As day two of the Gadfly Festival drew to a close, I looked over at Chase swaying to the slow jazzy folk beat, and felt that odd fluttering in my chest. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he’d done this for me. Gadfly was my favorite festival because Gran and I used to go every year. An old hippie at heart, she loved getting away from town and embracing nature with like-minded people who enjoyed drum circles and naked lake diving. I hadn’t been in a couple years, only once since Gran died and it hadn’t been the same. My boyfriend at the time, Graham, had come with me and he’d made everything worse by mocking the people and the music, complaining about the amenities or lack thereof. Basically, he’d made being there more painful than Gran’s absence had.

So, I stopped coming. But now I regretted the years I missed that I wouldn’t be able to get back.

Chase had more than made up for it, in fact he had gone above and beyond the call of what a fake fiancé was expected to do. He’d kicked off his hiking boots and thick socks to join in on the slightly muddy drum circle, smiling the whole time, and it had been Chase who stripped down first and cannonballed into the icy lake. We napped under the stars, bodies curled together perfectly. It had been one of the best nights I’d had since Gran died.

Even now, just sitting around the fire beside Chase, the darkness of the thick, dense trees all around us providing an air of privacy we didn’t have. Ayre and a few others played a slow, somber version of Free Bird, and for the first time in ages I felt free. Completely free and unencumbered by responsibilities, obligations and adulthood. In this moment I was enjoying the company of good people with a really good man at my side.

Even if he wasn’t mine to keep. The day had me so filled with happiness, with contentment, that I ignored the warning bells clanging in my head. There would be plenty of time later to worry about my growing feelings. For now, I just wanted to enjoy this weekend. I want Gadfly to mean what it used to mean to me.

“You okay,” Chase whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

I turned and looked up into those blue eyes, smiling at me the way they had when we were kids. Bemusement. “I’m great, actually. This was…bringing me here means a lot to me, Chase, Thank you.”

He blinked, surprised. “You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.” He grabbed my hand and kissed my wrist in an intimate and unexpected gesture. “It has been weird, but fun.”

In that moment the warning bells stopped, knowing it was pointless because the trouble that had been worrying me had arrived in full force, making me feel like I used to around Chase. When we would talk for hours in the backyard I felt a fluttering in my stomach, giddy being so close to him. Excited by the way he made me feel, and later horny. Even now, I squeezed my legs together to stop the throbbing at the center. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. This place is special to me.”

He gave me a look I couldn’t quite decipher so I turned my gaze back to the fire and leaned my head on his shoulder while the music turned to something a bit more upbeat and folksy. The night drew on and the little bubble we were trapped in had me completely enthralled, lost in the moment, knowing this was all fleeting but throwing myself into the fire anyway. After a while though, the night turned chilly and Chase stood. “Ready to turn in?”

I nodded, though sleep was the last thing I had on my mind, especially when he stopped and pushed me against a tree, slamming his mouth against mine and kissing me until my knees trembled, my core dripped and he held me tight enough to bruise. “More of that.”

He laughed, grabbed my hand and pulled me along until we stood in front of our big blue tent. “You’re bossy.”

I shrugged. “It’s a byproduct of being your own boss. Come see me in six months and you’ll be the same.” I froze at my own words, noticing he did too but only for a fraction of a moment. In six months he would have to come see me because he wouldn’t be part of my life anymore. Eager to get over the awkwardness, I unzipped the nylon and crawled inside, sitting cross-legged in my long paisley maxi dress as I removed the sweater to ward off the cool night air.

“I can’t get over how tiny this thing is,” he said as he crawled in and did his best to undress in the small space.

“Haven’t you spent the past decade living in a tent?”

He barked out a laugh as he lay flat on his back, struggling with his pants. “No. Mostly I stayed in hotels and explored the local area. The times I did stay in a tent, I didn’t share it.”

He looked so adorably sexy as he grew breathless trying to remove his still slightly damp jeans. Taking advantage of the situation I crawled up his long legs and straddled his hips, helping him with his button fly. “Rule one of camping, don’t wear button fly jeans,” I told him and tugged the damp denim over his hips, down his legs before hanging them on the small metal bar just outside the tent. “That’s better.”

His hands rested on my hips, his mouth curved into a smile. “What’s rule two?”

“Rule two,” I began slowly, lifting my dress over my head and tossing it aside, “is that we must be quiet.” Unable to wait another minute longer, I kissed him again. It was long and slow, a slow burn that our bodies stoked until it was a full inferno, threatening to destroy everything in its wake just for the privilege to burn. My hips began to swirl against the long column of flesh growing between my thighs, our breathing was thick and shallow in the small tent. “Rule three,” I panted. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

He looked at me with a shaky grin. “Here? There’s a tent like ten feet away.”

