No matter what time Will Abbott arrived in the office, and he was a fairly early riser, their office manager, Mary, was always there first. He was convinced after years of trying to beat her to work that she had some sort of monitoring device on him to tell her when he was on his way so she could get there first.
Today was no exception.
“Honestly, Mary, how do you do it?”
After years of answering that question, she said the same thing she always did. “I’ll never tell.” She’d worked for the Abbott family business for more than thirty years and was one of their most valued employees—and a good friend to all of them.
“I’m going to figure it out one of these days.”
“Keep trying. There was a message from Hunter on my voicemail. He’s not coming in today.”
That news stopped Will in his tracks. “What did he say?”
“Just that he won’t be in today.”
“And nothing else?”
“Nothing else. Oh, and this came from Nina across the street.” She handed him a big white envelope. “She said it’s the paperwork Hunter requested about the diner’s financial status. Could you put it on his desk for me?”
“Why is Hunter inquiring about the diner’s financial status?”
“How would I know? You did hear it’s for sale though, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but he didn’t say anything to the rest of us about buying it.”
“Perhaps he’s only looking into it at this point.”
“Maybe.”
Will put the paperwork on Hunter’s desk and went into his own office to prepare for a meeting with a new cheese supplier who was coming in to talk with him this morning. They were expanding their Vermont Made line in anticipation of the website going live by the end of the year.
Charley appeared at his door an hour later, looking grumpy as always first thing in the morning. “You got a minute?”
“Uh-huh.” Will looked up from the information the supplier had sent him. “What’s up?”
Charley came in and dropped into Cameron’s chair, sucking down a huge sip of her coffee. “This thing with Hunter and Megan. What do you think of it?”
“I think it’s great. He’s been into her for a long time.”
“But wasn’t she into you until very recently?”
“She had a thing for me, but there was never anything to it. She’s moved on.”
“To our brother. That doesn’t worry you at all?”
“Why would it worry me?”
“Because you don’t want to see him get hurt by a woman who might be using him to get to you?”
“How is she going to ‘get to me’? It’s quite apparent to anyone and everyone who knows me that I’m off the market.”
“Who knows what she’s thinking? It wouldn’t be unheard of for a woman to use one man to get closer to another.”
“You’re not giving him enough credit, Charl. He’s no fool.”
“I was in high school with her—a year ahead of her, but I knew her. I was dating this guy for a while, but he dumped me for her because I wouldn’t sleep with him and she would.”
“So we’re going to hold something against her that happened more than ten years ago?”
“I’m just saying … We should keep an eye on her and make sure she’s not using him or something.”
“I get that you’re worried about him, and I’m sure he’d appreciate the concern, but you need to stay out of it. He’s a grown man who knows what he wants. If he’s found it with her, leave him alone. And leave her alone, too.”
“You don’t need to be so bitchy about it,” she said.
Pot, meet kettle, Will thought, but kept the thought to himself. “I’m not being bitchy. I’m just saying it’s none of our business.”
“Since when? Why does he get a free pass when everyone else’s business is fair game around here?”
“I’m not saying give him a free pass. Feel free to bust his balls to your heart’s content, but don’t drag up shit from ten years ago when we were all young and stupid to plant doubts in his mind that he doesn’t need right now. That’s all I’m saying.”
“You’ve gone soft.”
“Someday it might happen to you, too.”
“Doubtful,” she said disdainfully.
“I pity the fool who has the good fortune to fall for you,” Will said with a teasing grin.
“He’d have to be a fool.”
Will laughed. “Go away and let me work, and keep your nose out of Hunter’s business.”
“Does he know you’ve appointed yourself his guard dog?”
“I’m nobody’s guard dog, but I’ve been where he is right now. It’s hard enough to navigate a new relationship without everyone scrutinizing your every move.”
“He’s going to bring on his own scrutiny. He’s late again.”
“He’s not coming in today. He left a message for Mary.”
Charley’s mouth fell open. “He actually called out of work? Hunter Abbott. Our brother?”
“The one and only.”
“And Megan wasn’t at the diner when I stopped for coffee. Holy shit! This is a four-alarm scandal!”
“No, it isn’t, Charley.”
“Get real. In Butler, this counts as headline news, and you know it. I love how he called Mary when he knew she wouldn’t be here, rather than having to talk to one of us.”
“Can you blame him? He’s never called out before, so he probably didn’t even know what to do.”
“He knew exactly what he was doing,” Charley said.
“Who knew what they were doing?” Lincoln asked as he joined them, dogs in tow and coffee in hand.
“Hunter called out for the day,” Charley said.
Lincoln’s face showed a moment of delight that he quickly curbed. “Did he now?”
“And Megan’s not at the diner,” Charley added with a salacious smile.
“Really. Well … That’s interesting.”
Charley pounced. “Right? That’s what I’m trying to tell Will.”
“And I’m trying to tell her to relax and leave him alone,” Will said.
