Best Laid Wedding Plans by Austin Lynnette

Author:Austin, Lynnette [Austin, Lynnette]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc
Published: 2015-08-28T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Startled, Jenni Beth swiveled quickly, heard Beck chuckle. She faced a raised-brow Cole.

Oh boy. Her temperature shot sky-high, and her tongue darted out to lick her lips. The man was gorgeous—and he had to know it. Crisp white shirt tucked into snug, well-worn jeans, the sleeves rolled up to show off tanned arms, hair slightly mussed as if he’d been running his fingers through it. The man looked good enough to eat.

“You hungry?” he asked.

Her hand flew to her mouth. Had she said that out loud? No. She peeked at the wall clock. One o’clock. Lunch time. A reasonable assumption.

“Hey, anybody home?” Cole waved a nicked and scarred hand in front of her face. “You want to have lunch? I’m flat-out starvin’, and we should talk about a couple things.” He held up a file. “Figured we might as well make good use of our time. Eat and talk.”

“Oh, sure. Business.” Pop. Her pretty little balloon deflated.

“If it makes it easier to say yes, then, yeah, you could call it a business lunch.” He looked at Beck. “Want to join us?”

His friend glanced from one to the other. “Nah. Think you two will do fine without me playin’ third thumb.”

“It’s not like that,” she said quickly.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Still, think I’ll stay right here.”

“You’ll follow up on those windows?”

“Yep.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I do. Get her out of here, Cole, before she comes up with somethin’ else for me to do.”

“I’m on that.” Hand at her back, Cole opened the door and herded her through the store and out into the heat.

“Why are you in Misty Bottoms?”

“Had a delivery for Dinky. I had some tile a customer of his needed, and shippin’ it would have cost a fortune.”

“Oh.”

On the other side of the road, a train clattered past, whistle blowing. The land stretched out in front of her, and for one second she felt torn between her two worlds. Longed for the air-conditioned coolness of Chateau Rouge, wished she could step into a Starbucks and grab an iced coffee.

Cole took her hand, and she forgot Savannah existed.

“Didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he said, “but—”

“What did you hear?”

He drew back at the intensity of her reply, and she’d gladly have bitten the end off her tongue if she could take it back.

“I heard you talkin’ about Ms. Hattie,” he said slowly. “Something else goin’ on I should know about?”

“No.”

Reaching for her hand, he turned her to face him. “That answer was way too fast, sugar. Let’s have it. If you told Beck, you can tell me.”

She huffed out her breath.

“I’m gonna find out sooner or later,” he coaxed. “Let’s make it sooner. What’s got you in a tizzy?”

She stared at the railroad tracks. He waited. She studied a fingernail she’d broken that morning. Still, he waited.

“C’mon. Out with it.”

“Won’t you just go away?” she pleaded.

“Not a chance.”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Keeping it short and not-so-sweet, right there in the middle of Beck’s dusty parking lot, she relayed her run-in with Richard.

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