I looked at him with a serious expression. “I refer you to rule two.” He laughed, but it died on his lips as I hovered above him and removed his still slightly damp boxer briefs, wrapping both hands around his smooth, hard erection. “I want you, Chase. Right here. Right now.” And because I was too far gone to listen to reason, to listen to the warning my brain was trying to send me, I leaned forward to cut off his words with another kiss, this time it was hungry and raw. Hot and intense, and I wanted more. More.

Hell, I wanted everything.

“You have me,” he bit out on a half-groan.

If only that were true. But thoughts like that were for the long drive home tomorrow, not tonight. Tonight was for lovers, and that’s exactly what we were.

That’s all we were.

Our bodies collided in a heated frenzy that made the air in the tent thick with desire. His big hands gripped my hips and lifted me while I fisted him in my hand before he slid me down his long, hard length. “Chase,” I groaned.

“Rule two,” he whispered with a hint of smug satisfaction, still holding my hips as he pushed in shallow strokes that drove me wild and made it hard to keep quiet. Over and over he pushed into me, the hot thick drag and slide deep made me tremble, made it hard to stay upright. Chase must have read my mind because he quickly took charge, flipping our positions so we were chest and chest as he tortured me with long, slow, deep thrusts.

“Chase,” I moaned and sank my teeth into his shoulder as his hips moved faster and harder. It was slow and intense but sweet too. It felt meaningful and intimate, more intimate than it should for two people who were just having sex. I opened my eyes and found him smiling down at me with so much affection that my heart skidded to a stop and tried to leap out of my chest and offer itself to Chase. I was in trouble. Between the way he was looking at me and what he was doing to my body, that thought I’d been avoiding for weeks now, maybe days, was pushing its way to the surface.

As the pressure and the pleasure built, those blue eyes held me captive and I knew without a doubt that I was in love with Chase Donovan. Again. But as my body tensed and fluttered, I knew this wasn’t some teenage crush or schoolgirl puppy love. This was the real thing. Real, grownup, feel it down to my bones, love. “Kenz, babe,” he growled as his hips moved faster and faster.

“Yes, Chase. Yes.” And then I flew apart, his name spilling from my lips like a prayer, and like always, Chase was there to cover my mouth, swallowing my cries of pleasure as his own orgasm swamped him.

“Fuck, Kenzi! Babe.” He looked at me like he didn’t recognize me, and smiled. Then he kissed me again, long and hard and slow, until our bodies slowly came down, exhausted and sated. He rolled onto his back and pulled me into the crook of his arm. “You wicked woman, I’m pretty sure you’ve cast a spell over me.”

I laughed. “I think it’s this place,” I told him even though I knew that wasn’t the full truth.

The truth was that I’d fallen in love with my childhood crush, the boy next door. My fake fiancé.

* * *

A few days later and I still hadn’t shaken the shock over falling in love with Chase all over again. It made me jumpy and put me on edge, had me short with my employees and stressing over things that I normally handled with ease. In short, I was a mess. “And not at all ready to climb out of this bed.”

But I did. A quick shower and a simple outfit of jeans and an Organics by O’Brien tee, and I was ready for the day. Mostly. I gathered my long hair into a loose ponytail and went in search of coffee. Chase wasn’t in bed so I could only hope that he’d put the pot on, because I really needed caffeine to make it through another day at my shop.

But there was no coffee and no Chase. The coffee simply hadn’t been made, and Chase, he was pacing the length of the backyard and running a stressed hand through his hair. He was talking on the phone but I couldn’t hear any details, and since there was no coffee in my system yet, I didn’t really care.

Searching for the beans, I poured them in the grinder and went to flip the switch just as my phone vibrated on the counter. “This is Kenzi.”

“Ms. O’Brien, my name is Matilda Baker and I’m Mr. Phillips assistant. I’m calling to invite you and your fiancé to dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Phillips next Monday evening.” My breath hitched at her words. Farmer Frank was within arm’s reach.

“Next Monday works just fine Ms. Baker. Is there anything Mr. Phillips would like me to bring?”

“No,” she said with a smile in her voice. “Just you and your intended. He’s already well aware of your products, which are great by the way,” she whispered as though she shouldn’t be saying such things. “Think of this dinner as a way for him to get to know you, beyond the business.”

