Page 11

10

Fane

After

The plan had not been to include Ash in the plan.

“You’re not part of the plan.” I leveled him with my signature glare just outside of Sunshine Café.

“Sure I am.” He crossed his arms and widened his stance.

“No. You’re not.” I mimicked his stance.

He nodded like this was a normal conversation that two people had. “Okay, we’ll put a pin in this for later. Just clarify something for me. You’re being shown around Darling by a local?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And that local is Candy?”

I didn’t dignify that question with a response because, no, it wasn’t fucking Candy.

“And she’s showing you around so we don’t fuck with the town.”

“Yep.”

“But we’re not fucking with the town anyway?”

“That’s right.”

“But you haven’t told her that.”

I didn’t dignify that with a response either.

“Have you told her anything that you rehearsed in the mirror over the last two years?”

“I didn’t rehearse anything in the fucking mirror.” I had, but that wasn’t the point.

“Man, your balls are going to be so toast when she finds out!” He reached out and shoved me in the chest before he turned on his heels and headed straight into Cali’s café.

The moment I noticed that the town of Darling had gone up for active evaluation and scouting, I went straight into my father’s office and told him I wanted to take the lead on it. I couldn’t stand being in the same room as him. Aside from the day I told him I’d take his offer on the job he’d extended my way for the last eight years, I hadn’t gone in again until that moment.

I always knew it was a possibility that his sights would be set on Cali’s town. I saw it on the list of prospects a year ago, and I knew what they’d do to it.

It was fucked up that I’d helped tear apart other towns. Fundamentally changed them from the inside out. I knew it made me a bad person, not caring in the slightest that I did because this had never been about them. It had always been about her .

In my desperate attempt to be as unsuccessful as possible, in some fucked-up attempt at proving that I was nothing like my father, I had been twenty-six, and the only qualification I had was working at a shitty bar.

After Cali left, I applied for at least forty jobs. Every day for a month, I applied. I went for interviews and handed out résumés, and every time, it was the same. A dubious look and the same fucking question: Is this all the experience you have?

I’d started working at Heavenly Horns as soon as I left home, and I never stopped. Every time I had the opportunity to move up, to manage the bar, I always said no. I didn’t want to be successful.

It set me apart from the monster who made me.

It also meant I had nothing to show for myself. No savings, no retirement, nothing.

You can’t give someone everything when you have nothing. I’d backed myself so thoroughly into a corner that the only option I had was to walk into Mackenzie Co. and take the job he was offering.

And then all I had to do was walk in and tell him I wanted Darling, and it was mine.

My father had stood up and walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder while he looked up at me and told me he was proud of me. I just stared at him and imagined all the different ways I might be able to kill him.

The little bell above the door tinkled, letting everyone know that we were entering.

It was early in the morning, and there was an older lady sitting right in the middle of the café, paper in hand, who turned to eye us with equal amounts of curiosity and apprehension.

“I heard the coffee here is shit,” Ash called out just in time for Cali to round the corner, a tray of cookies in her mitten-covered hands.

To her credit, she only almost lost the tray. Fumbling it in tandem with the cascade of emotions that blurred across her face, and then she was jumping.

Honest to God, like a five-year-old at a birthday party jumping.

“ ALBERT!” She screamed the name, and the lady who was still watching us sloshed her coffee in a jolt of surprise. Cali pretty much threw the cookies onto the counter next to her and ran for Ash. He caught her running jump, arms banding around her back, and a face-crinkling grin split his features.

I would be fucking damned if it didn’t hurt.

I think it might have been the first time I’d ever seen Ash touch anybody voluntarily, but the shock of it was short-lived compared to how it felt seeing him get the greeting I wish I could have had from her. Even though I knew we’d both gotten the greeting we deserved from her.

It felt wrong to watch their reunion. Ash and Cali had fallen into the sibling sort of friendship that you only find once or twice in a lifetime, with friends who feel more like family. It occurred to me only then, selfishly, that Ash had lost her too, and Cali had lost him.

Cali’s delighted laughter dissolved into small, shaking sobs. I watched one tear fall from her closed eyes and run down her cheek and decided I had punished myself enough for now and moved past them to the counter.

The rustle of fabric was the only telling sign that their embrace had come to an end. Even the somewhat nosy patron had turned her attention away.

“Hey, Allen.” Cali’s voice was hushed, and I closed my eyes against the pain that rang clear through her words. “Missed you.”

“Hey, Chloe” Ash’s voice was reserved too, quiet. “Missed you too.”

