8
Tim
“I kissed her.”
The words were out before I could stop them. Maybe I didn’t really want to stop them. I needed to confess to someone what I’d done, needed to rid myself of the sinful thoughts I’d been having. I’d never wanted something so badly. The truth was, I hadn’t wanted to stop with the one stolen kiss. I wanted to steal more than that kiss. I wanted to do more than just steal her heart from Bobby—I wanted to steal her soul.
Wes said nothing. He nodded absentmindedly and took a drink of the coffee in his travel mug, as if I’d just told him the sky was blue and he’d been unsurprised by the fact.
“Conley. I kissed Conley,” I clarified, in case he was confused by who “her” was.
“Yep.”
I turned to look at him. “Yep? That’s all you got for me?”
“What do you want? A high five and that a boy?”
I looked back at the slow-moving river, watching the shallow water as it split and spilled over a few of the larger rockers, the sound not as relaxing and comforting as it should be. The overcast weather was perfect for fishing and mimicked my mood.
I felt his eyes slide from the water to my profile. “How’d she react?”
I shrugged, fiddling with the reel of my fishing pole, dragging the line back in. “She kissed me back… She shouldn’t have, though.” That was the worst part. I couldn’t get how she’d reacted out of my mind. How she’d all but begged for me to kiss her. And when I had, she’d tasted perfect. Like tequila and longing. I cursed. Swearing off the damn liquor for the rest of my life.
“Why not?”
“Because she’s with Bobby.”
“You think they’re still together?”
“Yes… shit…” I set my pole aside and rubbed the back of my neck raw, sliding off his tailgate to pace. “I don’t know.”
“You really think she’d kiss you back if she was still with him?”
I paused at his question. We had a few shots and emotions were high, so there was a good chance she hadn’t been thinking it through. I looked at him and he stared back like the answer was obvious. It might’ve been obvious ten years ago. The Conley I knew then would never cheat. But too much time had passed. People changed. Conley may not be the same woman I once knew. At the same time, she wasn’t wearing her ring anymore. She hadn’t come out and said they weren’t together, either. If they weren’t, why was she hiding it?
“I don’t know.”
“Sure you do. You’re just afraid of what might happen if you’re right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You tell me.”
“I hate when you’re a cryptic asshole. Some days I wonder if you’re just trying to sound smarter than you really are.” I picked up a small, flat rock from the ground, lightly tossing it around in the palm of my hand.
“Well, I’m definitely smarter than you when it comes to running a business.”
“How ya figure?” I asked while pulling my arm back to throw. I skipped the rock across the water, watching it as it hopped four times before sinking to the bottom, the ripples it made slowly spreading out over the surface.
“Because I would never kiss an employee.”
“You work with all men,” I pointed out, turning to face him. Wes ran the Monroe Farm with his father, one of the largest wheat farms and cattle ranches in the state of Texas.
“That’s beside the point.”
“So you’re saying I messed up?”
“No.”
“Then you’re saying I didn’t?” My brows folded together.
“No.”
“You’re a dick,” I said, shaking my head lightly and crossing my arms.
“So you keep telling me. Now will you sit the fuck down?” He gestured toward his tailgate. “You’re scaring all the fish away.”
“What fish?” I grumbled, taking a seat again.
“Yeah. You’re right…” he reeled in his line. “They ain’t biting today.”
Today? I wasn’t sure the last time we actually caught a fish. We’d been fishing in this river every Sunday morning for the last seven years. It was our church, much to his grams’ dismay, and the one day of the week Dudley’s was closed. A day I needed. Usually the time out here by the river relaxed me and recharged me for the long work week ahead. But today I felt anxious, unsettled.
I thought working last night without having Conley around would put my world back in order. Instead, it was a shit-show. Melanie’s mood wasn’t any better than mine. I knew she’d assumed I let Conley go. I hadn’t. Not exactly. After the kiss, I was pissed at myself. I didn’t want to say or do anything else I’d regret, so I’d said nothing to her about when her next shift would be.
Wes set his fishing rod aside. Twisting at his side, he reached behind him, opening up the small soft cooler and pulling out two breakfast burritos wrapped in foil. “Have you at least talked to her since it happened?” he asked as he passed me one of them.
“No.” I took it, peeling back the foil.
He laughed, his head shaking as he opened his own. “You’re an idiot.”
“Thanks. Good talk.” I took a bite. The combination of sausage, egg, and cheese hit the spot.
“Anytime, buddy,” he said with a chuckle before taking his own bite.
I shoved at his shoulder and he laughed harder through a swallow, nearly choking on his food.
“Serves you right.” I grinned.
After a few moments of eating in silence, Wes balled up his foil and tossed it back in the cooler.
“What’s Devin up to this morning?” I asked, ready to change the subject.
A slow grin broke over Wes’ face. “Resting.”
“She feeling all right?”
“As good as you can feel when growing a little Monroe inside.”
“No way! For sure?”
“Seems like it, unless all ten pregnancy tests are wrong.”
“Wow. Took that many to convince you, huh?” I grinned.
He chuckled. “Not me. Her.”
