Ignite (Cloverleigh Farms #6)(44)

“But I don’t love you.”

She burst out laughing. “I don’t love you either.”

“Good. Now stay off my patio or else.”

She blew me a kiss and disappeared inside.

I stood there for a moment, listening to my heart thump a little louder than it should.

Grabbing the empty beer bottle from the ground, I smiled as I remembered the way she’d taken it from me and climbed onto my lap.

She was trouble, all right.

But nothing I couldn’t handle.





Thirteen





Winnie





“You’re in a good mood today.” My sister Millie’s voice was pleasant but slightly suspicious.

Seated across from her at her desk, I looked up from the notes I was taking about a wedding we’d just booked. “What makes you say that?”

“You keep humming.”

“I do?”

“Yes. At least I think it’s humming—with you it’s hard to tell.”

“Very funny.” My awful singing was a running joke in our family. I was completely tone-deaf and had a voice like a squeaky door hinge.

Millie eyeballed me curiously as she took a sip of coffee. “So what’s up?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly, dropping my eyes to the list of vendors I was compiling. “Hey, what do you think about suggesting Cece Carswell as videographer? The bride said she wanted a more cinematic feel, maybe not perfectly linear.”

“I think she’d be a great fit.”

“Cool. I’ll send the bride her contact info.” I stood up to leave, but Millie held up a finger.

“Not so fast. Something is going on with you and I want to know what it is. You are not a hummer.”

“I hum,” I said. “It’s off-key and terrible, but I hum. Everyone hums.”

“I know you, Winifred MacAllister. Out with it.”

Sighing, I dropped into the chair again. “Okay, but don’t get all crazy about this. It’s not a big deal.”

“What’s not a big deal?”

“What I did last night.”

Her eyes went wide just as someone rapped on her open office door.

“Knock, knock,” Ellie said as she walked in. “There you are. I just saw your dad in the main office and he said you were over here.”

“We’re just finishing up,” Millie said. “Come in and take a seat. Winnie is about to tell us what she did last night.”

Ellie raced for the other chair across from Millie’s desk, vaulted it, and dropped onto the seat. “Oh, I am here for this. Did you seduce the older man?”

“What older man?” Millie squealed.

“The hot single dad that moved in next door to her last weekend,” Ellie announced breathlessly. “He’s going to be her neighbor-with-benefits while she’s on a break from relationships.”

Millie set her mug down with a thud. “Wait, what about the bet? Doesn’t that mean she lost?”

Ellie shrugged. “I sort of gave her a hall pass for this guy.”

“That was nice of you.”

“Well, she deserved it after what she went through with Merrick. And she understands that this is strictly a sex thing. No feelings allowed.”

“Are you going to tell the story or am I?” I asked impatiently.

“You.” She crossed her legs, parked her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand. “Tell us everything.”

“Well, when I got home from your house last night and went out to the patio to water my plants, he was out there having a beer.”

Ellie’s eyes lit up. “Nice move with the plants.”

“Thank you, I thought so too.” I tucked my hair behind my ears. “So he’d bought some furniture for his patio, and he invited me to come over and try out his new chairs . . .” I paused. “Long story short, I sat on his lap instead, just as you suggested.”

Ellie clapped her hands. “And then?”

“Then we went inside and things happened.”

“In his bedroom?”

“Uh, no.” I laughed, shaking my head. “We only made it about three feet inside the door.”

“Oh my,” Ellie said appreciatively. “So how was it?”

“Hot.”

“How hot?”

“He threw me down and ripped my dress.”

“Oh my God!” Ellie’s jaw dropped. “Your grumpy old man crush is a beast.”

“He’s not a total beast—he sewed up the rip afterward.”

Millie, who’d been stunned silent this whole time, made a T with her hands. “Wait a minute, wait a minute. Time out. Who is this guy?”

“He’s my new neighbor,” I said. “He moved in last Saturday.”

“Why is he grumpy?”

“He’s not always grumpy. He just . . . looks serious a lot. He has a resting grump face.”

“And he’s old?”

“He’s thirty-four,” I said. “He graduated with Chip—they were good friends in high school.”

Recognition flickered on her face. “Is this the guy who was at Chip and Mariah’s engagement party? The one with the two little girls?”