It wasn’t justified in the slightest, but their whole interaction pissed me off. I knew going from feeling guilty about the cause of their distance to being aggravated about how long they hugged was not a regular reaction to have.

I didn’t fucking care.

“Great, so should I just make the coffee myself?” I turned to face them, glare in place and arms crossed. Cali spun to set her shining hazel eyes on me, and Ash tilted his head to the side with an amused look on his face that told me everything I needed to know about what he thought of my plan.

He thought it was shit.

“I thought you left.” Cali’s shoulder checked me as she walked back around to the other side of the counter, and she stumbled to the side. It was a reflex to reach out for her, my hand sliding around her upper arm to steady her.

We both looked at the point where my hand met the bare skin of her arm. Her small intake of breath echoed around the café, even with the trickle of country music playing softly in the background. The moment my fingers flexed, the spell was broken, and she yanked her arm free of my hold.

“For work, yes.”

“I was hoping more for town limits.” She grabbed the sheet of cooled-down cookies and shimmied them off the tray and into a lidless bowl.

“But you’re so pleasant to be around, Calista.”

“So…” Ash strolled up to stand beside me, stopping whatever was about to fly out of Cali’s mouth. Her face changed immediately, and I refrained from elbowing my best friend in the ribs. “Mr. Soft and Approachable over here tells me you’re taking him around town.”

Cali’s head snapped in my direction so fast I heard it crack.

“You are,” I said.

“Why are you sharing the news like the town crier?” She was glowering at me, like anyone knowing she was spending time with me was preposterous.

“It’s not weird for you to be spending time with your boyfriend , Calista.” I lifted an eyebrow at her.

“You’re not—” The clink of a cup settling onto a saucer cut her off immediately. We’d all forgotten about the random old lady. Well, Cali had.

“You’re not wrong!” She plastered a smile so forced on her own face that I clamped my lips tight and settled into my own scowl deeper to keep myself in check. “I just know how busy you are with all your…stuff.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that!” Ash chimed in helpfully. “I’ll be doing all the scouting for both Fane and me. He’s free and clear!”

“Free?” Cali looked distraught.

“And clear!” Ash added on. “Getting to know the nitty gritty from a town local is a huge benefit to the entire assessment,” he said, sending her a wink that made her flush a bright cherry red.

“ Nitty gritty ?” she squeaked, almost going cross-eyed.

“Cali?” We all turned to look at the woman still sitting in the middle of the café.

“Yeah, Mags?” She tried to smile at Mags, but she looked more terrified than anything else.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your fella?”

“ Fella!” Ash mouthed to me, and I gave in to my inner temptation and sent an elbow into his ribs. He sent one back into the same spot he’d gotten me before, and the grunt didn’t go unnoticed.

“Right.” Cali walked as slowly as possible around the counter and stood a foot away from me.

That wouldn’t do.

Her squeak of surprise shot straight to my dick. She was wearing a light-yellow sundress, and the warmth of her body seeped through the fabric where my hand curled around her ribs.

I shouldn’t be touching her.

She wasn’t mine to touch.

Even knowing those two things, I did it anyway.

“Mags.” Cali sounded out of breath. “This is Fane.”

“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” I stepped forward and extended my hand to the older woman, who shook it back with a gentle grip.

“I think I’ve heard a thing or two about you,” Mags said, leaning back into her chair.

“I’m sure it’s all true.”

“What if what I’ve heard is bad, young man?”

“Then it’s definitely true.”

“Oh, Calista. I like him,” she said to Cali, who was rigid as a plank of wood tucked into my side.

“Yay.” She couldn’t have sounded less enthusiastic, her finger reaching up to push up her nose. “Mags owns the bar down the street. It’s, uh, it’s called Mags’,” she added.

“We’ll definitely be seeing you then,” I told her with a smile. Ash nodded his head in agreement. “And this is Ash.” I gestured to him.

“Cali, dear,” Mags said, looking at her with a frown. “I don’t think you know this young man’s name. You called him Albert before.”

She said ‘Albert’ by overexaggerating the shape of every letter with her mouth like Cali was hard of hearing.

“Okay.” Cali pulled out of my grip. I’d pulled her closer to me without noticing, and the side of my body she’d been tucked into was left blistering cold and smelling of her cherry blossom shampoo.

Her fingers curled around the milk jug, and I couldn’t stop staring. The way she moved, like every small motion was a part of something bigger, had me rooted to the floor. My throat went dry when she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her brow furrowed in concentration. I’d been obsessed with her then, and now? I was fucking hopeless.

“Fane,” Mags called from behind. “What are you doing in town?”

“Development review, ma’am.”

