Rum and Raindrops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance (13 page)

“I finished the juice. I’ll get more.”

“Moe, whatever. It’s fine.”

Moe left to serve the smoke jumpers at the other end of the bar, giving Rob a meaningful look as he passed.

Jen fidgeted with her glass, rolling her eyes at Moe. She cut a glance at Rob and exhaled slowly. The least she could do was engage in some idle chitchat to help him pass the time in a new town.

“So? How do you like your job?” She winced. Oh, damn. Was she out of practice or what?

“When I’m not investigating the cutest gal in town?” He turned down his lips. “Not bad.”

OHMIGOD. Did he just call her the cutest girl in town? She gripped the bar to prevent gravity from taking advantage of her muscles’ sudden slackness.

He grabbed her arm. “Are you okay?”

“Oh! Yeah. Of course. Yes.” She took a gulp of her drink and coughed. “Just…um…”

He patted her back and watched to be sure she was okay as the coughing started up again. “Sorry,” he said, glancing toward Moe who was serving at the other end of the bar.

She waved Rob off. “I don’t mind being called cute.” She felt herself blush and rushed to change the subject, reaching out for the first topic to hit her neurons. “Do you ever get lonely?” She turned to him, her heart hinging on the upcoming answer.

Her eyelids briefly shuttered closed. What the
hell
was wrong with her? Of course he didn’t get lonely. Only losers such as herself got lonely. A nice guy such as Rob would have eight million friends.

“I do,” he said, attention on the beer between his hands.

Wait…what?

“How is that even possible?” A guy like him.

He blinked. “I’m alone for days, sometimes weeks on end. It’s hard to hold onto a relationship.”

“Oh, well, yeah. Girls are funny about disappearing boyfriends. Their families think they’ve made up the guy and all.” She added quickly, “Not that I’ve ever done that.”

“Why would you have to?”

Jen snorted. “If you’re implying I have them lining up, you are sadly mistaken.” She took another glug of her drink. She was going to be plastered if she didn’t slow down, but how else was she going to keep her mouth busy? She needed to create opportunities to think first seeing as so far this evening her mouth was flying solo a lot more often than its learner’s permit allowed.

“I find I am sadly mistaken quite a lot these days.”

“I can tell there is a story there. But I won’t pry.”

“Why not?” He turned to face her.

“Um. Because…you’ll tell me if you want me to know?”

“But if you never ask…”

“Oh, fine. What the hell is your backstory? Some girl run off on you while you were in the bush?” Oh, wait…that sounded familiar. Cindy. Canoe trip. Cancellation. Oh, hell. “Moe! I’m going to need another drink to wash down my foot. On the double.” She slapped the bar, avoiding the expression on Rob’s face that would tell her everything she didn’t want to know about how far she’d shoved her foot down her throat.

“Actually,” he said quietly. “She did. Apparently ‘exclusive’ has various regional meanings.”

“Regional?” Without thinking, she faced him. His face was a view she wanted to gaze at all evening, but his eyes held a sadness she could identify with. She resisted the urge to give him a hug.

Wait…she was supposed to be giving this whole ‘friend with the monsters’—i.e. her fears—a shot. Friends hugged.

She reached over and grasped him around the shoulders, just about flinging herself on him as her butt lost traction on the wood stool.

“What are you doing?” he asked through her hair as he grabbed at the bar to support them.

“Hugging you.” She leaned back and pushed the loose tendril that has slipped out of her ponytail back in place.

“Uh, thanks.”

Oh, wow. Things
could
get more awkward. How about that?

“Sorry, it just looked like you needed a hug. And you’re all alone in Blueberry Springs. And someone broke your heart. And it was just…sometimes people need hugs but there’s nobody there to give them one.”

He nudged her shoulder with a fist. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Sometimes I could use a friend.”

Her stomach did a flip on the word
friend
.

“Yeah, me too,” she whispered.

He leaned closer, head tipped low. “But you have Blueberry Springs.”

She met his gaze, their nose mere inches apart. “But I’m an outsider.”

Confusion tightened his features. “But everyone defends you. They don’t defend outsiders. I’ve never seen a place close ranks so fast.”

