by LuAnn McLane
“Coming from one of the flashiest women I know.”
“At my age I have to pile on makeup and bling to camouflage my flaws.”
“Oh, stop! You’re gorgeous.”
“Ah, bless your heart, Sophia. But, sweetheart, you’re a natural beauty.”
“The girl next door, right?” While Sophia didn’t have the stunning long-legged beauty of her mother and sister, Grace, she was content with her looks, for the most part, anyway. Although it was irritating that Grace could eat whatever she damn well pleased and not gain an ounce. Having a slow metabolism really sucked. While she also didn’t share the big personalities of her mother and sister, Sophia was happy to stay in the background. She’d much rather do hair and makeup than be in front of the camera. But being the quiet one also gave her the ability to get away with some pretty epic practical jokes. Garret and Grace were always blamed for things first, so there was a definite upside to flying under the radar. But she thought about Carrie Ann’s offer and wondered if it was about time that she busted out of her comfort zone. But decisions didn’t come easy to her. Here she was a hair stylist and it had taken her two weeks to decide to add a few highlights.
“Why so quiet? Did I say something wrong?”
“Oh no.” Sophia shook her head. “Not at all. I’m just trying to process what you’ve thrown in my lap.”
“You mean the twenty-five ways to drive your man wild?” Carrie Ann asked with a chuckle.
“No, I’m just a little blown away that you’d want to go into business together,” Sophia replied, but glanced down at the article. Visions of Avery slid back into her brain.
Carrie Ann stood up and checked the foils again. “About another ten minutes.” She patted Sophia’s shoulder. “No rush on your answer. It’s good enough for me right now that you’re considering my offer,” she said and hurried off to answer the ringing phone.
Because Sophia had come in rather late everyone else was gone for the day. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and winced, thinking that she looked like an alien Medusa with the silver foils sticking out everywhere. The blond highlights were a bit of a whim but she was glad she’d finally made the decision to go for it. Of course, hair stylists should always be up for something different, but change, even something as simple as highlights, took Sophia longer than most people and it was so frustrating sometimes.
With a sigh, she started scanning through the article just for fun. The suggestions were mostly silly, in her opinion. The painting of each other with chocolate syrup and then licking it off seemed a little messy. She stopped short at the thought. Dear God, was she becoming a . . . fuddy-duddy? Yes, because she was pretty sure nobody her age even thought of expressions like fuddy-duddy.
Determined, she kept her eyes closed and tried to imagine the chocolate syrup scenario. Perhaps if you used thick chocolate fudge and warmed it up? Oh, now that might just be very nice. . . .
“Are you sleeping?” asked a whiskey-smooth male voice that slid over her just like the chocolate fudge she’d been daydreaming about. She smiled thinking that this body-painting thing might be the ticket after all. “Um, maybe I shouldn’t interrupt,” the voice continued cutting through her chocolate-coated fantasy.
Oh shit.
Sophia opened her eyes and looked at the sexy country boy who had been invading her thoughts and dreams over the past few months. “Avery!” Foils sprung from her head and oh dear God the magazine in her lap was open to the twenty-five ways to drive your man wild. She gripped the armrest, wishing there was an eject button. “Hi.” Her smile probably looked like a wince.
“Hey, Sophia. Haven’t seen you in a while.” He put his toolbox down and shrugged out of his jacket.
“I’ve been busy babysitting Lily a lot.”
“Oh well, I miss seeing you at breakfast,” he said, which created a vision of him sitting across a kitchen table in the morning all sleep-tousled and sexy.
She swallowed hard. “I miss you . . . I mean seeing you at the bistro, too.” She glanced down at the nearly naked model. Her fingers itched to turn the page.
“Watcha readin’?” Panic set in when he angled his head at the glossy pages in her lap.
“I . . . um . . .” She felt heat creep into her cheeks. “I was just, you know, thumbing through a random magazine, while my hair is processing.” She looked over at Carrie Ann who was chatting away on the phone. “What, um, brings you here?”