Great. So, in the end he was just like Peter Sterling, using his personal beliefs to dictate the way the rest of us behaved. “Sounds great, Ms. Baker. Thank you very much.” She rattled off an address and a time before disconnecting the call. I should have felt relief or excitement, or something other than the indifference coursing through me.

Maybe I just needed coffee. But a part of me thought that maybe I just should be happy with what I have now. My business made a good profit every year, but when you wanted more, then you had to play the stupid corporate games that people forced on you. Right now, I was really regretting my ambition.

Still, this was my path and I was determined to see it through to the end. Which meant I needed to tell Chase, who still paced in the yard. I couldn’t hear any specifics, but his tone said he was unhappy or maybe unsure.

First, coffee.

With the pot now dripping, I edged closer to the door so I could tell Chase to keep Monday clear, and I caught a few snippets of his conversation. He spoke to someone called Tom and he’d mentioned Colombia several times. That’s when I knew I didn’t need to hear more. I could have eavesdropped and gotten all the information I could, but I didn’t want to because I knew.

Chase was leaving.

Again.

Despite his promises, despite all the effort he’d gone through to purchase that land from Sterling, he was leaving. For Colombia.

I knew he would leave and that only made me hate myself for ignoring good sense. For allowing Chase to leave me dick-matized to the point I let the truth escape my mind. He was a traveler. A wanderer. Those kinds of people didn’t settle down unless they had a good reason, and clearly I wasn’t a good enough reason, which wasn’t even fair since he had no clue I’d fallen for him.

I would never learn, clearly.

Which meant I needed to get out of here. Yep, I was fleeing my own house just to get away from my feelings and the man who’d inspired them. But, like a coward, I poured my coffee into a to go cup and went to start my day early.

Luckily the store kept me too busy to think about anything but sales and inventory, as tourists flooded the town to take advantage of the nice weather and all the outdoor activities Truly had to offer. But as the day wore on, more and more townspeople came into the shop. Not for the mini muffins or the sale on skin scrubs, nope they all showed up to ask about the sign for Adventure Chasers, which of course, I knew fuck all about. But as soon as there was a free moment in the store, I turned to Emily, my friend who also worked at the shop part-time three afternoons a week when her little boy was with her ex’s parents.

She shrugged, but before she could answer the one person I didn’t want to see walked into my shop. “He put up a COMING SOON sign on the old Sterling property. I’m surprised you didn’t know,” Amber said with far more delight than was necessary given the mundane news.

“And you know in Truly, that counts as big news,” Emily said in air quotes that I fully understood.

I turned to Amber, unwilling to play her silly games today. “Was there something you needed in here or did you come in here just to be a bitch?”

She sucked in a breath of surprise at my harsh words because she always made catty comments and I rarely responded. But she always wore that innocent expression that worked so well on most of the town. Everyone just thought she was an absolute sweetheart.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t give me that crap. You do your best to make sure I know you don’t like me, but guess what Amber? I don’t give a shit. So, if you didn’t come in here to buy something, leave.” She stared at me and I stared right back. Today wasn’t the day I backed down, not again.

She relented first. “I just thought, you know, because our men are friends.”

I cut her off. “No, you didn’t, so please, cut the shit. This is the first time you’ve said two words to me that weren’t snarky or bitchy. I don’t care about you and I don’t want to know you, and if you don’t leave my store now I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.” For someone like Amber, I knew that threat of public humiliation would get her to leave. Quickly.

“I could just call up Chase and tell him how you treated me today,” she threatened.

“Go right ahead. I won’t let you or anyone continue to insult me, no matter who’s on my arm.” I marched over the door and held it open, pushing it harder than necessary when she walked through it.

“Damn, Kenz, that was actually kind of hot,” Emily said with a loud laugh and a slow clap. “I didn’t think you had it in you, my little hippie chick.”

I didn’t either. “Thanks,” I told her instead. “I don’t know what her problem is with me, we don’t even really know each other.”

“You’re kidding right?” Emily smacked the bamboo counter and laughed. “She’s jealous. You’re all curvy and bohemian and successful, and you’re happy with who you are. She’s supposed to be the pretty one, but aside from her hot husband, she’s got nothing. Fuck her.”

I didn’t believe that for one second because friends had to say kind words about you, but I nodded because she meant well. “Man, you’ve got a mouth on you. How did someone with tiny ears around all the time learn to swear better than me?”

She grinned and shrugged. “My dad was in the Army. Growing up, he’d say the most outrageous things at the dinner table, risking Ma’s wrath.”

“I would’ve guessed a sailor,” I mumbled. Standing up to Amber made me feel better, despite all the other turmoil going on inside my head. And I had a feeling that maybe my day was starting to look up.