Page 32 of Will Bark for Pizza (Bluebell Springs #1)

TWENTY-THREE

BECKETT

I turned onto the familiar private road as the sun lowered toward the mountain peaks in the distance.

Cars, trucks, and SUVs lined both sides of the dirt drive leading out to the Ghost Lake cabin, leaving a questionable amount of room for two vehicles headed in opposite directions to pass one another.

I could hear Nana’s voice in my head. You dumbass, it did happen yesterday. Stop thinking with the wrong head.

The warning wasn’t enough to ward off the memory of Kira’s wet T-shirt clinging to the curves of her body, her red locks plastered to her cheeks and collarbone.

Had she been wearing that necklace the day she fell into the lake?

The same one she had on last night that kept disappearing into the V of her shirt.

I imagined dipping a finger into the valley between her breasts to reveal what charm dangled on the end of the silver chain.

Would she make one of those soft whimpers she made at the bar and grill when I sucked frosting from my thumb as my rough fingertips grazed her soft flesh?

“Oh, good!” The familiar female voice pulled me immediately out of my forbidden fantasy.

“Hey, Aspen.”

“Beckett,” Aspen said, a look of relief falling over her face. “Can I ask a favor?”

“Of course.”

She gave me an apologetic smile as she opened the back door of her SUV, revealing a massive sheet cake with the words Happy 60th Birthday Wendy inscribed on it.

“I hate to ask, but it’s crazy heavy, and I don’t think I’d make it to the cabin without tripping.

It’s literally the only task Dad asked me to handle tonight.

I don’t want to mess it up by dropping it. ”

“I got it.”

“You are a lifesaver. I sent Owen ahead with Tango so we wouldn’t have any mishaps in the car. But my phone died, so I can’t call him.”

“Really, I don’t mind.”

“Good. Because we only have about five minutes before my parents are due to arrive.”

As I carried the cake and followed her off the heavily rutted road toward a path in the woods, she filled me in about the plan for Karl to pretend to take Wendy out for a special birthday dinner, but a surprise phone call would come in before they got to the restaurant, warning him there were trespassers out at the lake property.

“Think she’ll be surprised?” I asked.

“I just hope she’s not mad. They haven’t been out here in a long time.”

Aspen grew quiet as we followed the path through the thick trees toward a clearing. I didn’t want to risk putting a damper on the night, so I joined in her silence.

The aroma of grilled burgers and brats hung in the air, and I wondered if someone had cleaned up the old charcoal grill or brought in another for the occasion.

“How late did you and Kira stay out last night?”

I nearly stumbled over my own two feet at the unexpected question.

I gripped the edge of the tray beneath the sheet cake as though my life depended on it.

I didn’t release a breath until my feet were flat on the ground beneath me, and I double-checked that the cake was still fully intact on the tray in my clutches.

“We all left at the same time,” I said.

Aspen laughed. “I wasn’t insinuating anything.”

“Right.”

“Not that I’d be entirely against it. You two are grown adults.”

This felt like a trap, so I stayed quiet.

“Just know that Kira’s been through a lot.” Her gentle tone was laced with warning, the sign of a true friend. “If you don’t have any intention of treating her right, then maybe the kindest thing you can do is leave her alone.”

“I wasn’t planning . . . She’s not staying.”

“Maybe not,” Aspen said, sounding as though she might know something I didn’t. “But that doesn’t give you license to use her and toss her to the side. If you’re planning to stay in Bluebell Springs, you will run into each other.”

“I’d never do that to her.”

My admission slipped of its own accord. Kira wasn’t just some fling I was pursuing.

But she wasn’t staying either, which meant anything more was off the table.

Not that it mattered if she was staying.

Because nothing would change the fact that she was off limits, out of respect for the family who made me an honorary member of their clan.

So what was she to me?

I didn’t know how to answer that question.

“Good,” said Aspen. “Treat her with respect, and I won’t have any reason to bury your body at the bottom of a really deep lake. One where the water is too cold for you to ever float to the surface.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a little scary?” I teased on a shaky laugh.