“Not a bad idea,” Lincoln said. “You might want to take your brother’s advice.”
Charley rolled her eyes in a way that encompassed them both. “Whatever.” She left the office, probably headed to find someone more willing to gossip about Hunter than Will and their father were.
“How about that?” Lincoln asked when he was alone with Will.
“Not you, too.”
“I’m happy for him. It’s about time he did something about his feelings for Megan.”
“I’m happy for him, too. So happy for him I plan to leave him alone so he can enjoy it without all of us bugging him.”
“You’ve become wise in your old age, William.”
“Whatever you say. Let me ask you—what’s up with Hunter looking into buying the diner? How can we swing that on top of the website and the new acreage?”
Lincoln bent to scratch Ringo behind the ears. “He’s looking into buying the diner? That’s news to me.”
“Look me in the eye and say that.”
“Say what?”
Exasperated, Will said, “I don’t believe for a minute that you know nothing about this. What’re you up to now?”
“I’m not up to anything. Have you also become suspicious in your old age?”
“I have good reason to be. You’ve been like a matchmaking fool lately, thinking we don’t know what you’re up to.”
“Again I have to say I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Again I have to say look me in the eye when you say that.”
“You’re being suspicious when there’s no place for suspicion. We’ll let Hunter clear this up for us when he comes back tomorrow. Until then, no point speculating.”
“Right,” Will said. “No point.”
“Got to get to work.” Lincoln scooted out of the office with Ringo and George in hot pursuit.
Will had barely returned his attention to the information about the cheese vendor when Cameron came rushing in, coffee in hand. They never had gotten around to finding her an office of her own. Why bother when he was more than happy to share his space with her? Every time he laid eyes on her, he fell more deeply in love with her. Today was no exception.
“Megan was a no-show at the diner this morning,” Cameron reported, her eyes big and her smile even bigger. “Where is Hunter?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Shut the front door! Are you serious? He’s a no-show, too?”
“You heard it here first.”
“Oh my God! This is fantastic news!”
“You really think so? After the way she treated you?”
Cameron waved a hand. “What do I care? She was sad to lose out on a chance with you, and after having a chance with you, I can’t say I blame her.”
“Shut the door and come here.”
The small private smile she reserved just for him was one of his favorites. She closed the door and came around the desk, stepping between his legs. “Yes?”
Will held out his arms to her.
She put the coffee cup on the desk and came down on his lap, curling her arms around his neck. “What can I do for you?”
“This.” With one hand cupping her sweet ass, he kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in a year, as if he hadn’t woken up with her that morning and engaged in slow, sexy morning lovemaking before leaving her to sleep a little longer while he got an early start.
“Mmm,” she said against his lips. “What brought this on?”
“I missed you.”
“For the one hour you were away from me?”
“I miss you when I’m away from you for one minute.”
“You’ve got a bad case, Mr. Abbott.”
“You bet I do, and it’s all your fault.”
She nuzzled his neck and kissed the spot below his ear that made him rock-hard every time, as she well knew.
“Cameron. It’s not nice to do that to me here.”
“I hate to point out that you started it.”
“You started it by crashing into our moose and making me fall in love with you.”
She giggled softly. “Let’s blame it on Fred.”
“It really is his fault.”
“Thank God for Fred,” she said with a sigh.
He tightened his hold on her. “I keep thinking it’s not possible for anything to feel as good as I do when I’m with you.”
“I have the same thoughts.”
“No regrets about moving away from your life in the city to live with me?”
She raised her head off his shoulder to meet his gaze. “Not one single regret. Best thing I ever did.”
“Yes, it was.”
“We need to work so we can get through the day and go home together.”
Will groaned with agony over the hours that stretched out ahead of them before they could truly be alone—or as alone as they ever were with his dogs, Trevor and Tanner, underfoot. “How about a nooner?”
She squirmed on his lap, making him groan for a whole other reason. “That could be arranged.”
“I’ll never make it until then.”
“Be strong.” She laid a kiss on him that made him want to beg for mercy—and a time machine that would make it noon right now. Then she got up and moved to her chair on the other side of his desk, pulling her laptop from the messenger bag that went everywhere with her.
She switched into work mode effortlessly while he was still firmly stuck in I-want-sex-and-I-want-it-now mode. “Get to work, Will,” she said without taking her eyes off the laptop screen.
“I’d rather watch you work.”
“You need to get ready for your meeting with the cheese lady.”
“I’m far more prepared for my meeting with you.”
She bit her lip to hold back a smile. “Work now, William. Play later.”
“Life isn’t fair,” he muttered as he forced his attention back to the prospectus from the cheese lady. Despite his protestations to the contrary, he was finding life to be exceptionally fair lately—and sweeter than he ever could’ve imagined. He couldn’t wait to ask Cameron to marry him, but first he had an important phone call to make. The thought of that call curbed what was left of his libido and filled him with an unreasonable amount of anxiety.