whirled around on him, and the rage in his eyes made it all perfectly clear: Lila was off limits for a guy like Charlie. A part of him wondered then if he’d been different, the mayor’s son instead of the farmer’s son, if that would have made a difference. Or maybe it had more to do with how different they were on paper—Lila, with her perfect, squeaky-clean record, never making less than an A, never the subject of rumors, never sitting in detention for some stupid shit or another.

  In truth, Charlie couldn’t blame Lucas for his reaction. He might have had the same one had Lucas not so nonchalantly asked about his own sister, Kate. But that hadn’t happened and never would because Lucas was always a better person than Charlie.

  So, it was with all that crammed into his brain that he walked out of his house, toward the Halloween festival, only to run into Audrey. She hadn’t meant to confess Lila’s plans. It was more that she wanted to warn Charlie not to hurt her, because nowhere in Audrey’s mind was it possible that Charlie would reject Lila. No one would reject Lila. Just look at her. Then it occurred to him that he couldn’t reject her either, not directly. He’d have to show her in a very direct way that he wasn’t the guy for her, not even close.

  Bella came along at the right time, tossing her hair, and Charlie took the easy route. It still held the number one spot as the shittiest thing he’d ever done in his life. But as twisted as it seemed, he did it for her, and it had worked.

  Within a few weeks, she was dating some college boy in Lexington, and Charlie tucked away that inkling of hope
he’d felt that day in the hammock, when no one was around to see him staring down at his best friend’s sister like she and she alone was responsible for the sun rising that day.

  And now, all these years later, he still found himself enamored in her presence. And still, all these years later, Lucas would deck him if he had any idea. Which he never would. But this time, Charlie would keep his friend’s trust and avoid hurting Lila in the process.

  “Ready to go?” he asked, wishing he could explain everything to her, say he was sorry, but any of that would only let on to the truth, and he could never reveal the truth to her. To anyone.

  Her spine tightened, and she started toward the barn. “It looks like that barn’s no longer in use,” she said, changing the subject, even though neither had said anything out loud.

  “It’s not. We turned it into a storefront. Sophie’s idea really. She has one at Fresh Foods, and we’re always so busy at the market that it made sense to offer an option both for tours and online orders.”

  “Wow, online orders. I never would have guessed you’d be so cutting edge.”

  He shrugged. “We’re trying. Surprisingly, we get a fair amount of orders. Even offer a delivery service for locals. It’s working. For now.” Which was always the thing with farming. What worked today may not work next month. Some of that was due to the harvest that season, but some of it was just the mood of consumers.

  Lila glanced over at him. “What’s Fresh Foods?”

  “I’m surprised she didn’t mention it. Seems to me the woman never shuts up about it. She bought a farm years ago, turned it into an organic farm, and set her sights on ruining our lives. Somewhere along the way, she and Zac took the love path, and the rest is history.”

  The small parking lot outside the barn was packed, and Charlie was glad he’d made the decision to have it added. Previously, people parked on the grass or wherever they could find a place, which didn’t feel businesslike. The parking lot, plus the barn renovation and storefront made the whole thing appear very legit. And one thing Charlie had learned with his Instagram experiment—if you look like you know what you’re doing, people believe you. If you look like a hot mess, they believe that, too.

  So parking lot went in, the storefront was built, a fancy website was created, and sales took off.

  “I . . . I don’t know what’s more surprising—Zac falling for an earthy woman, though I don’t know if you could call Sophie earthy. She’s like Elle in Legally Blonde on the outside and Erin Brockovich on the inside.”

  “Exactly,” Charlie said, agreeing.

  “But maybe more surprising is you jumping on the bandwagon to do the parking lot and store front and website for online ordering. That plus Southern Dive? When did the reckless boy I once knew become such a smart businessman?”

  Charlie’s eyes fell on Lila, and once again he found it difficult to look away. “People change, grow. Part of life, I guess. Ready for this?”

  Her eyebrows furrowed, but then he opened the door cut into the barn door, and immediately they were met with shrills.

  “Lila Jacobs! Is that you?”

  Lila’s face lit and she separated from Charlie to go hug his mom, Julie, who had always loved Lila like one of her own daughters. With three boys, she probably wished once they were all teens she had another daughter to balance out all the testosterone in the house. And they were all completely different. Except for their love for this farm. That much was ingrained in them from the beginning.

  Julie Littleton was five foot even and received countless jokes about it from the boys, but she was always the strong mom who wouldn’t put up with much. Today she wore an easy cotton dress with a Littleton Farms apron over it, her white hair styled in a short bob.

  Charlie fell back as Lila followed after his mom. Julie Littleton never wore makeup, but she didn’t really need to. Even in her early sixties, she glowed, her cheeks always rosy and her green eyes—the same as Charlie’s—always sparkled. But they were especially bright right now as she walked around and introduced Lila to the rest of the staff who worked the store. Lila seemed to have an impact on everyone they talked to, and even though these people were strangers to her, Lila reached down to hug every one of them. Even Ed, the farm’s refuses-to-retire packager for online orders who never smiled at anyone, maybe had never smiled a day in his life, was grinning like a fool at Lila.

