your bed where I will stay until you come in for lunch.”
That earned her a smile—she’d been imagining lunch together exactly like I’d been. Naked. “Fine. But just for the record, I don’t like anything that puts you and Chase in the same sentence, never mind building.”
“Duly noted. And you’re going to let me be friendly with Chase.”
I watched her. “The Pattons are capable of more than you know, and Chase is a trained liar. They want the farm. Just remember that for me.”
“I promise. As long as you let me be a diplomat so we can put this whole thing to bed once and for all.”
One of my brows rose. “I’d rather not involve Chase in any discussions involving beds, either.”
“To pasture then.”
“Better.”
She leaned in to give me a tender kiss that turned into a breathless one. When I broke away, she was pinned under me.
“I thought you were hungry,” she said with a smile.
“Oh, I am.”
So I took my fill in the hopes she would ease my fears with the devotion of her body.
And it almost worked.
21
Calendar Boy
OLIVIA
I floated to the diner like a cloud.
Not riding on top of a cloud, as one usually imagined. Not in a cloud, oblivious to the outside world. I was as thoughtless as a fluffy white cloud drifting across the horizon with a smile on my face and not a care in the world.
Jake and I had parted ways only after a very long, borderline disgusting display of affection. When we’d walked into the kitchen for breakfast half dressed, Kit took one look at us, squealed, and burst into happy tears. Jake looked terrified at Kit’s state, seeing as how it was fifty percent directed toward him. His eyes were a couple of ping-pong balls, his cheeks a little flushed, his back straight as a ruler. I wondered if he’d ever brought a girl home like this to meet everyone and decided by the level of Kit’s excitement that the answer was no.
But when the majority of her joy blast had been exhausted, she went back to the kitchen, and Jake and I had sat at the island, smiling at each other like a couple of dummies.
It was basically the best day ever.
We’d taken a shower together, and once I was dressed, he’d sent me off with that kiss and a long list of things to talk to Presley about.
I hated that Jake hated the thought of me being friends with Chase, but there wasn’t any way around it. We’d all been bred to hate each other, and deprogramming from that was no small task. Jake was probably a lost cause. But Chase and I had a rapport. I wasn’t so stupid to think he didn’t have any ulterior motives, but I believed he was genuine after coming clean and offering inside information. He’d come to me if he heard anything, I was sure.
I’d been playing devil’s advocate with Jake for months, but it’d taken us sleeping together for me to convince him to let me try to make peace.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t take that to get Chase on board. If he had designs leading that direction, he was going to be real disappointed—and maybe end up with a broken nose, if Jake happened to find out.
I hadn’t even told Jake what Chase had said about his dad and James Patton’s designs, not wanting to give Jake any more fodder for the grudge.
Jake, Jake, Jake.
I smiled at nothing and sighed like a teenager as I slid into a booth at Debbie’s.
“Well, what’s gotten into you?” Presley asked from my elbow.
She looked adorable in her little blue uniform that was straight out of the ’50s, starched collar and name embroidered on the breast and everything. In revolt of any sort of uniform, she rejected the ’50s hair, or even a conventional hairstyle. Today, it was two little buns on top of her head like teddy bear ears.
One of her dark brows made an elegant arch, and her lips rose on that side in amusement.
“Jake,” I said, mirroring her expression.
Just like that, her face fell open. “What?” She slid into the booth. “I’m sorry … what?”
“Well—we almost banged in the hayloft on the Fourth.”
She shook her head, blinking. “Rewind. Start over.”
“Banging might have been preemptive, but given another five minutes, it would have happened if he hadn’t run off like a jackass. But then …” I leaned in. “Did you know my grandpa mortgaged the farm to keep Jake in America?”
I didn’t think her eyes