Page 6 of Falling for You (Balsam Cliffs #2)
Sweat drips down the center of my back. An unusually warm May day has shown up just in time for the Memorial Day Parade. And I only semi-regret wearing my favorite pair of jeans that look tailor made for my body, accentuating the ass I’ve worked really fucking hard for.
Despite choosing my outfit to garner Rome’s attention this morning, I’ve been trying to avoid him all day, not actually wanting to come face-to-face with him. I’ve been successful so far, but he and Hunter are only a few booths away from reaching ours at the vendor’s market.
Violet and Willow are with me today, working the booth for the bakery, and for the inn. We are giving away a weekend stay and it’s been really popular with locals as well as tourists.
It’s absolutely killing Violet to not make any comments about Roman and I.
Her mouth keeps opening, then closing, then looking at Willow, followed up with a huff of annoyance.
Her patience is about to be tested as Hunter and Roman finally make their way over to our booth.
I catch her eye and subtly shake my head.
She rolls her eyes and turns away from me. This is torture for her.
I make a show of bending over to get some more promotional materials out of the box under the table at the back of our tent.
Giving anyone on the other side of our booth a perfect view of my ass.
Exactly as Roman walks up to our booth. Violet chuckles off to the side as she figures out what I’m doing.
Behind me someone chokes and sputters. A sly smile spreads for a brief moment at the thought that I’ve affected him like he affects me. I stand, turning to look over my shoulder and, sure enough, there is Roman, choking on the lemonade he must have been sipping on his way over.
“You alright, man? Do I need to do the Heimlich?” Hunter slaps his back.
“I’m good.” He stares right at me, “I’ll be fine in a minute. I just need to recover.”
I turn back away from him, grabbing my stack of brochures to place on the table where he stands.
“Something go down the wrong way, Rome?” I ask innocently, laying out the promotional material.
He only glares at me in response, knowing exactly what I was doing wearing these jeans. They’re his favorite pair on me, I always got extra praise when I wore them.
“How are my three favorite sisters doing over here? Making the inn the premier destination of Balsam Cliffs?” Hunter thumbs through some of the papers we have on the tables, messing up absolutely everything I’ve done.
I roll my eyes, fixing everything he’s touching. He’s oblivious to his bull-in-a-china-shop ways.
I slap his hand off the table. “We were doing just fine until you came over to annoy us.”
“You’re always annoyed at me lately. What else is new?” He shrugs, ignoring the why of his statement.
“I’d be annoyed too if I had five asshole brothers cockblocking me at every turn,” Willow defends me right as Roman takes another sip of that lemonade.
Cue another coughing fit from choking on Willow’s words.
“Roman, you really should stop drinking that. It seems like playing with fire at this point, no?” Violet offers to take the lemonade from him and points to the trash we have under our table.
“Yeah, what's your problem? First day drinking from a straw?” Hunter’s forehead creases, trying to figure out what’s going on.
I save him from the scrutiny. “You two ready for your parade war?”
“Hell yeah, I’m going to win again. This fucker has no chance.” He slaps Roman’s shoulder.
“We’ll see. Clark and I brought our A-game this year. You have competition, even if it’s an unfair competition since you have construction crews at your disposal.”
“That is kind of a shitty advantage, Hunt,” I point out.
“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side. I’m your brother.”
“Who cockblocks me,” I slowly reiterate Willow’s statement, shaking my head at him.
“Okay, that’s enough. Can we stop talking about you and cocks in the same sentence?”
“Depends, are you still going to be an ass?”
He glares at me, and pulls Roman away.
Roman looks back over his shoulder, his eyes searching mine for any indication of if I’m still mad at him for a reason he won’t voice in front of others.
Willow grabs my shoulders from behind, scaring the shit out of me, “Girl, you better spill it. Now.”
One last look at Rome and he’s still staring at me. His eyes staring right into mine. A look I used to relish, but now just hurts.
I look between her and Violet, “About what?”
“Oh, don’t play dumb.” Willow turns to Violet, “I mean you saw that too right? Something is going on between her and Roman?”
My cheeks flush. “Nothing is going on.”
“Ems, I love you, but you can’t hide that. Maybe from the guys, but not us. Just tell her.”
“Tell me? You already know?” Willow points at Violet.
“Uh, yeah. I mean I live here, this isn’t my first rodeo with them.” She laughs at Willow’s shock.
“Seriously? I’m the only one left out?”
“Do you want the details or not?” I put her out of her misery and spill all the details of how Roman and I started hooking up last year at the bonfire, and how he ended things because he was worried about the guys finding out.
“Shut up! I knew it! I told Gunnar you two were banging and he didn’t believe me! He told me Roman would never be that stupid.”
“Willow, you can’t tell him, please. It’s over anyways, there’s no reason to tell them.” I place my hands together in front of me, pleading with her to keep my secret.
“Your secret is safe with me babes, but trust me, that, ”—she motions between me and the general direction of where Roman went—“is not over. In the slightest.”
“Ugh. I can’t do this with you two. I’m going to walk around and find something to eat. I’ll be back before the parade so don’t leave without me.”
I leave the booth, knowing full well that Willow and Violet are about to talk a whole lot of shit about me and Roman. As long as they don’t tell Gunnar or Liam, I don’t care what they say. I’d tell all of them in a heartbeat, but I won’t go against Rome like that.
I take off in search of the lemonade stand, my mouth watering with anticipation for my frozen raspberry lemonade. The highlight of the Memorial Day Parade every year. And after that, I intend to find myself the food truck that sells the big pretzels with cheese.
Yes, eating my feelings will solve all my problems when it comes to the sexy as sin man I can’t get off my mind.
Once I’m satisfied with my sugar rush, and my carb loading, I walk around the different booths to get in some cardio before all that settles on my hips.
I’m looking at Mrs. Peterson’s booth for the farm, smelling all the goat milk soaps that she sells. I’ve become obsessed with them, loving every scent she creates. I don’t want to think about why my favorite one smells like cedar and leather. Nope. Not going to put stock in that theory.
Suddenly, I feel a large, warm hand on my hip that’s closest to the wall of the tent and hot breath on my neck. “I miss you.”
I whirl around, staring directly into the golden orbs that haunt me everytime I close my eyes.
“Rome—”
“I know. I don’t have the right.” His hand falls from my hip and his face drops. The weight this is taking on him is evident, but what about how I feel?
I subtly move my body away from him. Enough for him to notice but no one else around us is any wiser. I can’t think when he’s this close and touching me. I just want to melt into him, let him back in.
“That’s right, you lost it when you ended things. Until you’re willing to man up and talk to Hunter, I’m out. I’m not a dirty secret, no matter how much I enjoy it.”
He winces, “I never want you to be a dirty secret, Sunshine. But, Hunter called me out the other day. Told me he’d put me six feet under if I was dating you. Can you imagine what he’ll do when he finds out I let you be a secret for a year? That I let myself treat you that way?”
“Yeah I get it, Rome. It’s the same old tired excuse every time.”
I push past him, knocking my hip into his on my way by. “You know where to find me when you decide to be the man I know you are.”
I don’t look back, I just walk as fast as possible back to the inn’s tent with my girls and broken pride.