  “You look busy,” Lila said, glancing around at the crowded tables, and she was right. They did look busy.

  “We just received a massive order, so it’s all hands on deck to get it out on time.” Julie motioned to the people around them, and just like that, Lila walked around to the backside of the table.

  “Where do you need me?” she asked.

  “Oh, honey, don’t bother yourself. We’ll get it out,” Julie said.

  But Lila wasn’t having any part of that. “I’m here and you need help. Let me help.”

  Julie smiled. “You always were sweeter than sugar. Well, all right then, you can help fill boxes.”

  “I’m on it.”

  Charlie crossed his arms and watched her, the way she moved, the way she so effortlessly joined the crew, them instantly trusting her. Resisting this woman might be the greatest challenge of his life.

  “What are you staring at?” Lila called to him with a grin. “Afraid to get your hands dirty?”

  He laughed. “We’re supposed to be showing you the farm. Or did you forget that, as a vet, your job is to treat animals, not package fruit and vegetables?”

  She continued boxing, finding a rhythm. “There’s time for that later, right? Ed said this order has to make the FedEx pickup. Can’t we help? You can hire me later.” She winked and went back to work, and Charlie wondered if he’d ever met someone more selfless and kind in his life.

  “Sure, we can stay. Maybe I’ll hire you out here instead. Fifteen dollars an hour work for you?” he asked, jokingly.

  Mom waved her hand through the air. “Ignore that boy. You’re with the real boss now. Feel free to tell him to do whatever you want him to do. I give you full permission.” She elbowed Charlie, and he couldn’t help feeling that in two minutes flat he’d gone from having one boss in the room, Mom, to two: Mom and Lila.

  “You know, this might not be such a good idea after all. Who’s the order for anyway?”

  Ed checked the work ticket, then glanced back at Charlie. “Children’s hospital in Lexington.”

  “Oh, I heard about that,” Lila said. “They’re having a parents’ day, where the parents of patients at the hospital get to enjoy a fun day with their children. They’ve hired a lot of entertainment, bands, balloon makers, you name it. This is so sweet of y’all to donate to the cause.”

  “Actually, the hospital is paying for this,” Ed said, with obvious distain.

  “Not anymore.” Charlie went over to the order, made note of the invoice number on the job, and pulled out a pen and wrote in large letters Paid beside the address and contact information for the address. That would be enough to cause accounting to flag the order, and then he could call them tomorrow to discuss treating the order as a donation instead. He wished he’d known about the order when it was placed; he would have requested they “no charge” it then. It spoke to how separated he was from this side of the business, and he wondered if Zac and Brady were equally distracted. Likely so. Neither of them would take money from the children’s hospital for anything they needed, let alone something like this intended to help the parents who carried more stress and worry daily than most people saw in a lifetime.

  Lila met his gaze as he went back to the assembly line they’d created for the project, table after table of boxes and packaging supplies, pre-wrapped fruits and vegetables with labels boasting Littleton Farms. “Where do you want me, boss?” he asked with a smile.

  “Right here,” she said. “With me.”

  Chapter Eight

  The smell of fresh fruit and spices hovered in the air while busy hands worked in silence
completing the order. Lila took in the amazing man beside her, and her heart swelled with pride.

  It was like they were teenagers again, and Charlie was the school jock who had accidentally revealed that he wasn’t so single-minded after all.

  Back then, Charlie’s kind side had made an appearance because a freshman, Jarrett Lockton, was getting bullied for coming out. Charlie, a senior, walked over and draped his arm around Jarrett and told the crowd they could either stand there and watch Charlie and Jarrett getting their groove on or they could leave.

  No one messed with Jarrett again, and somehow claiming he was gay to help out Jarrett did wonders for his popularity with the opposite sex. Every girl at the school wanted him, including Lila. Though that wasn’t news by that point. And it wasn’t like Charlie was looking at her anyway. He’d sooner look at Jarrett. But Lila never forgot the swell in her chest as Charlie pushed through the crowd, determination on his face as he told them to get lost.

  It was the same face he wore when he walked over to Ed and announced the children’s hospital wouldn’t be paying their bill, even though they were boxing hundreds of fruits and veggies, and likely, the farm could use the money. Still, Charlie hadn’t batted an eye, hadn’t blinked, hadn’t even asked how much the hospital had ordered. His generous heart didn’t care.

  “What are you grinning at?” he asked, bumping her elbow with his, causing a spark to ignite under her skin, and she wished she could ask him to do it again to see if the feeling would spread. It was dangerous to crave these feelings, but she couldn’t argue with how good it felt to be around someone she trusted so much. The attraction was one thing, but it was more than that with Charlie.

  “And there it is again,” he said, pointing at her smile. “Are you going to make me guess?”

  With a shrug, Lila tried to hide her face as she bent over the box in front of her to check its contents. “You’re just nice. That’s all.”

  “Nice.”

  “Very,” she said, returning to face him, but she’d misjudged her turn. Instead of being a good foot apart, like moments before, now no more than a few inches separated them. Lila tried to breathe as her gaze met his, but with the close distance and that spicy man smell of his and the look in his eyes that said he was thinking thoughts that might, just maybe, mirror hers, the breath caught in her lungs and instead she stared.