Page 54 of I Choose You (Wilder #2)

Three Months Later

Sweat dripped down my back as the mid-August heat shined overhead. This new construction home build was going to be the death of me, but it would be well worth it.

Claire and I had worked on the design together for months, and as soon as a plot of land became available that fit our criteria, I jumped on it.

Claire wanted it to have a nice yard where she could plant some wildflowers and we could have an outdoor living space.

She also wanted to be close to the center of town, where she could walk to the market or the coffee shop, but not too close, where the tourists would infiltrate our peace and quiet during the busy summer months.

I wanted to see her face light up when she looked at a piece of property, and I wasn’t going to settle for anything less.

We finally found the perfect site two weeks ago, and with a cash offer, we were able to close yesterday. Which was why today, in the ridiculously sweltering heat, I was staking out the property lines and tagging the trees that would need to come down.

Richie, Dale, and Shawn were buttoning up our most recent project, converting an old mill building into new residential suites. It wasn’t to the caliber or scale of the Delano Library, but I was proud to be part of creating comfortable and well-crafted homes for new families.

I shot a text off to Richie, confirming that everything was coming together. Richie had responded that things were fine at the apartment complex, which meant I didn’t need to rush over there and could surprise Claire with a coffee at work instead.

It took me longer than I would have liked to find a parking spot at Flour Power. I ended up having to park down the street a ways. Summers were always busier, the warm weather bringing more people to the coast to cool off by the ocean, but this year, it seemed like we were inundated with tourists.

A blast of cool air hit me as soon as I opened the door to the café. A small line of people were waiting to place their orders, so I got to the back of the line to wait my turn. A commotion at the front caught my attention.

“Are you fucking dumb? Listen to me. I did not wait in this fucking line for you to not know how to take my order,” a man’s voice yelled at the barista.

I shifted to the left so I could see around the people ahead of me to the front.

A large man stood at the counter, the muscles in his shoulders so thick it made it neck disappear.

His muscle tank straining across his back tried to break free of him.

In front of him stood a wide-eyed Kayleigh.

I hadn’t known Kayleigh to be meek, but this man was huge, and he was screaming at her. Split flew from his mouth as he sneered his order at her again.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t carry coconut milk. We have cream, milk, oat milk, and almond milk.”

“Listen to me…” he started. He reached his arm forward, slamming his fist down on the counter in front of him .

I pushed my way to the front, my hands fisted at my side.

“Take a step back, buddy. Now.”

“What are you going to do about it?” the guy said, his angry face snapping toward me.

“You don’t want to pick a fight here. I think you need to leave.”

He looked behind me at the line of people. Two girls had their phones out, recording the event. A couple of guys were standing behind me, ready to jump in if things went south. Muscle man seemed to realize milk wasn’t worth the hassle.

“Fuck this place. It’s fucking trash,” he spit out with a sneer before turning on his heels and leaving.

A collective breath sounded as the other patrons breathed a sigh of relief at his departure.

“You go ahead. You deserve it after that,” the lady at the front of the line told me when I went to get back to my place in line.

“Thank you, Reid.” Kayleigh swallowed hard, looking almost embarrassed, but her hands were shaking.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. If he wasn’t on steroids, I would have been fine. But man, roid-rage is a real thing.”

The other worker told Kayleigh to take a break, giving her a few minutes to collect herself after that encounter. I placed my order with the new barista and moved aside to wait for it to be made.

Kayleigh came out from behind the counter and pulled me aside.

“Seriously, thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Kayleigh.” I waited for her to look at me before I continued. “It doesn’t matter what happened between us, I’m not going to stand by while some dick assaults you.”

“I know. You’re good like that,” she said. “That Claire is one lucky lady,” she joked, lightening the mood.

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and shook my head with a chuckle.

She smiled at that. “I like her. I’m glad you found her.”

I could tell I had a goofy grin on my face, but I couldn’t help it. “Me too.”

“So, you’re happy, then?”

“Extremely. I just bought some land. I’m going to build us a new house. My business has never been better,” I told her. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.”

“Good. I’m glad. I want you to be happy, Reid.”

“I want you to be happy too. Are you?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, a smile coming slowly to her lips. “Yeah, I am.”

The barista called my name. I went to grab my drinks as Kayleigh got back to work. She offered me a small wave, so I tilted my head at her in return.

It felt good to have that talk with her. Even though I had seen her a couple of times at Flour Power now, we hadn’t really had a chance to talk at all. I felt lighter walking back to my car, the sunshine warming my skin again.

I got to my car and had to put one of the coffees on the roof to open my door.

When I glanced up, a couple caught my eye, walking into the yoga studio across the street.

The man had his hands on her hips, and when she turned around, my suspicion was confirmed.

Juliet’s eyes darted around, but she didn’t seem to see me.

She pushed to her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss.

I couldn’t tell who he was, but I knew for a fact that man was not my brother.

My first instinct was to march over there and pull them apart on Luke’s behalf. But rationally, I knew that creating a scene in the middle of our downtown area would only make things worse for him. Did he know?

“Fuck,” I muttered. My heart went out to my brother, but I really didn’t want to be the one to tell him.

I got in my truck and drove the short distance to the library, finding Claire in her office. The same room that she used as an office while we were working on the restoration.

“Hey, handsome.” Her face lit up when I walked in. “How’s things going this morning?”

“Hot and sweaty.”

“Just the way I like it,” she chuckled before furrowing her brow. “You alright? You look like you have something on your mind.”

I gave her the coffee, meeting her halfway for a kiss. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do about the whole Juliet and not-Luke thing, but that was an issue for another time.

“No, I’m good.” I smiled. Just being with Claire, the feel of her lips on mine, however quickly, settled me. I still got a thrill every time I heard her laugh or saw her face split into a wide smile. And witnessing her fall apart for me, damn, that would never get old.

Claire came into my life, and with her heart, her strength, and her damn sunny personality, she broke through all of my walls. Eight months together wasn’t long enough. A lifetime wouldn’t even be long enough. For Claire, I would need an eternity .

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