by Kim Karr
I jutted my chin out in defiance. “I’d prefer you call me Jules.”
“Fine, Jules.” He set his fork down and stuck out his hand. “For the sake of my sister, I’m willing to move on from the cake incident and focus on the wedding.”
My eyes dropped to his hand in suspicion. What had triggered his abrupt change of heart?
My outburst?
My tone?
My own bleeding heart?
Or was he still going to smash that cake in my face, and just biding his time until I let my guard down?
His gaze was unwavering as he waited for me to accept his gesture.
Maybe he was being sincere?
I tried not to tremble when I reached out and slid my small hand into his large one. “Fine,” I said, using his very own annoying word on him.
Let’s see how he liked it.
As soon as our hands came together, though, I wasn’t thinking about what he liked or didn’t. I wasn’t really thinking at all. The friction of the rougher skin of his palm against the softer skin of mine was sending sparks shooting from the tips of my fingers all the way to my toes.
Oh, no! I was not going to allow myself to be attracted to this pompous ass.
Quite abruptly, as if he was thinking something along those very same lines, Jake ripped his hand from mine and reached for his coffee cup. “There isn’t much in Monroe. What is this place you’ll be looking at, a farm?”
Still shaken from the sizzle that had just passed between us, I answered hoarsely. “It is. The place is called Sunshine Farms. Have you heard of it?”
He swallowed his coffee, and then set his cup down. “No, I haven’t.”
“From what I can tell, it has a suitable size barn.”
He pouted his lip. “I think you need to understand something about my sister.”
“What’s that?”
An emotion I couldn’t decipher flashed across his face. “Rory has been treated like a princess her entire life. It’s not her fault. It’s just the way it is. So, when she says she wants to get married in a barn, I can’t help but think she doesn’t really mean a barn in the actual sense of the word.”
I scrunched my brows together in confusion. “Okay, then, tell me, what does she mean?”
At first, he said nothing. Then the corners of his lips twitched up. It wasn’t a smile, but it was close enough. “Knowing my sister, she thinks a barn is a magical place that smells like roses, not horse shit. And that it is a place where the ground sparkles with glitter, not littered with dirt and hay.”
Tension eased inside me, and I found my own smile easily enough. “You see, here’s the thing, I can make those things happen. That’s my job!”
Again, he said nothing, but his lips had thinned and the look he gave me was filled with doubt.
“Jake . . .” I began, stuttering at the way my pulse sped up when I said his name.
The blank mask was back. He was so hard to read. “Yeah,” he answered.
The table between us was so small that when I shifted to sit up straighter, my knees bumped his. I couldn’t stop the hitch of my breath or the thump of my heart that resulted from the contact. “Why don’t you come with me to see the farm? If you don’t think it’s something your sister might like, I won’t pursue it. But you should know, the only other suitable alternative was Cherokee Town & Country Club, but I’ll need you to talk to the manager about it.”
He ran his hands down his face. “I really don’t like that place, but that aside, why would I need to talk to the manager?”
I stared down at the veneer tabletop and traced one of the lines in the hatched pattern.
“Jules,” he demanded. “Tell me.”
Drawing in a breath, I glanced up. He could be very domineering. “Because the ballrooms are taken, but the grounds are available. I just can’t get the manager to consider my suggestion.”
“You mean you want to hold the wedding outdoors?”
I slowly nodded.
“With no cover and no indoor facilities?” He practically shouted the words in a way that they didn’t really come out as a question and also made my idea seem ridiculous.
I attempted not to bristle at the clipped tone. “Yes.”
He shook his head adamantly. “That’s absolutely out of the question. My grandmother can’t be out in the heat all day.”
My stomach flipped. I hadn’t thought about that. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Then it has to be the farm.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“And if we leave right now, we can get there before the event starts and have a look around.”
Jake’s lips twitched, and he let out a low huff that wasn’t quite a laugh as he shook his head. “Do you ever give up?”
I struggled not to laugh. “No, I don’t.”
When he reached into his back pocket for his wallet, amusement might have been glittering in his eyes. I couldn’t be sure. “Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out.”
I reached in my purse. “I got this. I invited you.”
Standing up, he tossed two twenties on the table. “Consider it part of the deposit you have yet to ask me for.”
“About that,” I said, getting to my feet.
He waved a hand through the air to usher me forward. “You mean you want to get paid for what you’re doing? And here I thought you were doing it for the sheer pleasure of aggravating me.”
I gave him a shove as I passed him. And he liked it. I could tell by the small amount of wickedness that gleamed in his eyes.
The kinetic energy that zinged between us threw me off my game, not that I had game to begin with.
In my wedges, I couldn’t walk that fast, and I especially couldn’t walk and talk at the same time, so I stopped and jerked my head over my shoulder. “Actually, there is a set fee I should probably go over with you.”
His response was to place his hand on the small of my back and whisper in my ear. “I’m not at all serious. Just email me your requirements, and I’ll get you what you need.”
Had he actually been joking around?
He had.
