Okay, so maybe she couldn’t explain. What was she supposed to say? I’m sorry I lied about who I was, but you were so smoking hot that I literally forgot how to speak for a moment? Damn, damn, damn. “I’m sorry. I had a brain fart and—”
“Your brain fart has my boss calling and asking where the hell I am, so thanks for that, lady.”
He started to turn away from her and the blood rushed to Steph’s face as embarrassment washed over her.
“Hold on, Josh, let me make it up to you!” He was at the door to his truck and she followed him, trying desperately to get him to listen to her apology. “I’m sorry. I know it was stupid but—”
“But what?” he bit out, turning to face her and she had to slam on the brakes to keep from slamming into him. “But I am a nobody, so it didn’t matter what you said? But you were bored, so it was okay? Please, tell me what ‘but’ you came up with to make this okay.”
Her mouth went dry as she realized how right he was. There really was no “but” that she could give. “If you get into any serious trouble, please let me know. I wasn’t thinking and—”
“You see, if I were going to tell you if I got in trouble, that would imply that I was ever going to talk to you again. And I can’t afford to talk to people who don’t think. In my life, not thinking isn’t an option. So get back in your car and don’t think until you’re far away from Hope Falls. Got it?”
She took a step back and averted her gaze to the gravel lot. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something so reckless. In her family, she was always the reasonable one. The cautious one. And in one split second, she’d gone and outright lied to this guy, who was just trying to do his job. A job he loved from the sounds of it and she might have gotten him in trouble.
Instead of trying to apologize again, she weakly nodded as he pulled his door shut and slammed the truck into reverse. The gravel kicked up as he ripped out of the lot and she was literally left in the dust.
For a few minutes, she just stood there, feeling a mixture of guilt and self-pity. What was she supposed to do now? Keep on her soul-searching road trip? Go back home? Hope Falls obviously didn’t hold any hope for her. If anything, it was just a stark reminder that she didn’t really belong anywhere. She didn’t belong with good people like Josh. She didn’t belong with the craziness that surrounded her parents. She finally managed to move back to her car and behind the wheel. She left the parking lot a bit more carefully than Josh had and made her way back to the main highway. She could go left and head toward Lake Tahoe or right to Hope Falls.
Josh’s warning still rang in her ears. Leave Hope Falls. No. She didn’t really know what she was thinking as she turned right and headed toward the downtown section of Hope Falls. Maybe she was sick of running. Maybe she still wanted to try to find a way to make this up to Josh.
Or maybe, more probably, she just couldn’t convince herself to walk away from Josh Dooley quite yet.
~~~~~
Steph walked into JT’s Roadhouse and stopped as soon as she was inside to take in the sight. She normally didn’t stop at any kind of restaurant labeled “roadhouse” but this one had looked so charming from the outside she had to take her chances.
She was immediately relieved that it didn’t look totally divey inside. It was more charming and…lived in. There was a jukebox in the corner, with a bit of space in front of it as though tables had been moved aside to allow room for dancing. Around the middle of the room were maybe half a dozen square tables that sat four, and on the other end were a few pool tables. There were a few tables taken and a few people at the bar, both men and women, and they all looked rather respectable, making Steph feel less out of place.
Once she realized that she’d been standing still for too long, she walked farther in. There was no sign telling her whether she should seat herself, but the place was small enough that she figured any server would notice a newcomer, especially an out-of-towner like her. A tourist? She supposed that was what she was. She never felt like a tourist at any of the places she went, though. She felt like an intruder or outsider. A feeling not helped by the disaster of what had happened with Josh earlier that day.
She sat at the table and looked over the menu of bar food. She could practically feel her hips expanding as she looked over the comfort food options but her mouth drooled at the possibility. Even when the waitress came over, Steph managed to keep herself from ordering every burger on the menu.
“Hello, welcome to JT’s,” said the pretty waitress.
“Thanks.” Steph set the menu down.
“Did you want something to drink? And you look ready to order, but if you want some more time with the menu, just let me know.”