Avery jammed his thumb over his shoulder causing Sophia to notice the bulge of his biceps that stretched the sleeve of his red T-shirt. “I’m here to fix the washing machine that’s been giving Carrie Ann fits. I would’ve been here sooner but I was slammed with repairs all day. But it sure is a bonus to run into you.”
“It’s good to see you too, Avery.”
“I’m sure glad you think so.” He gave Sophia a grin that caused his cheek to dimple. His chestnut brown hair had grown out a bit since she’d last seen him, the dark tendrils curling around his ears and forehead. As though reading her thoughts, he shoved his fingers through his hair.
“I know. I need a haircut. Just been too busy to get it done.”
“I like it longer,” Sophia heard herself say, and lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“Well then, maybe I should keep it that way.” He shot her a grin.
“As a stylist I’m always thinking about hair,” she responded quickly.
“Oh, I’d forgotten that was your career. If you ever decide to stay a cook you’ll never be broke either.” He flashed another grin that made her melt like the ice cube in “How to Drive Your Man Wild,” number five. “I really do miss you at the bistro, Sophia.”
“Oh, I was getting pretty good, but Mattie is still the best cook around.”
“I was referring to your company,” Avery said in a sincere but slightly flirty tone. “Your sweet smile was a great way to start my day.”
“Why, thank you. I must look a fright right now, though.” She pointed to her head and caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “Sorry.”
“Aw, you still manage to look pretty,” Avery said just as Carrie Ann hurried over.
“Hey there, Avery. You gonna take a look at my washing machine from hell?”
“Sure thing.” Avery nodded. “Sorry I’m late. Been a busy day.”
“Oh, that’s okay. Still cold out there?” Carrie Ann peeked beneath one of the foils.
“Yeah, but I hear the snow is gonna miss us,” Avery said.
“Humph, well, last time the weatherman said it was going to miss us, we got six inches. You’re just about ready to get rinsed,” she said to Sophia, but looked back at Avery. “We’re thinkin’ about heading up to Sully’s Tavern later. Stop on in and I’ll buy ya a beer.”
“Well, now, that’s an offer I can’t refuse,” Avery said, and angled his head toward the back of the shop. “I’d better get working.” He picked up his toolbox, causing another delicious ripple of muscle. “See y’all tonight,” he said, but his gaze lingered on Sophia.
“Let’s get you back to the bowl, sugar.”
“Carrie Ann!” Sophia said in an urgent whisper. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Gettin’ an early start on bein’ your wingwoman,” she whispered back. “Avery Dean’s got the hots for you, Sophia. And judging by the blush in your cheeks I think you’re sweet on him too. That whole we’re-just-friends thing you keep saying is a bunch of hogwash. Why are you not taking advantage of the situation?”
“Because when we first met at the bistro he was just getting over a broken engagement. I don’t want to be his rebound girl, and I didn’t intend to stay here so I didn’t want to hurt him all over again either.”
“Well, now, I’d say enough time has passed since his breakup. And I’m hoping you’ll take me up on my offer and move here.”
Sophia stood up a
nd had to grin. “I think you’re playing matchmaker to give me another reason to stay.”
Carrie Ann placed a hand over her ample chest. “Would I do something like that? Little ole me?”
“In a heartbeat.”
Carrie Ann laughed. “Ah, child, you already know me too well. That’s why we’re gonna make great business partners. You just wait and see.”
Sophia shook her head as she followed Carrie Ann back to the shampoo bowls to get rinsed. Through the open door to the laundry room she could see Avery bent over the washing machine. She couldn’t help but admire his very fine denim-clad butt.
Carrie Ann turned and caught her staring. “What?” Sophia sputtered with a lift of her chin, desperately trying to appear innocent, which of course only made her appear guilty.
“Friends . . . ha.” Carrie Ann laughed. “Thought so . . .” She clapped her hands softly. “I do love it when a plan comes together.”