Tingles of arousal shot through my core. I liked this side of him. Then again I was beginning to wonder if I wasn’t oddly attracted to all sides of him. “Yes, sure, I’ll do that, but don’t you want to know how much the fee is before you just blindly agree to make payment?”
He pushed past me and opened the door for me to walk through. “I never enter into anything blindly,” he said somewhat coyly, and I could feel his heat as I passed by him.
Oh, my.
Out on the sidewalk, the sun beat down on my skin, hot and humid. Quickly, I rummaged in my purse for my keys. “Did you want to catch a ride with me or drive yourself?”
When he didn’t respond, I looked up at him.
He was staring at me in utter annoyance once again.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t catch a ride with anyone. But if you’d like, you can catch a ride with me.”
I was trapped in his gaze. “I can’t. My car is here.”
That stare of his remained pinned to mine, but it shifted to something other than annoyance. I think it was more like amusement. I didn’t care what it was because it was smoldering hot. “There’s an easy solution to that, Jules.”
“What’s that?” I asked, my voice husky, shaky, and totally off key.
“I’ll bring you back here after.”
Dah! was what he didn’t say. He didn’t have to though. Okay, I wasn’t thinking clearly because I’d have had to do the same thing.
Seriously though, there was no way he didn’t know the effect he had on a woman when he did that whole intense-look thing. Like I could say no even if I wanted to. “Sure. If it isn’t too much trouble.”
And there he went shocking me with a dose of that charm of his. “It’s no trouble at all.”
A smile prodded my lips. “Okay. I just need to get my briefcase.”
“Where are you parked?�
�� he asked.
I pointed up the street. “In the garage at the corner.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “That’s where I am as well.”
“Good. That means we will be able to get on the road quicker,” I said.
He shook his head and started walking. “Do you always go one-hundred miles an hour?”
I shrugged. “It’s just that I want to arrive at the farm before the event starts so I can see it without people everywhere.”
“Oh, we’ll get there on time. Trust me.”
The heat practically radiated from the concrete as we walked. That’s how hot it was. And it didn’t help it was radiating off him as well. Neither of us said much. We just looked around at the chaos of the upcoming rush hour and walked.
At the garage, I pressed the elevator button, and when the doors opened, we both stepped inside. Surprisingly, we didn’t gravitate to opposite corners like is the norm.
Standing beside Jake in the coolness of the elevator, I looked over at him and asked, “Were you really going to smash that piece of cake in my face?”
Throwing me a quelling look, he answered with, “Do you really want to know?”
The doors opened, and the blast of hot air was almost unbearable. “Yes, I do,” I answered, and then I stepped out.
Walking beside me, he leveled me with that heavy dark gaze of his. “It’s probably best if I don’t answer that.”
“So you were.” I frowned and hit the button on my remote before pulling on the handle to my car door.
He gave me a slight shake of his head that was so much hotter than it should have been. “I didn’t say that.”
I got inside and grabbed my big leather bag. When I went to get out, he offered me his hand in assistance. I took it and hadn’t realized how close he was until I was standing on my feet and only inches from his face.
Teetering on my wedges, I froze, but my pulse sped up. “But you didn’t say you weren’t, either.”
He didn’t move.
Neither did I.
He didn’t speak.
Neither did I.
Surprise had transformed into a quell of nervous flutters in my belly.
This close, I could see his blue eyes. I could see the way his shirt sculpted his body and the superb strength in his shoulders and arms. I could see his strong jaw. And I could see how pillowy soft those lips might just be. All he had to do was lean in a little more and kiss me, and I would know.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
For a moment I forgot I didn’t really know him and got lost in time. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing.
His gaze seemed to go liquid with a heat I felt between my thighs. “Some things are better left unknown,” he whispered.
Staring at him, I felt my palms turn clammy as my heart rate increased. “And some things are better when you know what to expect.”
His beautiful eyes flickered to my lips. “That can be true, too.”
We were no longer talking about the cake, and I suddenly felt overwhelmingly, deliciously surrounded by him.
“Hey, Miss, are you leaving?” a man yelled from his car.
Jake stepped back and shoved his hands in his pockets like we’d just gotten caught doing something we shouldn’t be doing “No, she’s not,” he called, “but I am. I’m right over there if you want to wait a minute.”
My head jerked to where he was pointing, and I stood openmouthed. The vintage black jag I’d seen pulling into Rosewood days ago was his. And I was going to get to ride in it. It made me feel giddy. Or maybe it was him that made me feel the way I did.
Closing my door, we started toward the car.
All of a sudden I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.
It wasn’t because I had the insurmountable task of planning the wedding of the decade in less than five weeks. Instead, it was because this man with his brooding disposition and impatient temperament did something to me no one had ever done. He penetrated a layer buried somewhere deep inside me. It felt like an arrow had been speared through my heart.
And that made me want to turn and run the other way.
As fast as I could.
Wedges or not.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree
JAKE
THE FARMHOUSE WAS CLASSIC AMERICANA.