“A water and French onion soup would be perfect.” Steph smiled.
“No problem,” said the waitress without writing anything down before she strode confidently back to the bar. It didn’t look as though there were any more servers working but it was three p.m., kind of between the lunch and dinner rush, so she supposed that made sense. Stephanie had never actually worked any tedious jobs like retail or waitressing, but one of the charities she worked with held an event once a year and Steph volunteered as a server. What would Josh think of that? To get into that event, it was a thousand dollars a ticket. He probably would just get more annoyed at her antics if he knew. Poor little rich girl comes to the country to do soul searching.
It wasn’t as if she were super, super rich. Her friend, Willa Belli, had enough money to buy the entire town of Hope Falls. Well, she had been okay before her father’s murder had brought up some questionable dealings. Though when she’d stopped by to pay her respects, Willa had seemed okay with the fact that most of her father’s money might be tied up in criminal investigations. A lot of that serenity had to do with her former bodyguard turned boyfriend, James Weston. There had been an element of danger and unpredictability when she’d met the strange man who had seemed to take over her best friend’s life.
And she meant that in a good way. Willa and Steph had been inseparable before. The two of them, along with AJ, Steph’s twin brother, had been out clubbing and drinking every night. Now that Willa had James, she wasn’t nearly as much fun but she was so happy it was hard to be upset with the change. Compared to the disaster that was her family life, it was pretty nice to see love working out for someone.
Had that been why she’d been so stupid around Josh? Had she been so desperate for love that she’d made a fool out of herself?
“Here you go.”
Steph jumped as the waitress set down the water and then laughed at herself. “I’m sorry. I was a bit lost in thought.”
“Not sure how much I can help with that,” said the waitress. “But I’m really good with directions if you’re physically lost.” She winked.
Steph had to smile at her positive attitude. “I wish that was the problem.”
The waitress held out a hand. “Shelby. I own JT’s with my husband, Levi.”
Steph met her handshake. “Stephanie Cornell. Nice to meet you.”
“So are you staying in town or just passing through?”
“I was just passing through but I’m finding it hard to leave.”
“Mountain Ridge Outdoor Adventures has some nice cabins if you wanted to stay.”
Nope. She was going to have to rule out staying at the place Josh worked.
“And, I don’t want to sound too sales-y or anything, but Levi and I have a bed-and-breakfast out back and I had a cancellation literally ten minutes ago. So, you’re lost and I had an opening…it might be serendipity.”
“I—” Steph was about to find a nice way to turn down the offer, but she couldn’t. Sure, she’d planned to go onto Lake Tahoe, but something about this town seemed to be calling to her. Josh hadn’t been willing to listen to her apologies before, but he’d been angry. Maybe if she gave him some time, he’d be willing to let her make it up to him.
Because she wasn’t the type to make up stories like that. She wasn’t the type to use other people to get her kicks off or as a joke. She could apologize all she wanted, but if she truly wanted to make her guilt known, she couldn’t just run away with her tail between her legs. That’s what her parents would do. That’s what some rich debutante would do. But if she wanted to tell herself she was different, she would have to be different. “You know what, Shelby? I’d love to stay at your bed-and-breakfast.”
~~~~~
Josh had a long, stressful day and all he wanted was to drink a beer and relax. But when the woman of his wet nightmares took a seat next to him at the bar, he suddenly knew he wasn’t about to get what he wanted.
“Hi, Josh,” she said in a bright voice and with a cheerful smile.
“You have to be kidding me.”
“No joke, sorry.” She then raised her hand to signal Levi. “Can you get him a second of whatever he’s drinking? On me.”
“Don’t.” Josh gave Levi a warning glance.
Levi Dorsey, the large tattooed owner of JT’s, eyed the two of them as he seemed to judge who he was going to listen to. Then he pointed to the woman. “Tenants win.”
Mother— “Tenant?” Josh turned to glare at the woman.