Sophia rolled her eyes, but when Carrie Ann turned around, Sophia angled her head to get another glimpse of Avery. Of course he picked that very moment to straighten up and look in her direction. She did one of those lightning-quick look-away moves but she caught the blur of his smile in the corner of her vision. A warm tingle of awareness washed over her as she leaned her neck against the cool porcelain bowl. She and Avery had been tap dancing around their attraction and for very good reasons. She firmly reminded herself that nothing should change if he showed up at Sully’s.
No matter what matchmaking scheme Carrie Ann was cooking up, Sophia knew she needed to make her decisions with a clear head that wasn’t clouded by the desire to know what it felt like to kiss Avery Dean.
2
Under My Spell
Avery slid his toolbox into his truck, and hopped up into the driver’s seat, anxious to grab a cold beer at Sully’s. The thought of hanging out with Sophia sent a jolt through his system.
“Cool your jets,” he grumbled, shaking his head. He’d been telling himself for the past few months not to act on his attraction to Sophia Gordon. Of course, getting involved with someone who was heading back to New York would be a poor decision on his part. But ever since Sophia’s sister and mom had decided to stay, a little part of him hoped that maybe she might end up moving to Cricket Creek as well. Then again, Sophia staying in town remained a great big maybe and he didn’t want to set himself up for getting hurt again. Once in a lifetime was enough, thank you very much.
But what Avery hadn’t seen coming was the punch to the gut reaction when he’d spotted Sophia sitting in the chair at Carrie Ann’s salon. He had to grin. Even with those silver foils sticking up everywhere, she still managed to look absolutely pretty. When he’d caught a glimpse of what she was reading, he just had to tease her. When Sophia blushed, he thought it was the cutest damn thing in the world.
Avery sat there for a minute trying to decide whether to head over to Sully’s or to stop home first to take a quick shower and change out of his work clothes. Fixing the washing machine had taken longer than it should have but he’d been distracted by Sophia’s voice while he attempted to do the repairs. And when he’d heard her soft, sexy laughter he’d dropped his hammer onto his foot. Thank God for his steel-toed boots.
Seeing Sophia made him realize just how much he’d missed the easy banter they’d shared nearly every morning at the bistro, when she’d been working there. The sweetness of her smile had soothed the searing pain he’d felt right after his fiancée Ashley had cheated on him several months into their engagement.
Ashley worked in marketing for the Cricket Creek Cougars baseball organization. Oddly enough, her tearful confession that her one-night stand with a baseball player was a horrible mistake had hurt much worse than if the guy had actually meant something to her. If she’d somehow fallen in love, at least the guy would have meant something to her instead of just being a roll in the hay.
Avery scrubbed a hand down his face. “Oh man, you’re past that shit. Don’t even go there,” he mumbled.
Deciding he’d like to take the shower first, Avery reached up to start the engine. But the ping of his cell phone had him reaching into his pocket instead. After fishing his phone out, he looked down at the text message from his sister asking him to come to dinner. He leaned back against the headrest and groaned. Avery sent a message back to Zoe saying he didn’t want to have dinner tomorrow night with her fiancé Max and her maid of honor, who just happened to be Ashley Montgomery.
Zoe messaged back: Why not? We need to go over some wedding details.
“Oh, please . . .” Avery inhaled a quick breath of chill air, held it and blew it out. Ever since Zoe asked Ashley to be her maid of honor and Max had asked Avery to be the best man there had been a not-so-subtle push for Avery and Ashley to get back together. “No damned possible way.”
While Avery knew that Ashley regretted cheating, he simply couldn’t move past her betrayal. He thought he knew her so well but how could he ever trust her again? Not only had they been engaged, but Ashley had been his sister’s best friend since junior high school. So Ashley’s behavior went way past just hurting him. She’d betrayed them all.
After her confession, Ashley had begged Avery not to tell Zoe, and he’d promised he would keep her dirty deed a secret. But because Avery had kept his word, there continued to be a lot of speculation as to why they’d broken up so suddenly. Unfortunately, the most popular rumor was that Avery had gotten cold feet, so most people—including his sister and Max—assumed that he was to blame. Apparently, his lame we grew apart answer wasn’t good enough to satisfy small-town gossip.