She directed a beaming smile at me. “Owen. All the time.”

I followed Aspen through the clearing toward the cabin.

There was something special about the Ghost Lake property filled with laughter, music, and people that brought it to life in a way I hadn’t been able to visualize when Luke showed me the property. Though I preferred my solitude, I could envision hosting the occasional gathering myself.

Too bad Karl wasn’t selling.

Maybe I’d live in the Kniffen Street house for a while. It wasn’t as private as the Westons’ farm or a quiet cabin on Ghost Lake, but it had a decent-sized garage where I could store materials and tools, and the neighbors were friendly. It could work until I found something more permanent.

“You can set the cake right over there,” Aspen directed, indicating a table covered in a sparkly pink tablecloth.

I set the sheet cake beside a wicker basket filled with cards, catching sight of Red over the top of the rounded handle.

There had to be three or four dozen people gathered in the backyard, but my gaze landed on Kira as though I knew she’d be standing by the water. She pointed something out to Opal on the lake. Husker sat by their side, intently staring at a chipmunk perched on a nearby boulder, twitching its tail.

“She only bites when you ask,” Aspen said, nodding toward Kira.

“That the vampire in her?” I teased.

Aspen looked shocked. “She told you?”

I shook my head. “I figured it out.”

“Does she know?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sure she loved that,” Aspen said, laughing. “Well, no promises about the biting thing, then.” She patted me on the shoulder as she walked away.

Good thing, too. Or I might have said the quiet part out loud. How I might not entirely hate getting bitten by Kira.

What the hell am I doing ?

I didn’t know the answer to that, but it didn’t stop my feet from moving in her direction.

On my way to Kira, I spotted Luke, Connor, Thoren, and Owen huddled around a stainless-steel gas grill I recognized from the farm. Their expressions were animated and uplifting. Some were laughing. It reminded me of the better nights overseas, when we were off-duty and telling stories.

None of them saw me.

I considered detouring toward the grill, but Connor would have everything under control. I’d just be in the way.

At least that’s the excuse I clung to as I weaved my way through the crowd, nodding hellos to a few familiar faces, and made my way to Kira.

Husker saw me first.

He popped to all fours, tail wagging earnestly as the chipmunk scurried away. He looked from me, to the boulder the chipmunk dove beneath, and back to me, as though imploring my help in capturing the furry little beast who was taunting him.

“Uncle Beckett.” Opal lit up at the sight of me.

It made me miss my own niece and nephew that much more. If only there were a way to get Madeline and her family out to Bluebell Springs without our parents following, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I liked being an uncle.

My gaze flickered to Kira’s, catching the deep blue of her irises.

I might even like being a dad someday.

“I’m still mad at you, you know,” she said, the warmth in her eyes suggesting the opposite .

I returned a look that called bullshit.

A gentle blush colored her cheeks as she looked back out toward the water.

She’d been acting coy around me ever since I admitted I knew she was Diana Davenport.

It took a little digging, admittedly. But after she mumbled something about Veltori vampires mid-panic attack, I’d been trying to solve that puzzle.

I figured out she recently released a book—her 25 th , according to that celebration cookie—and Alyssa had nearly revealed the name.

I had enough to complete a quick Google search at the bar while I waited for our sodas.

Maybe someday, my sharp detective skills would impress her. I wasn’t sure that day was here yet.

I directed a question to Opal. “What are we looking at?”

“Ducklings,” Opal said excitedly

I spotted a string of six ducklings following a pair of larger ducks, one trailing far behind the group.

“Looks like one’s a little confused,” I said.

“That’s Henry. He gets distracted easily,” Opal explained matter-of-factly. As though she knew Henry personally.

Husker leaned his body against my leg, using his full weight. I reached down to scratch his head.

“Husker likes you,” Opal said to me.

“I like him, too.”

“He doesn’t like many boys.”

Kira’s eyes widened, her lips parted but not moving.

“He likes Dad, Uncle Luke, Uncle Thoren, Uncle Owen, Grandpa Joe, and Grandpa Dale,” Opal said. “And you. ”

Having recovered herself a little, Kira offered me a shrug. “She’s not wrong.”

