Page 23 of Chasing the Sun

I held out my hand. “Morning. What brings you around?”

“Work.” Wes owned his own construction company, and, given the state of the cottage, it was safe to assume he was being hired to help fix it up. “You know Elodie?”

The woman’s voice cut through our conversation. “Hello, Callum.”

My eyes whipped to hers.How the hell did she know my name?

The sound of my name coming from her mouth landed like a sucker punch—familiar, like she knew me. Like she had the right to say it with the perfect amount of husky teasing.

My frown deepened as her name rolled around inside my head.No fucking way.“Elodie ... as in Hayes’s sister Elodie?” Not only had someone swooped in and hijacked the future I’d been counting on—but it was Hayes’s sister? That made it so much worse.

My friend was the oldest sibling in his family and often mentioned his sisters. I had met Selene and Kit, who lived in town, but only knew Elodie and Clara by name.

Her thin-lipped smile was strained. “That would be me. I didn’t know you knew Hayes.”

My answer was clipped. “Very well, actually.”

Hayes was one of the best men I knew. He had good judgment. Smart instincts. But if he thought his sister belonged here, fixing up a farm she had no business touching, maybe he wasn’t as sharp as I thought.

She scoffed, a light disgusted noise rattling in the back of her delicate throat. “Not that well, apparently.”

Between us, Wes chuckled, and his hand clamped onto my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

My eyes didn’t leave Elodie’s, but I grunted, knowing exactly what he meant.

With a shake of his head, Wes turned back to Elodie. “I’ll send a quote in a few days and you can decide if you’d like to move forward. You’ve got my number.”

Her face morphed into pure sweetness. “Thank you, Wes.”

He nodded. “Anytime, Ellie.” He turned to me, my face souring at his use of a nickname for her. “See you at the game.”

I nodded, trying to scrape together the remaining bits of my sanity. When Wes was back in the cab of his truck, I turned to her. “How do you know my name?”

A slim shoulder lifted as her chin rose. “I know more than you think.” Her bored expression was a challenge I couldn’t back away from.

I leaned forward, ever so slightly using my height to my advantage. “This is my town.”

This time, a genuine laugh cracked out of her, taking me by surprise. “Okay,” she mocked.

I narrowed my eyes. “You can roll your eyes all you want, but I’ve been here long enough to know when someone’s in over their head,” I grumbled, fists clenched.

“No. No, by all means, please claim the town that I grew up in asyour town.” Her fingers curled into air quotes, and she laughed again.

Knowing full well I was acting like a gigantic baby, I doubled down. “You don’t know the first thing about running a farm.”

Her mouth parted like she was about to argue, but I caught it—the flicker of something behind her sharp green eyes. A challenge. A dare. Like she wanted me to underestimate her just so she could prove me wrong.

Her arms crossed, pushing her tits higher beneath the thin white T-shirt. “I don’t need to run it. I need to rescue it. Besides, I can learn anything.”

Her unbridled confidence was astounding. Elodie fully believed every word. My life had taught me that even with the best of intentions, sometimes life still grabbed you by the balls.

I shrugged, crossing my arms and looking down at the gorgeous, infuriating neighbor. “Fix up the place, I don’t care. All that means is less work for me when it comes time to buy it. I’ll be taking it over when this little side quest of yours fails.”

Her jaw set, her whole body humming with defiance. I’d known plenty of dreamers who thought they could outwork reality, and I knew exactly how their stories ended. It was just a matter of time before the shine wore off, before the hard parts set in and she packed her bags. I wasn’t wrong about her. Not yet.

Fire blazed in her green eyes. “You are a self-righteous asshole.”

I let my gaze wander lazily over her shoulder to the run-down house behind her. I smirked, slow and deliberate, because I knew it would piss her off more. “And you’re a stubborn pain in the ass who’s in over her head.”