“Tenant,” she confirmed. “I’m staying at the charming Mountain Meadows Bed and Breakfast out back. It’s adorable. Stephanie, by the way. Steph, if you want.”
“I don’t want,” he lied as he took a deep swig of beer.
She ignored him and continued, “So, I was thinking.”
“Please don’t.”
“I was stupid this morning and I told you I was going to work for your employer when obviously that was a lie. So I think the only way for me to really make it up to you is if I actually work for you.”
Josh frowned as he tried to figure out what the hell she was talking about. “Work for me?”
“Sure. What do you need done? I can clean your place. Wash your car. Paint a fence, Tom Sawyer-style. Name it and I’ll do it.”
“I know what you can do,” he muttered. She leaned in closer. “Leave me alone.”
Levi came over with another beer at that moment and set it down. “He treating you okay?”
“Me?” said Josh. “This woman is harassing me.”
Stephanie smiled sweetly up at Levi and Josh had a feeling that this girl got whatever she wanted on a regular basis. Hell, he was in trouble.
“If you need help, scream. I’ll send Shelby to rescue you,” said Levi sarcastically to Josh.
“Your support is appreciated,” said Josh dryly.
“Thank you,” said Stephanie as Levi walked away. “Now, come on. Tell me a time and place and I’ll be there. And don’t bother lying to me because it’s a small town and I will find you one way or another. I’ll just tell people I’m your girlfriend.”
“You really like lying, don’t you?”
“These are apology lies. That’s different.”
“Why is your apology so annoying?”
“Because you’re being difficult. Come on. I did something wrong. I admit that. Now if I were some entitled rich girl, which I am, I would just walk away and forget anything ever happened. But I don’t want to do that. I want to face the consequences. How can I do that if you won’t give me any consequences? Come on. I’ve been bad. Punish me.”
He was about to take a drink but he stopped with the beer just an inch from his lips as he glanced over to her. He honestly thought she hadn’t meant it to come out that way because her cheeks turned a bright red and she was pressing her lips shut.
“I mean…”
“I don’t think the innocent Levi and Shelby renovated Mountain Meadows for that,” he said.
The corner of her mouth tugged up. “Josh, I wasn’t trying to throw myself—”
“No, no. I get it. You want to be taught a lesson in private.” He didn’t think it was possible but her cheeks got even redder.
“You’re embarrassing me on purpose,” she accused.
She wasn’t wrong. “You’re cute when you blush.”
Her blue eyes widened and he glanced away as he finally took another drink of beer. She didn’t need to look any cuter. She was already damn adorable and this whole ignoring her thing would go much better if he wasn’t telling her how cute she was. “Now go away,” he added for good measure.
Stephanie leaned in closer until her arm touched his and Josh hoped she didn’t feel him stiffen. He especially hoped she didn’t realize all the parts of him that stiffened. For fuck’s sake, it was an arm. He was better than this.
“Josh,” she said in a serious tone. “I don’t want to bore you with what’s going on back home, but this morning wasn’t about you. I wasn’t playing a prank or giggling in my head. I have some problems back at home and I just jumped at the chance to be someone else for a moment. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble or cause you any pain. It was all a stupid mistake.”
He really wanted to be mad at her but he believed every word she said. “Listen, don’t worry about it. I didn’t get in trouble. I told Justin that some annoying tourist pulled me aside while I was restocking the bags and he was fine with it.” It was the truth, too, even if it felt like it was more than that.
She had lied to him, but it had only lasted for a few minutes. He knew the real reason he was so upset was because, for those few minutes they’d walked together, he’d liked her. And he hadn’t liked anyone like that, no matter how illogical, for a long damn time. He hadn’t been upset that she’d lied to him. He’d been upset that he couldn’t have her.
“Well, I’ll be in town for a little bit and I’m still more than willing to make it up to you.”
Josh debated whether he was losing his mind or not, but he decided to go for it. “Do you want to get dinner? Not to make up for what happened but just because.”
“I, uh…”
He’d caught her off guard and he knew she was trying to find a nice way to turn him down. Well, great.