Now she was more confused than ever. Blueberry Springs? Closing ranks? This guy got a lot of things wrong.

She rubbed her face and summoned her courage. “As you know, I have been asked not to leave town, so I am hoping that you can be my police-approved escort for the canoe trip.” She held her breath. “Please?”

“Sure.” He gave a curt nod, turning back to his beer. “About that. I found someone to come with me. Her name’s Dina. I’ll email her info in the morning, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” she said, her voice tight.

He was closing her out. The way his attention was on his beer, his shoulders tight. Either he figured she’d be in jail by the time the trip rolled around and didn’t want to burst her bubble, or she’d crossed a line hugging him, or this Dina person was the new love of his life and he was uncomfortable having flirty Jen around her while he was playing babysitter to her fire-starting habits.

Oh, this was going to be great. Not only did she have the humiliation of having the man who could put her in jail babysitting her, but she was going to have to do it while he had a woman hanging off his arm.

Her hands clenched involuntarily, her need to have him as hers, and hers alone, scaring her.

CHAPTER 5

Jen closed the bird cage, settling the injured bird into its new, temporary home and checked her watch. People—seven in total—would start arriving for the weekend canoe trip in about an hour and a half. As usual, tremors of excitement whipped into a whirlwind within her, starting in her gut and swirling up to her head. She loved taking people out to share nature and the joy and wonder in the beautiful views. Her worries always drifted away as she paddled across the quiet lakes, the voices of others calling out as they spotted birds or wildlife at the lake’s edge. Food cooked over a campfire encircled by rocks.

Rob.

She sighed. She still couldn’t believe she’d hugged him and made things all awkward again.

She shook her head. She was silly. All she needed to do was prove that she was innocent, as well as competent. This trip would help her cinch it, and then she could worry about the rest of her life. And that Dina chick he was bringing? She’d only help her stay on task. No flirting. No distractions. Just nature guide Jen at her finest.

And this time she wouldn’t lead him off in the wrong direction or slide down a hill of soot and mud. She would be prepared for the weather. She would rock this.

She wandered outside to double check the van and the trailer strapped with canoes. She had lunches from Mandy’s restaurant already packed along with her killer brownies.

Halfway through her checks, Rob and a woman appeared. Jen froze. It was his new other half.

She almost laughed. He’d said he was lonely—yeah, for five seconds—but obviously he didn’t know the true meaning of being lonely.

She pushed back the jealousy that was rising like bile and shook the woman’s warm hand.

“I’m Jen. I’ll be leading the group this weekend.”

She flashed a glance at Rob. How much had he told this woman about her record in the forest? Had he told her he had to guard her all weekend? Had the two of them had a good laugh about the way she’d walked the wrong way out of the burned out clearing? How ‘only you can prevent forest fires’ seemed to apply directly to her?

“Dina,” the woman said, taking in Jen without reserve. Oh yeah, Rob had talked about her. She could tell. Dina’s bright eyes were taking her in, her gorgeous wavy brown hair looking amazing. Athletic and lithe. Some girls had all the luck. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Rob rubbed his eyes. “I’m going to run to The Diner to grab coffee. You guys want some?”

“I can make a pot,” Jen offered. She excused herself before they could protest, questions about Dina whirling through her head. How was he was so comfortable with someone new so quickly? The way they carried themselves around each other made it seem as though they were connected in a way Jen had never been with anyone. He’d found the right person. Jen had missed her chance. But the thing of it was that he was obviously happy with Dina.

Sighing, she ducked her head outside while the coffee brewed.

“How do you take your coffee, Dina?”

“Two creams, two sugars.” She turned to Rob. “One cream, one sugar, right?”

He nodded, busy adjusting and reorganizing his pack. He was either nervous or avoiding her. Both were entirely possible.

She headed back inside. Dina already knew how Rob liked his coffee. What else did she know about him? And why the hell was Jen feeling as though she’d turned as green as an unripe avocado?

She checked on her rescue birds one last time while the coffee brewed. She offered a peaceful place they could recuperate until they were able to fly away on their own. A snowy owl tucked its face under a wing, performing neck acrobatics that made Jen want to massage her own at the thought. The birds were fine, but she still didn’t want to leave them.