When Avery’s phone pinged again he gripped the cold steering wheel for a few seconds. While he would never break his word, this was getting pretty damned old.
After a long sigh Avery gave in and read the message: Oh, come on, we’ll go to the taproom at Broomstick Brewery. Karaoke night!!! Three exclamation points meant that Zoe meant business.
Avery shook his head and felt an unwanted pang of sadness. Only a little over one year older than Zoe, he and his sister had always been close siblings. Avery loved to tease her, but they rarely fought and always had each other’s backs. Other than this secret, Avery usually confided in Zoe, so it really felt odd not to be able to talk about such a big disappointment in his life.
But if Ashley came clean and told the truth, Zoe would be devastated and Avery knew the knowledge would put a damper on her wedding plans. Not only would Zoe most likely break off their friendship but his sister would have to find a maid of honor to take her best friend’s place. “Maid of honor, my sweet ass,” Avery mumbled. He ground his teeth together. “Ah what a damned mess you’ve caused, Ashley Montgomery.”
After a moment Avery scrubbed a hand down his face. While he knew that Zoe couldn’t possibly understand his reluctance to go to dinner with them, her persistence was becoming increasingly frustrating.
And Avery sure as hell didn’t have a clue how to remedy the sticky situation.
When his phone pinged again he winced. “Ah, dammit!” He hated this. He loved his sister and missed Max. The four of them had been best friends since middle school, virtually inseparable all throughout high school and their early twenties. They’d created some really amazing memories together, but now, it all felt somehow . . . tainted. Avery still didn’t know what to do with the happy times still lingering in his brain. Plus, this whole avoidance thing put a big damper on his social life.
He sighed. Zoe meant well but Avery finally felt as if he was moving past a difficult period in his life. Having his sister trying to drag him out for a night on the town and having to revisit the pain Ashley caused him wasn’t what he needed. To the world he might look like a hard-ass country boy, but Ashley had shattered his heart into a million pieces. Hanging out with her was at the bottom of the list of things he wanted to do.
Fresh, unwanted anger at Ashley reared its ugly head and he t
ook a few seconds to tamp it back down. Of course, part of the problem was the fact that he couldn’t vent to anyone. But not only had he given his word but letting her affair out of the bag was the kind of small-town gossip that would be talked about God knows how long. And Avery knew the news would cause Ashley’s mom and dad pain as well. He’d spent countless hours in the Montgomery household and he didn’t want to be the bearer of that kind of news to people he still loved. So he was in a word . . . screwed.
Blowing out a breath Avery typed: Sorry, I have plans tomorrow. Truth was he didn’t have a damned thing going on and now he’d have to come up with something because Zoe was sure to ask what he was doing. Keeping this secret was getting more and more difficult.
Avery put his annoying phone on vibrate and started up his truck. An ice-cold beer never sounded so good. Motivated, he eased out onto Main Street hoping to catch green lights all the way to his house on Cherry Tree Lane.
Five minutes later, he pulled into his driveway and hurried into his two-story brick house that he’d been restoring over the past few years . . . The house that he and Ashley were going to live in. He’d painted over colors she’d chosen and removed all of her possessions. Going down memory lane was the last place he wanted to travel but his sister had no way of knowing why. Most of what Avery had learned about repair and remodeling had come from his uncle, Easton, whom he’d followed around like a shadow when he was a little kid. He’d had his own toolbox by the age of five. When other kids were playing video games, Avery had been busy finding stuff to take apart or fix.
When the family-owned Fisher Hardware store couldn’t keep up with the big warehouse chains, Uncle Easton closed up shop and decided to go into the repair business. When he’d asked Avery to come on board as a partner it was a no-brainer. Five years ago he and his uncle never dreamed Fisher and Dean would lead to training and hiring a six-truck fleet! And they were still too busy to handle all of the calls from Cricket Creek and the surrounding areas.