Just Want Somebody to Love (Bella Warren Book 1) (18 page)

There was no point in debating this. She glanced across the field and spotted him on a ladder. Her mom stood next to him, her head tipped to the side as she told him something or other while pointing. He adjusted the hay and looked at her mom, patience never ending on his face while her mom checked and then nodded.

Oh boy, indeed. She snapped a quick picture of the pair to hold up her end of the bargain and crossed the fields to the two of them.

Mom faced her. “What do you think?”

Whitney studied the scarecrow, but ended up just looking at Justin perched on that ladder instead. The wind messed with his hair and sun added a shine to the already mesmerizing spark in his eyes. She turned away as he climbed down because staring at his ass while standing next to her mom was one nightmare she didn’t want to live. “Looks great.”

Half the crosses had scarecrows on them. These two had been busy in the two hours she’d been gone. And doing a good job. Each of the scarecrows had an outfit and a hat. Some of them had metal pie plates dangling from the arms. They looked sort of cute out there, like they had been doing this for years. “I’m surprised y’all have done this many.”

Mom shrugged. “Justin is good on that ladder.”

Who wasn’t surprised by that? Whitney. He was good at whatever he wanted to be good at, she would guess. Probably why he was so confident with a heavy side of arrogant. Even with those two less than desirable attributes, he was so damn good, that she still wanted the man. What exactly was she supposed to do with that information?

Mom moved next to her. “I need to check in on Kara. Can you help me with something?”

Help Mom with something to help Kara? Had to be counter climbing for a dish. Kara was too tall, and Mom said she was too old. Not that she believed either of those excuses. “Sure.”

Mom pointed at the plastic tote on the ground by Justin. “You’re doing great. Think you can handle the rest?”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

She walked with Mom toward Kara’s house. “I wasn’t expecting y’all to be this far along.”

“Me neither.” Mom ducked her head. “He’s nice.”

Oh Lord. “You weren’t as nagging as you planned to be, were you?”

Mom’s smile got a little toothy, and she patted her arm. “I tried really hard, but honey, I can see why you like that boy. He’s so handsome and when he looked at me with that killer-watt smile, I just didn’t have it in me to tell him to try again over and over.”

“I know what you mean.”

“If you hadn’t put him through the wringer so hard yesterday, then of course, I would have been more firm, but he’s hurting today and he’s still here.”

She glanced across the fields to see him walking with the ladder in one hand and tote in the other. “Not hurting too bad or he wouldn’t be here.”

Mom grabbed the back door. “I think he is, but he’s masking it. Or trying. He’s stiff going up the ladder, and before he comes back down, he takes a breath like he needs a moment before attempting it. Kind of admirable he’s here anyway.”

It seemed everything was admirable about him. They stepped in the kitchen as Kara pulled cookies off a baking sheet and placed them over a rack. “You’re back. Any trouble?”

Just with her thoughts. “Nope.”

Mom washed her hands. “I was coming to see if you needed help starting dinner.”

“I was about to get on that. Looks like you’ve made a lot of progress outside.”

Mom’s smile lit her face. “I like that boy.”

Whitney rolled her eyes, and of course, Kara caught her. She chuckled. “He’s something else, isn’t he?”

Mom tied on her apron. “He is. If I was younger, I’d give Whitney a run for her money on him.”

“Mom.” Whitney sat back.

Mom shook her head. “I’m teasing. But he is very cute.”

That and more. Words like “molded to perfection” came to mind. She glanced to Kara. “I think Mom wants me to date him.”

Kara shrugged. “You could.”

“I shouldn’t.” Because why? She didn’t know anymore. A hot guy who was great in bed didn’t have many drawbacks. Before it was easy because it was fun and harmless. Something about this time had changed. The harmless aspect of seeing him didn’t seem so harmless anymore. What if she fell for him? What if she wanted more from him? Just how did people make long-distance relationships work? Would she fly out to see him once a month on the weekends? Would he come to her when he had time? It sounded miserable.

“If you don’t, someone else will.”

She eyed her friend. “Have you been talking to Tasha?”