My smiled widened at that. “Congrats, man. That’s awesome. Happy for you both.”
“Thanks. We’re pretty excited. I think she was a little worried at first, but I assured her we would be fine, and everything would work itself out.”
Not that it surprised me, but I was glad to know I wasn’t wrong about the type of man Wes was. To people on the outside, he appeared a wildcard, Mr. Good-time, a man who didn’t take life too seriously, which was true for the most part. But under it all, he was a hard-working, reliable man. Especially when it came to the ones he cared about—his family and friends. And when it came to the woman he loved, his dedication increased tenfold. He’d move heaven and earth to make sure she was happy and taken care of, and I had no doubt that would extend to his children.
“I bet your family is excited.”
“Yeah. Grams nearly fainted. Said she thought she’d never see the day a woman would marry me, much less willingly breed with me. Then she said that only proved there was a God, because he’d answered every one of her prayers.”
I smirked. “Sounds about right…” Finishing off my last bite, I balled up my foil, setting it aside. With a serious face, I gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Well, if you guys need anything, you know you can always call Roger.”
“Some friend you are,” he said through a laugh, throwing his arm around my neck, and putting me in a headlock as I chuckled and fought him off.
Relaxing back in the oversized leather armchair in my living room, I listened carefully to each note coming from the acoustic guitar, watching Ricky’s hands closely as they moved along the fretboard as he played.
“How’d that sound?” he asked immediately after he strummed the last note of the song, his eyes snapping up from the guitar to meet mine.
“Good, man. I can tell you’ve been practicing. You just need to smooth out the transition a little more when moving from the lick into the riff,”
I said, leaning forward, resting my forearms on my legs. I’d been giving Ricky private guitar and singing lessons every Sunday for the last three months. I couldn’t lie, the kid surprised me. He wasn’t half bad. It wasn’t easy learning to play the guitar and sing at the same time, but he’d shown as much dedication to learning guitar as he did on the football field. He was a natural.
He shrugged, brushing off my compliment. “This promposal has to be perfect. Do you think she’ll like it?”
“Kid,” I mused, “I’m not even sure I get this whole promposal thing. In my day, we just asked the girl straight up. And if you were already dating, it was pretty much a given.”
“I wish things were still that easy… Women, right?” Ricky said, shaking his head and putting away his guitar.
I laughed. “Yeah. I feel ya, man. I really do.” Oddly, the woman that had always driven me nuts and still did was his older sister.
He stood from where he’d been sitting on my couch, picking up his guitar case. I followed him as he headed to the front door.
“You sure I can’t pay you anything?” he asked over his shoulder as he walked.
“Keep your money.” I clapped him on the back. “Sounds like you will need every penny you got for prom night.”
He sighed. “Thanks, man.” He stopped and faced me when he made it to the door. Reaching out, he gave me a sideways five and a fist bump. “I’ll see you in a couple weeks?”
“Sure. But what happened to next week?”
“No can do.” He shook his head, opening the front door. “Mom’s insisting the whole fam be at an early dinner. She’s gotten all crazy about Sunday dinners, since my sister’s moved back.”
I nodded in understanding, holding the door open as he stepped outside onto my front porch. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I reached inside, digging it out, and looked at the screen.
“Later, Tim,” Ricky hollered, waving over his shoulder as he headed for his truck.
“See ya, kid,” I replied as I accepted the call from my pops. The engine of Ricky’s truck fired up as I answered. “Hey, Pops. What’s going on?”
“You busy?”
“Not really. Just got done with a guitar lesson. Why?” I closed my front door and walked back into my living room.
“Good. I need you to meet me at Kathy’s.”
“What for?”
“I need a ride.” He’d intended it as a statement, but it came out more as a question.
I furrowed my brows, finding his request odd. “A ride? Where’s your truck?”
“In the shop.”
“Okay…then, how’d you get there and why can’t you just get a ride from one of the guys?”
“Dammit, boy. Just come pick me up.”
He hung up the phone before I could get another word out. Pulling the phone from my ear, I looked at the screen, wondering what the hell had gotten into the old man. It seemed the older he got, the crazier he acted. I made a mental note to keep a closer eye on him and his health as I grabbed my keys and headed for the door.
9
Conley
I sighed, burying my head in my hands, and grumbled, “My life is over.”
“Oh, hon. I doubt that,” Miss Debbie assured me as she refilled my cup of coffee once again. I hadn’t meant for anyone to hear me.
Miss Debbie had been the owner and main waitress at Kathy’s Cafe for nearly as long as I could remember. She was one of the hardest working people I knew, strong-minded and outspoken to boot. She took crap from nobody. But that hard exterior didn’t fool anyone who knew her. Those who knew her well, knew she had one of the kindest hearts in town.
Which is why, I knew she wouldn’t mind all too much that I’d had my butt planted in the same booth for the last five hours, since church let out, job hunting online. Seeing how I was trying to conserve every dime I had, I couldn’t afford internet service. Thankfully, the old fifties style diner had free wi-fi. It was the only modern-day thing about this place. It hadn’t changed a bit since the day Kathy had first opened its doors, despite Miss Debbie taking ownership of it after her sister had passed away unexpectedly. She’d kept it the same, not even changing the name to honor the memory of her sister.