“Don’t worry about it. It was nice meeting you, Steph.”
He started to push away from the bar, but she reached out and set her hand on his arm. “Josh, I…I want to. I do. But I’m only here for a few days and I don’t know what would happen if we went out. Like, I would either have a horrible time and wish I never went. Or I would have a great time and then have to leave you in a few days and both of those options kind of suck.”
He nodded. “It was nice meeting you.” He knew he was leaving a perfectly good beer on the bar, but he couldn’t be next to her for one more second without doing something he would regret. He refused to look back at her as he made his way out of the bar and toward his truck.
He was just pulling the door open when he heard the footsteps behind him. It was her. He didn’t know how he already learned what her footsteps sounded like, but he knew.
No. He wasn’t going to continue this back-and-forth any more. If she wanted to hang around town, fine, but she was going to have to do it far away from him. He turned around to tell her that, but she was right there, cupping his face with her hands and standing on tiptoe to press her lips against his.
The pure shock value of the kiss had him standing still as the kiss started. It took a few seconds for his body to realize that he had the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen pressing herself against him.
Josh tilted his head to get better access to her lips, which parted for him, and his hands rested at the curve of her hips. To keep himself from going further than he should in the middle of JT’s parking lot, he fisted his fingers in the soft fabric of her shirt and pulled her tightly against him. His rock-hard erection pressed firmly against her stomach, and she let out a little moan that made him half crazy. He fell against the truck, pulling her with him as he deepened the kiss and pressed his tongue deeper into her mouth, imitating what other parts of him wanted to do to her.
A car started to pull into the lot and Steph pulled away. She ran a hand over her mouth and he tried to figure out what the hell happened. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
“I don’t think you need to apologize for anything right now,” he said, still a little breathless. Come on, he told himself. You’re not in high school any more.
“I don’t mean to give mixed signals. I just have no idea what I want.”
Well, she was alone in that because right now he knew exactly what he wanted. “My place is only a few miles away,” he offered.
“No!” she said immediately. This time he wasn’t nearly as hurt as when she turned down the date. Because now he knew without a doubt that she wanted him. Even if everything about them had been dysfunctional so far, he was so damned happy about that kiss he didn’t care about much else.
“I don’t—I’ve never slept with a guy I’ve just met before. You’re…”
“Different,” he offered. He felt the exact same way about her.
“Something like that.”
“So you don’t want anything serious,” he said. “And you don’t sleep around.”
“Yeah.”
This would be a good time to excuse himself from this whole thing. She was way more complicated than he wanted right now and he didn’t really know what he wanted, either. He had a feeling he would be happy with whatever she was willing to offer and that was new for him. But, as was now par for the course when dealing with Steph, he didn’t do the logical thing and end things right then and there. Instead, he said, “Why don’t I show you around Mountain Ridge tomorrow?”
She frowned. “Like a date?”
“Well, if I say it’s a date you’re going to run for the hills. Probably literally just take off running down Main Street.” He pointed to the road.
She smiled. “You might not be wrong… Don’t you have to work?”
“I’ll get the day off.” It would be a pain to move the schedule around last minute, but enough people owed him favors that it wouldn’t be impossible. “A private tour of Mountain Ridge by an expert. Not everyone gets this opportunity. You’ll be VIP.”
She raised a brow and he knew he had her. “A VIP non-date? Okay. Yeah. Sure. When do you want to do this? Want to give me your number?”
“Ten a.m. tomorrow, where we met. And I’m not going to give you my number because you’re going to wimp out and cancel on me if I do. And you’re already too guilty to stand me up.”
Her cheeks flushed again.
Damn, he loved how easy it was to make her blush. It might be his new goal in life to get those cheeks red as much as possible. Either through embarrassment or…
“You’re a smart man, Josh Dooley. I will see you tomorrow,” she said as she backed away, heading back to the bar.
Tomorrow. He had a non-date. Well, hell, this day had started weird and just got stranger and stranger.