“Just a little bit.” She shrugged. “But she’s right, you know. If you don’t scoop him up, someone else is going to.”

Whitney leaned on the bar. “All of y’all are missing the point that he didn’t move here. He’s just visiting. He has temporary written all over him.”

Mom shot her a look complete with a raised brow. “Nothing is ever temporary and everything is always changing. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

Hatching. It was hard to argue with facts. And yeah, so what if someone else might scoop him up. She didn’t want to address that feeling in her belly or anymore of this conversation. She pushed out of her chair and headed outside to get away from their talk.

She should probably go to her office and work on her books. Her gaze strayed to Justin dressing another scarecrow. She shook her head and was torn between there and her house. She started one way, then turned for another.

“What are you doing?”

She turned at her brother’s voice and blew out a breath. “I have no idea.”

“That much is obvious. You look like a loon out here, walking in circles.”

“Everyone thinks I should date him.”

Wade glanced to Justin and lifted a shoulder. “He’s not the worst thing you’ve brought home.”

She punched him in the arm. “Stop, I’m being serious.”

He rubbed the spot. “I am too.”

“But he’s not the best?”

“You did date my best friend for a couple months.”

Patrick. He was more brother material than boyfriend. They’d figured that out pretty quick. And thank goodness for that, since he was head over heels in love with Tasha. “Patrick and I would have never, ever worked out.”

“I know, but you wanted to know about the best, and Patrick has been the best.”

“Does that make Justin second best or further down the line?”

He rubbed over his face. His hands scraped against prickly facial hair. Goodness, when did they reach the age that she asked her brother for advice and he had facial hair?

He sighed and dropped his hand. “He’s not bad. If he hadn’t stood you up, I don’t think I’d have a single bad thing to say about the guy.”

Yeah. Her neither. And she wasn’t even angry he forgot. She’d more than gotten even. So that left her with no marks against him. Aside from him leaving one day and her possibly getting attached.

Look at that. Whitney Chester was afraid of getting attached to a guy when her little hopeless romantic heart had always waited for this day. Screw irony. She shook her head. “I’m going to work.”

“I like the sound of that.”

She headed for her office and didn’t look back. So many feelings floated to the top. Emotions stirred and made her think. All the feelings in all the world, barfed up on her spreadsheet.

Twenty minutes in and she gave up trying to make sense of any numbers. All the plants tallied in and crossed against an estimation, based on previous growth in comparison to the farmer’s almanac weather predictions for this year? What? She filled this chart out every year and tweaked it through the season, yet her head spun trying to wrap around it.

She flopped her pencil down and rubbed her head. Come on sundown, so it would be time for supper with a convincible excuse to get away from this desk.

With him possibly sitting next to her again. More than likely possible. With her mom acting like Justin hung the moon and Kara on the bandwagon that looked to be driven by her brother, they’d probably already invited him.

Boys. She wasn’t supposed to be confused over them. Maybe Justin was right, and they should get back to how they were. Hot and heavy and panting between the sheets. On the sheets. While kicking the sheets off.

Her throat tightened as she watched him come in from the fields with the ladder under his arm. Yeah. She could go for that. All of that. She pushed away from her desk and headed to her brother’s for supper. She made sure to wander around so her path crossed with Justin’s.

He laid the ladder on the ground next to the greenhouse and dusted his hands. “I hear ham is on the table tonight.”

Yep. He was already asked to stay for dinner. “I haven’t been in the kitchen much to see.”

“Your mom told me. She’s sweet. I like her.”

Okay, seriously. That’s another mark to the pro section, as if he needed more.
Likes her mom
. “Yes she is.”

“What are you doing after supper?”

She needed to work on her statements. She doubted that would happen. With his smile on her like that, what exactly was she thinking about again? “I don’t know.”

“We were supposed to go on a walk, but we haven’t done that yet.”

“But not at dark.” Though, that sounded appealing. The two of them on a cozy walk in the dark. All alone so they could do alone things.

“Can I make you another drink instead?”

Can said drink come with another night with him? She was afraid of that answer. “I don’t know.”

Those three words again. They seemed to be the only ones she knew today.