She reluctantly returned outside with three cups of coffee and spotted a new face by the van. Middle-aged and slightly soft as though he spent a lot of time at a desk.

“Hi! I’m Jen. Are you with the canoe trip?”

“Billy,” he said, coming over to shake her hand but stopping when he spotted the mugs of coffee.

“Can I get you a coffee?” she asked.

“No, no.” He backed away. “I’ll be having to pull the canoe over to hit the bushes if I do—runs right through me. Or else just go over the side. It’s like a rowboat, right?”

Jen swerved the cups away from him. “Not exactly. Since you’re in my canoe, let’s keep you off this stuff. Can I get you something else instead?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

She passed a cup to Rob, their hands touching and causing her heart to give an extra little thump. Evidently, it didn’t take much for lonely hearts.

Jen leaned against the van’s bumper, sipping her coffee. Ahhhh. Caffeine. Sugar. Cream. She took another reviving sip, fortifying herself for hanging out with Rob for more than twenty-four hours.

She turned to Billy. “So, is this your first time in a canoe?” According to his application he was thirty-five and a beginner.

Billy cut his eyes back and forth a few times and licked his lips before nodding.

“Don’t worry. We’re sharing a canoe.” She gave him a soft smile which just about fell off her face as she caught sight of what Billy was staring at.

For whatever reason, Rob was taking off his shirt. In full view.

It was even better than she’d remembered.

She gawked. Hell, it was hard not to when a man offered eye candy like that.

She tried to shoot a ‘don’t worry about me, just looking, not touching’ look to Dina should she get jealous. But for whatever reason, today, her body was responding to Rob’s half nakedness with a little cheerleading routine that expressed everything the naughty part of her brain was thinking. Mostly: Naked, naked, sex, sex. Jump him. Jump him. Now, now, nowwww.

Other than that, she was holding it together remarkably well.

Rob flicked a new T-shirt down over his firm stomach and the switch in Jen’s brain flipped off, allowing her to breathe and think again. “How long have you two known each other?” She struggled to sound relaxed and as though she was burning from pent-up desire.

Oh, hell. She probably just sounded as though she was trying to figure out if there was room for her to weasel her way in between the two of them.

Instead, Dina stuck her tongue out at Rob. “All my life.” She jabbed a thumb in his direction. “He’s older by three years. Brother,” she clarified.

Jen sagged against the bumper, relief and good humor dancing through her brain in a cacophony of beautiful chemicals. Siblings. They were siblings. Oh my god. She had a chance.

Well, maybe not a chance exactly. But at least she was back to square one, which felt way ahead of where she’d been five minutes ago.

She squinted at Dina, thinking of the application Rob had sent in. “But your last names are different.”

Rob looked sheepish. “I registered under her married name.”

Dina gave him a big shove. “He was trying to give me cold feet because he’s a monstrous loser.” She gave him another shove. “It’s because he doesn’t have a love life that will get Mom off his back. Little does he know I
love
using my future last name.”

Billy’s bag started ringing, and he excused himself from the group.

“Do you have siblings?” Dina asked, stepping away from Rob.

Jen shoved her hands into the pockets on her hiking pants. “Nope.”

“Our family is pretty close.” Dina reached over and gave her brother a playful ear tug.

“That means it’s impossible for them to mind their own business,” Rob said.

Dina sat on the bench in front of the back door and pulled out her phone. “I’m texting Mom that you’re picking on me.”

Rob stuck out his tongue again. “You started it.”

Jen, feeling out of place, resumed the van check she’d abandoned for the coffee. Air in tires, oil, crush on Rob back to higher than normal levels. Check, check, and check.

She opened the back doors to the van where her pack, the group’s food, paddles, and lifejackets were ready and waiting.

“Do your parents want to know every sordid detail of your life?” Rob asked, placing his pack in the back of the van, along with his sister’s.

“No,” Jen muttered, rearranging the packs even though they were fine as they were.

“Lucky.” Rob leaned against the back bumper, facing her. “Our mom is such an interrogator she knows everything about why I’m out here and yet she still thinks I’m hiding a secret girlfriend and that’s why I’m gone so much.” He crossed his arms and leaned toward her. “What’s your mom like?”