Sporting (Unleashed Romance #3) - Kylie Gilmore Page 0,8
way, because I’ve known him for so long, and I know he comes from a good family. I have to wonder why we haven’t crossed paths since I moved home last summer.
When I finish my sandwich, I push my plate away, something bugging me enough to finally say it out loud. “You know, you haven’t visited Summerdale Sweets once since I opened.”
His eyes widen before he grabs his napkin and wipes his mouth. Finally, he says, “I should’ve stopped by to check it out.”
I lean forward. “You should have. I was insulted that you didn’t. Everyone else in your family did. Even grouchy Drew bought three boxes of cookies to share with his karate students.”
He scoffs. “Right, you were insulted. You didn’t even notice I existed until you backed into my car.”
I gesture vaguely around us. “I saw you around town working. I didn’t want to interrupt you on patrol.” And you looked too tempting in your uniform.
“Maybe I didn’t want to interrupt your baking.”
“Come on. Just admit you were avoiding me.”
He stiffens and looks at a point over my shoulder. “Why would I avoid you?”
I throw my hands up. “I have no idea.”
He leans back in his seat, relaxing again. “I was busy catching troublemakers. Nothing personal.”
It sure felt personal. I search his expression, but he’s got a great poker face. I can’t tell if he’s lying. I don’t know why it bugs me so much that he never stopped by. It just seemed like he was the only one in town who didn’t, and it must be on purpose. “I never said or did anything to offend you, did I?”
“Nope. Nothing at all.” He holds up a finger. “In fact, I don’t think you said more than ‘get out’ to me since I was thirteen.”
I wince. “Only because it was girl time.”
He inclines his head. “Anyway, enough rehashing old times.”
Since I’d rather not dwell on what he used to be to me—Sydney’s irritating little brother—I drop it. It really messes with my head to think of him like that while trying not to openly lust after him. “What’s the worst crime you’ve encountered in Summerdale?”
He presses his lips together, trying for a grim expression, but his eyes are sparkling with good humor. “You don’t want to know.”
I lean forward. “Tell me.”
“I regularly caught Rainbow sunbathing in the nude at the lake. I told her she had to cover up.”
I laugh. “She was a true hippie.” Rainbow was one of the original founders of Summerdale. A group of hippies in the sixties planned it as a kind of utopia. I bought her old café when she retired to Florida last year. She used to serve green drinks and salads with alfalfa sprouts. Even so, she was very supportive of my sweeter take on things.
“Are you happy here?” he asks.
I consider that. “I love my shop and being back with Sydney and Audrey. Kayla now too. She’s a sweetheart.” Kayla is engaged to his older brother Adam.
“But…”
I wipe my mouth with a napkin and push my plate away. “No one is happy about everything.”
“Do you miss your old life in Brooklyn?”
“I miss the adventure of going out on a Saturday night with the potential to meet someone interesting.”
“Interesting means hot.”
I glance around, looking for Sydney. She must’ve went back into the kitchen or her office. “They need a brain too. I do have standards.”
“So no hot idiots for Jenna Larsen, huh?”
I laugh. “Exactly.”
“Head over to the Happy Endings bar on Saturday night. You might be surprised at who you meet.” He winks.
My face flushes. He’s coming on to me. Would it be so bad if I met up with him out of town? Yes. Because then I’d have to face him here in Summerdale, probably for years to come. And Sydney would find out.
“Or not,” he says.
“I can’t think of you that way.”
His eyes are hot on mine, his voice low and husky. “I think you already do.”
I lick my lips, and he watches the movement. Desire pools low in my belly. “I can’t. You’re a permanent fixture of a town I plan on staying in for the foreseeable future. That means potential future awkwardness if things don’t work out and, in my experience, things never work out.”
“It’s just a drink, Jenna.”
How can I explain I don’t stick with anyone without revealing my damaged history? He doesn’t know all the grisly details of my family, and I don’t want him to see me that way. Not to mention Sydney wouldn’t