He gave a lazy shrug. “If you’re too tired and can’t stay up a little past seven tonight, I’ll understand. Know your limits, right?”

Was that her words thrown back at her? He stooped low. She liked it. “I won’t be too tired.”

Justin should have gotten a time from Whitney on when she planned to show up. He’d left her house over an hour and a half ago, took a quick shower, and waited in the bar within twenty minutes. He could have squeezed in a nap in the time he’d been behind the bar.

God. Naps. What was he, fifty? He poured himself a shot and threw it to the back of his throat. He set the glass down, and a brunette eased across the bar.

Her smile was pretty and face nice enough. She was no Whitney, but she didn’t fall out of the ugly tree either. She crossed her arms over the bar. “Momma says there’s only one reason a man drinks like that.”

“Why’s that?”

“Women.”

He chuckled. “You mom sounds smart.”

“She has her moments. We haven’t met yet.”

“I’ve been busy.” He reached across the counter. “Justin.”

She smiled and shook his hand. “Maddy. I’ve heard you’ve been working hard at the farm. Watch out for the Chesters. They’ll work you to death.”

At the moment, with all of his body aching, he couldn’t disagree. Each minute he spent ripping his muscles took years off his life. But it was getting him that much closer to what he wanted. “I’m having a good time so far. Can I get you something?”

“Margarita? No salt on the rim, though.”

“All right.” He stepped back, looking for limes, as he still wasn’t sure of his footing behind Brandon’s bar. He crossed the length and plucked a couple from a basket at the opposite end. He started back when Brandon backed up a step, getting in his path.

He had a shaker in his hands. “Do you want a tip?”

“Are you keeping another secret that we’re in business with someone else in this town?”

“Nope, but I like what Whitney’s done to you.”

Justin shuffled the limes between his hands. “You’ve got a tip to help me win Whitney over? I’m not sure if I should believe words from the enemy.”

Brandon shrugged. “Your loss or your gain. Or should I say, your wedding or your funeral.”

Wedding. He shuddered. Better than a funeral. “What’s the tip?”

“There’s only one feud I know of in this town.”

“Hatfields and McCoys, right here in Bella Warren? This town is just full of secrets.”

Brandon eyed him. “Yeah well, pretend Whitney is a Hatfield, and Maddy Booth that you’re flirting with?”

“I wasn’t flirting.”

“Yeah, well, she’s a McCoy.”

Whitney in a feud. He started to laugh, but then didn’t. The Whitney from before? The sexy Whitney who starred in his dreams since he’d met her? No way could that woman be in a feud. This new one, though? He wasn’t sure what to think of her yet. She had mentioned before about a nemesis. He’d just tuck that information off for later, because he wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Thanks.”

He returned to his customer, unsure now, where enemy fields were. In his brother’s camp or this end giving him an unfiltered
I want you
look. He mixed her drink and slid it across the top of the bar. She laid a five down, and he dropped it in his brother’s jar. “Is the drink all right?”

She nodded. “Excellent.”

He made drinks for a couple guys nearby. Which consisted of snatching the lids off some bottles, passing them over, and collecting money. Then, nothing. He eased away to search out some neutral ground between her and his brother until he figured something out, but he didn’t make it far.

She stirred the straw in her drink. “So you’re not minding the work at Chester Farms?”

Alarm bells went off in his head. Not that they should be, but damn his brother for telling him things. Now he wanted to read this woman for any ulterior motives ,which was just dumb. They were only talking. It was the nature of bartending. If there was some supposed feud, Whitney had no logical reason to get angry.

He couldn’t remember the last time he met a logical woman, though, and he’d covered so much ground with Whitney over the last couple days that he didn’t want to risk anything upsetting her to keep him from his papers. He didn’t understand women half the time, but he knew their potential for catfights. He’d seen more than a few shares as a waiter in his younger days to know anything could set one off. “It’s not so bad.”

She poked her straw in her drink. “You know, I’ve never seen scarecrows in the fields at Chester Farms.”

“Whitney said it’s been a while since they had them.”

She lifted a shoulder. “I’ve been out there every year since I was in diapers, my mom long before me. We don’t remember them.”