Breathlessly, I plead, “Take a ride with me, Faith. Give me one night to thrill you—body, mind, and soul. You’ll have the rest of your life to repent.”
“Really?” Her eyebrows fly sky-high, and I realize the error in my dumbass words too late. I take a step back because she looks like she might slap me.
“Spend the rest of my life repenting? Seriously, Trav? You need some better Christian girl pickup lines. See, that right there is why we need to stay friends. You’re trouble, and I know better.”
“Stay friends after a kiss like that? You’ve got to be crazy.”
“And so are you if you think I’m about to do something with you that requires me to spend ‘the rest of my life repenting.’” She puts the last part of the phrase in air quotes as I kick myself for my unfiltered mouth. Damn, I say the stupidest shit sometimes. “Now, I’ve got to go back into the feed store and lock up. Thank you again for your help and have a good night.”
I can sure see that fire in her eyes now, although I’m not a fan of having its ferocious heat laser-focused in my direction. I watch her curvy ass bob back into the store wondering if I’ll ever get another chance to put my hands on her. Fuck, I make a terrible lovesick fool.
Chapter Four
FAITH
Jess sits in a booth at the Silver Fork, and I rush over to hug her before taking a seat. She always looks impeccably pulled together with her blond hair in perfect curls and her nails done. No wonder Logan, Travis’s older brother married her. He’s eleven years older than her, but they make the most adorable couple, the kind that you swear are soulmates.
Today, she wears a mint-and-floral-printed sundress with a white shrug, and the color of the dress perfectly matches her eyes. She puts her rose-gold MacBook back in her matching laptop bag, saying, “I’m so excited to catch up. It’s been forever.”
“Way too long,” I reply feeling a little guilty. Now that Travis and I aren’t hanging out anymore, I have a lot more free time in the evenings.
It’s been great for catching up with friends, and it’s also put in perspective how much time Trav and I used to spend together. I miss him more than I care to admit.
“Have you figured out what you’re having, yet?”
She licks her ample pink lips as her eyes rove over themenu. “The Apple Spice Crumb Cake for sure. I don’t know. Can we start with dessert?”
“I don’t see why not,” I reply, knowing exactly what I’ll have. “In that case, I have to go with the famous Black Forest Cake.”
Jess scrunches her nose.
“Not your thing?”
She shakes her head emphatically, replying, “I’m a no-go when it comes to cooked cherries. Fresh I can stand. But something about cooking them and leaving the skin on makes the texture all wrong.”
“You’re a weirdo.”
“I can’t believe it took you so long to figure that out,” she teases.
“Well, not all of us can be award-winning investigative reporters for theChronicle.”
She brushes my comment away like it’s nothing, but there’s plenty of truth in my words. Not only is Jess an exceptional judge of character, but she also listens with an intensity unmatched by anyone else I’ve ever talked to except Travis. She’s highly detail-oriented and a deep thinker, although people often underestimate her, thanks to her modern-day blond bombshell vibe.
“So, how have things been?” she asks, and I have to stop and really think about the question for a moment.
I open my mouth to answer when an obnoxious female voice cuts me off. I don’t have to look to know who it is: Selma Butterfield. “Faith and Jess, how are you two doing?”
Honest to God, Jess’s first reaction is to ignore her. But my years of people pleasing and customer service-oriented work kick in, and I say reflexively, “How are you?”
“Fine, just fine.”
We stare at each other, and I know my eyes dish upplenty of venom. She’s one of the many local girls who fawn over Travis, and it annoys me to no end.
Jess continues looking at me and acting like Selma isn’t there. I wish I could be more like her. Maybe Travis is right about me caring too much about what others think.
“Haven’t seen that hunky firefighter hanging around your feed store lately. Guess he finally got bored with you and realized this town has a lot more interesting things to offer him.”
I frown, taken aback by her words. But she picked the wrong table to mess with. Jess is finally paying her attention, and I can tell by the look on her face, Selma’s about to regret it.