It still had the same black-and-white checkered tile floor, worn from years of foot traffic, but surprisingly still in decent shape. The same red vinyl booths that lined the wall on one side of the alley walkway. A long sit-down counter with round stools affixed to the floor flanked the other side of the aisle. I still remember sitting there with my dad as a young girl, sipping strawberry milkshakes as I spun in nonstop circles on the seat until I was so dizzy, I’d almost fall off.
Dropping my hands, I looked up at her. “No. It is. I don’t know what I was thinking of moving back here,” I said more to myself than her as I picked up the pencil I’d been using to draw in my sketch pad and doodled under the picture I’d been working on earlier. It was a mindless habit.
She set the coffeepot on the table, the freshly brewed aroma invading my nose. Smoothing one hand over her apron while the other pushed a dampened gray strand from her sweaty forehead that had fallen from her bun, she took a seat across from me. “Let’s have it.” She flitted a hand above her head. “What, my dear girl, has you sure your life is over?”
My hand stopped, and I looked up at her, setting the pencil back down. You mean, besides the earth-shattering, life-changing kiss I experienced a few nights ago? Tingles ran up my spine after just thinking about the kiss. Keeping my initial thought to myself, I replied, “I need a job.”
“Aren’t you working over at Dudley’s for Tim?”
I almost forgot how fast word traveled around here. “Yeah, well, not sure that’s going to work out,” I muttered, lowering my eyes to my half-eaten chicken salad sandwich.
The ringing of my cell phone interrupted us. I glanced over to where it sat on the table and groaned before pressing ignore. It hadn’t stopped ringing the last few days. Between Bobby, his agent, and his PR team, they were blowing it up constantly. Not to mention my family. My little brother had called three times begging me to buy him and his friends beer. That had been an easy and firm no way in hell. I wanted to be the cool, older sister, but that wasn’t something I was willing to do to earn the title.
The only person I was hoping would call hadn’t. With his lack of communication on when my next shift would be and after the way I’d practically thrown myself at him the other night, I was pretty sure I no longer had a job. He’d made it clear he didn’t get involved with employees. Did I listen? Nope. I tossed my only chance of income away for a man who didn’t even want me. I’d got caught up in the moment, ignoring the fact that everything he’d admitted was how he’d felt years ago.
Now, I was left searching the internet for job listings in the surrounding towns.
“Well, that’s too bad.” Miss Debbie patted my hand that was still glued to my phone. “I hear he treats his staff well.”
There was no way I could comment on that without my face turning a bright shade of pink. My mind had immediately drifted to how well he’d treated me with his lips and how perfect it had felt to have them on mine. I cleared my throat and mind. “Are you guys hiring?”
“Afraid not.” The chime of the front door rang behind me, drawing her attention to an arriving customer. “Besides, something tells me you won’t need one after all.” Her lips turned up into a mischievous smile as she slid out of the booth to stand.
I looked up at her in confusion, but her focus was no longer on me. Twisting in my seat to see what had caught her attention, my eyes landed on Tim walking through the door. His stride halted as he scanned the diner in search of someone. Spinning back around, I slouched deeper in my seat and buried my head in my left hand, hoping he hadn’t noticed me.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Miss Debbie drawled, still standing beside my table.
“Ma’am,” Tim responded with a smile. “The old man still loitering around here?”
Miss Debbie nodded toward the back booth where a group of older gentlemen sat. They’d been camped out here longer than me. “Of course he is. I can’t seem to get rid of him,” she teased, picking up the coffeepot that she’d set on my table earlier. “This one here is becoming as much of a permanent fixture. Maybe you can at least help me out with her.” She lifted a knowing eyebrow, then patted him on the shoulder as she walked away.
My face fell along with the hand I’d been hiding behind. As she sauntered off, I stared at her back, swearing to the high heavens. So much for women’s solidarity. I should’ve gone to Ida’s Bakery instead.
“Mind if I join you?” Tim asked and slid into the booth across from me before I could answer.
“By all means, don’t wait for an invitation,” I complained under my breath.
If he’d heard me, he’d ignored it. Instead, his eyes were focused on the sketch I’d been working on the last few hours after giving up on my job hunt.
“You still drawing?”
“Sometimes…”
“May I?” he asked, signaling toward the book.
“Sure.”
Pulling the book toward him, he studied the sketch of the group of old men in the back of Kathy’s, one of whom was his father. They’d been here longer than I had, making them an easy subject. He started flipping through the pages, taking time to look at each one. It felt weird having him so interested in them. I’m not sure Bobby had ever taken an interest in my art.
“Damn, Con. These are good.” He looked up at me, a small smile tilting his lips. “Really good.”
I shrugged. “I’ve had lots of time to practice on the road over the years.” It’s what I did for hours on end while we traveled, and the band was busy. Wanting to capture the entire experience on the road, I’d moved from drawing random items to drawing people a few years after they got their big break.
Tempting Tim: A Small Town Friends to Lovers Romance (Billingsley Book 4) Page 8