Page 74 of Trick or Tease

She smiled. “Kind of have to.”

“Yes. Of course. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She grinned. And all that weirdness was gone. “It’s not every day you get an afternoon delight.”

I laughed. “Technically, it’s not even noon yet.”

“That just means we have the whole rest of the day in front of us.”

Damn. The woman had me twisted in knots.

I watched her walk to the four-wheeler she must have driven over this morning. It almost made me laugh. Country life was so different from the way I lived in Manhattan. People out here drove four-wheelers and golf carts all over the place. No need to catch a taxi or take the subway. I watched her disappear down the driveway with her hair trailing behind her. I had a flashback to childhood. How many times had I stood and watched her leave on that very same four-wheeler?

I turned around to go inside when a flash of black caught my eye. A sleek black cat darted across my path, moving from the barn toward the cornfield. It paused for just a moment to look back at me with bright green eyes before disappearing into the stalks.

A chill ran down my spine. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was some kind of omen. Which was ridiculous. I didn’t believe in superstitions or signs from the universe. I was a rational man who dealt in facts and evidence and billable hours.

But the guilt sitting heavy in my chest felt anything but rational.

I went inside, anxious to get a shower before Billy got home. If he saw the state I was in, he was going to have some questions. He loved Sabrina like a sister and I knew he was protective. The last thing I wanted to do was open that can of worms. He would kick my ass in a heartbeat.

I headed straight for the bathroom, turning the shower on as hot as I could stand it, and stripped out of my clothes. As the water washed away the dust and cobwebs from the old house, I tried to convince myself that I hadn’t done anything wrong.

The appraisal really was a smart idea. With all the liability issues that came with opening the farm to the public, my family needed to know what they were dealing with. Insurance companies would want current valuations. It was the responsible thing to do.

So why did I feel like such an asshole?

Maybe it was the way I’d lied to Sabrina about the insurance angle. Or maybe it was the way my pulse had quickened when Ron mentioned millions. The way I’d immediately started calculating what that kind of money could mean for my family’s future.

For my future at the firm.

I scrubbed shampoo through my hair more aggressively than necessary, as if I could wash away the guilt along with the dust. The truth was, I loved this place. I always had. But loving something wasn’t always enough.

27

SABRINA

By four o’clock that afternoon, I was practically floating on air. The farm was absolutely buzzing with activity. It wasn’t as busy as the weekend, but it was more people than we’d ever had for a weekday. And we weren’t even officially in Halloween season yet. Word was spreading faster than we could have imagined.

“Look at this,” I said to Billy, gesturing toward the parking area where cars were lined up along the fence. “We’re going to need to expand the parking situation if this keeps up.”

Billy grinned, his hair even more disheveled than usual from running around all day. And I was sure Lucy’s fingers had been in that hair. For once, they weren’t the only ones getting a little action in the middle of the day.

Not that I was ever going to tell them about the hookup on haunted hill. I still wasn’t entirely sure what that was. But I didn’t want to overthink it. When Garrett got the phone call, I had panicked a bit. But knowing he was just looking out for the farm settled me.

I knew we weren’t madly in love and he wasn’t going to throw away his career to stay on the farm, but that was okay. That was a problem for another day. Not this day. For now, I told myself to live in the moment. Take advantage of the stolen moments and worry about the rest later.

“Lucy’s already talking to her dad about borrowing his back field,” Billy said. “And we’re thinking about setting up a hot cider stand by the entrance when the lines are long and the nights are cool.”

I couldn’t help but grin. This was everything we’d hoped for and more. The corn maze had a steady stream of families wandering through it, kids were shrieking with delight at the pumpkin chunking, winning prizes, and I’d already fielded three calls from local news stations wanting to do follow-up stories.

“We might actually need to hire more help,” I said, watching a group of teenagers try to figure out the trebuchet. “I saw Jenny Morrison’s mom posting on Facebook that her whole book club is planning to drive over this weekend.”

“About that,” Billy said. “I was thinking we could ask some of the high school kids if they want to make some extra money. You know, dress up in costumes for the haunted hayride.”

I was about to respond when I spotted Garrett emerging from the house. My stomach did a little flip as memories from this morning came flooding back. My body reacted in ways I should be embarrassed about. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way his hands had felt on my skin, the desperate hunger in his kiss, the weight of his body against mine on that pile of clothes.

He had changed into another pair of jeans and had put on a dark Henley.