She frowned, and I was sure I’d just lost whatever growing acquaintance was between us. “Developing what?”

“That’s yet to be decided. We’re evaluating the town for possible growth and investment opportunities.”

“Oh. That’s…new,” she said, not sounding surprised at all. Her eyes darted in Cali’s direction. Her flowing movements had turned rigid and loud. Her eyes now steely and zoned entirely in on me.

“I’m taking into consideration the wants and opinions of the locals. Calista will be spending the next month showing me the roots of the town so that we can review reasons to leave Darling as is too.”

“Oh!” Mags lit up at that. “That’s good.”

“Here’s your coffee. Fane?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I talk to you out back?” She didn’t even wait for me to answer before storming into the kitchen and out the back door that released an echoing slam into the café.

“Oh, your balls are most definitely toast.” Ash didn’t even try to whisper.

“I’ll remove your balls if you don’t shut up,” I said through gritted teeth.

He grabbed his coffee and three cookies from the jar. Hands raised in feigned innocence. “Sorry, big man,” he said around a mouthful. “Got to get to work.”

I watched him leave, wishing I could leave with him, but not only was that not an option, Cali hadn’t even made me a coffee.

“Excuse me.” I nodded at Mags and headed out through the kitchen, my mood infinitely more sour than it had been when I’d walked here. I didn’t even have time to breathe before Cali whirled on me.

“You’re a lying liar. You…you liar! ”

“Might want to tone down the profanity there, sailor.” I had no idea what she was talking about.

She thrust one pointed finger in the direction of the café. “You can’t just lie to old women.”

“Okay.” I was still confused, but I’m sure she thought I was just lying about that too, if the look on her face was anything to go by.

“You are going to tear up the town, and you just gave her false hope that you wouldn’t!”

“No, I didn’t.” I crossed my arms.

“Yes, you did !” She was whisper-shouting now. “You told her you were taking into consideration the opinions of locals!”

“I am.”

“Oh, please .”

“So, you think I’m just here, mind already made up. Pretending to be your boyfriend, willingly spending time around you when you would clearly love to push me into oncoming traffic just so you can show me a bunch of things that won’t even contribute to whatever decision I make?”

That’s actually exactly what I was doing.

Cali could show me a fuck ton of reasons why I should approve the job to go ahead. She could show me everything and nothing, and it would have no sway on the decision I’d already made.

She jolted back a little, surprise clear on her face. “Well, I—”

“And you want to talk about liars?” I took a step toward her. “This whole town thinks we’ve been in a long-distance relationship for two whole years. ”

“Yeah, well, upon deep reflection, the fact that I ever entertained this charade”—she gestured between us with an edge of hysteria—“was a stupid idea. I’m telling my parents the truth.” She spun toward the door, taking the same angry steps she took last night.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” I reached for her arm, gripping it the way I had inside. This time, I didn’t let go. Even when that spark from the contact of our skin raced down my spine or when her intake of breath shot straight to my cock, which was still fucking semi-hard from the last time she let out that noise.

“I spoke to them for fucking hours last night about a mine in Australia I don’t even know anything about,” I said, far too close to her. The thought of giving up this lie now that it was in motion made my gut churn.

It was fucked up and stupid and probably making everything worse, but it kept her close to me—and there wasn’t a single version of this world where I’d willingly spend another second away from her. I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t be leaning into it just to hold onto her, but I was. Because the truth was, I’d take whatever scraps of her I could get.

“That’s your problem,” she said back, eyes narrowed and mouth pinched.

“No, it’s not. It’s your problem that you roped me into. So, this is how it’s going to go.” I let go of her arm to wrap my hand around the back of her neck, tracing my thumb along her jaw to angle her face up to mine. Forcing her to give me those hazel eyes of hers.

“I’ve got some rules of my own, Calista.” I gave her the sort of smile that wasn’t particularly pretty and felt a shiver rack her body. All it took was one step to remove the space between us, to feel her pressed up against me, and to force myself not to imagine how easy it would be to turn her around, flip up the flimsy material of her dress, and see if she was still averse to panties.

My guess was yes.

I could feel the flutter of her pulse against my palm, how rapid it was. If I needed any more proof, the hard point of her nipples that were visible against the material of her dress was the cherry on top, and I couldn’t stop the smile of satisfaction that lit up my face.

Calista might hate me, but she still wanted me.

I flicked my eyes back up to hers. “In public, we’re the perfect, madly-in-love couple you’ve sold to everyone.”

“No.”

I tutted. “Oh, you already made this bed. Now it’s time to lie in it with me, baby.”