With its white wraparound porch and the pair of rocking chairs swaying in the wind, it looked like something that belonged on a Norman Rockwell Christmas card.
Rustic.
Quaint.
Quiet.
And nothing I pictured as the backdrop for my sister’s wedding.
Turning the music down, I came to a stop under a giant Maple tree and glanced over at Jules. “Are you sure this is the right place because I don’t see a barn anywhere?”
“You’re such a city boy,” she quipped.
The top was down, and a few of the leaves from the canopy overhead floated down. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Barns aren’t like garages. They don’t always have to be close to the house.” She twisted her head to look around. “I’m sure it’s around here somewhere.”
This woman really knew how to push my buttons.
Either oblivious to this fact, or indifferent, she shaded her eyes and continued on with her search. “I’m surprised there isn’t a sign anywhere.”
A leaf landed on my steering wheel, and I swiped it away. “Are we in the right place or not?”
She glanced down at her phone. “Just give me a second. Will you?”
Frustration was slowly burning through my veins. Impatient to get this unplanned visit over with, I grabbed through the air at the next leaf that dared drop into my car before it made a landing, and tossed it out along with the other.
Pointing her finger down the hill and to the east, she said, “According to Google maps, it’s a half-mile in that direction.”
As soon as I pressed down on the accelerator to turn off the country lane and onto the dirt road ahead, my wheels started to spin. I stopped immediately and put the car in park.
Shit.
With a yank of her hair tie, she freed her hair, and it seemed to be dancing along with the slight breeze. “You might want to go a little easy there, big boy.”
Color had tinged her cheeks from the wind, causing her tanned skin to appear rosy. With her green eyes and the sparkle from her earrings reflecting off the sun, it looked beautiful. She was beautiful. Shaking the thought away, I peered over my Ray-Bans at her. “I do know how to drive.”
“Yes, I’m sure you do, on city roads. But how often do you drive in the country?”
“Probably about as often as you,” I remarked.
“Actually,” she said, holding a finger up, “my uncle owns a farm, and I’ve driven out there enough to know that if you get stuck in the muck, the only way you’re getting out is with a tow truck.”
I pushed my sunglasses up. “Fine. And what’s with the use of big boy?”
“It’s just a saying,” she defended. “If you prefer big man though instead, I’d be more than happy to use that term.”
Even though I glared at her, her gaze never dropped from mine. In fact, her eyes were so expressive, they were capable of swallowing a man whole. Again, I ignored that, too. “I prefer neither.”
“Little boy, then” she giggled. When I glared at her this time, she quickly looked back down at her phone.
At least she sensed I had limits. Shaking my head, I put the car back in drive. Knowing she was right about spinning my wheels, I eased slower this time on the accelerator and rocked the Jag easily onto the mucky road.
“Woot,” she catcalled, grabbing hold of her hair to keep it from blowing in her face.
Juliette, or Jules, as I was told to call her, had insisted we take the top down. Most of the time when a woman was in the car with me, I just left it up. The whole my-hair-will-be-a-mess thing got old after a while.
She wasn’t like that.
Then again, she wasn
’t like anyone I had known.
Sassy, but sweet.
Funny, but a smart-ass.
Tough, but weak.
She was such a contradiction.
Back at the coffee shop, I had every intention of telling her to just do her job and leave me the hell out of it. And yet, as soon as she called me on my crap, I couldn’t make the words come out.
The truth was I had been an asshole to her. Taking out my own shit on her. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t who I was. Or who I wanted to be. It wasn’t someone my old man would have been proud of. So yeah, I decided to cut her a break, and atone for my poor behavior by agreeing to participate in the planning of my sister’s wedding.
Go figure.
Once we reached the bottom of the hill, all I could see were more hills and acres and acres of what looked to be vineyards and open fields.
“Well,” I said, the sarcasm more than evident in my tone. Hey, I was doing my best to go along with this thing, but I never said it was going to be easy.
Jules unbuckled her seat belt and leaned back against the seat to stand. Her long, slender body was impossible not to look at. Shading her hand over her eyes, she pointed to the left. “I think I see the top of the barn right over that second hill.”
Spending my time driving around a cow pasture wasn’t exactly how I thought I’d be spending my first night off in ten days. I waited for her to sit back down and buckle up, and then I hit the gas. Again the wheels turned, but the ground was dryer down here, so I knew we wouldn’t get stuck.
Climbing up the hill, I took my time, but when I reached the top and started down, I gave the Jag a little more gas. As soon as I did, Jules put her arms up in the air and closed her eyes.
“What are you doing?”
She glanced at me and opened one eye. “I love that feeling when the car shifts into first gear and the wind starts to blow on my face. It’s like when you’re on a roller coaster, you know?”
I shook my head and let that one just go without an answer.
She didn’t seem to care that I didn’t quite get it because she kept on doing what she was doing until we reached the bottom of the hill.
Minutes later we were pulling in front of the barn.
“Here it is!” Jules yelled, full of excitement. Hopping out of the car before I even put it in park, all I saw was she was there one minute and gone the next.