“Husker didn’t like the bad man,” Opal added.

“Should’ve listened to him,” Kira muttered under her breath.

“Husker protected you, Aunt Kira.”

“Yes he did. Because he’s a really good boy.” Her smile seemed forced, not quite reaching her eyes.

I remembered what Aspen had said, and it fueled something inside me—a mixture of frustration, anger, and protectiveness. My fist balled at my side. Who hurt Kira?

“Husker seems like a smart cookie,” I said.

The pup snapped his head at me at the word cookie . Oops.

“Sorry, bud. But in my defense, you have a lot of buzz words.”

“In case you haven’t figured it out, they all revolve around food,” Kira offered.

“You should carry treats in your pocket,” Opal said, producing one.

“You give sound advice for an eight-year-old.”

“I’ll be nine at the end of the summer,” she stated proudly.

“You’re growing up way too fast, kiddo,” Kira said.

“Aunt Kira, will you come to my birthday party?” she asked, hope sparkling in her eyes.

“Absolutely, I will.”

Was Kira . . . staying? Or would she simply make the trip back? Fuck, I shouldn’t care what the answer was. It didn’t matter what the answer was. We could never be anything more than friends. Friends . We could be friends .

“Hey, Grandma Connie wants you,” Kira said to Opal, nodding toward the crowd closer to the house.

“Uncle Beckett?” Opal said, looking at me as she started to walk away.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t overthink it.” With those words, she sprinted toward Connie. I stared after her as she disappeared into a sea of people. Many of them I recognized; several I did not. It was easier to focus on that—on anything else—other than the gravity of what an eight-year-old just said to me.

“I swear, some days Opal is just an old lady trapped in a kid’s body,” Kira said, her gentle laugh uncoiling the tension I’d unknowingly collected in my shoulders. “Speaking of old ladies, I heard you met some of the book club members.”

“This small-town life is sure something,” I mumbled.

“You planning to stay in Bluebell Springs, then?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest, accentuating parts of her I had no right noticing.

I focused instead on the gooseflesh spreading across bare arms, wishing I’d brought along the flannel jacket in my truck to offer her.

I’d sneak away the first chance I had to retrieve it.

“Yeah, I think I am.”

I followed Kira’s gaze back to the water, to the straggler duckling currently being wrangled by a parent.

“What about you?” I asked, despite knowing better. “You ever consider moving home?”

She flickered her gaze to mine, the setting sun deepening the blue of her eyes, reflecting gold flecks. Shit, when had I moved so close to her? I took a subtle step back to preserve the space between us .

“Can you keep a secret?”

“I’d say I’m good at keeping secrets, but somehow I don’t think that’d go in my favor.”

“You should have told me about the bookstore,” she said, agreeing with my statement. The malice from yesterday was missing entirely in this moment. “But maybe we just agree not to keep secrets from this point on?”

The request felt far more intimate than I think she intended, but I didn’t hesitate to answer. “No more secrets.”

“Good.”

“So?” I asked, scratching Husker’s head now that he was back to leaning against my legs as though anchoring me in place.

“There’s nothing left for me in Omaha, other than Lila.”

“Who’s Lila?”

“My personal assistant.”

“You mean Diana’s personal assistant,” I corrected.

Her gaze instantly darted around, but no one else was within earshot due to the music and light roar of conversation floating through the air.

“No one heard me,” I reassured her.

She narrowed her gaze at me anyway, but her lips curled into a smile she wasn’t able to fight for long. I liked this. Far too much.

I glanced back toward the grill, but only Connor and Owen were there now. If I had any sense, I’d tell Kira to have a nice evening and seek out my buddies. It wasn’t as though she’d be alone. She had friends, too .

Yet my feet stayed rooted in place.

“Husker hates the apartment.” Her gaze dropped to him, still pressed against my jeans. He looked up at me, those giant bat ears making him look extra goofy. “We go for walks, but it’s not the same as having a yard or trails.”

“Why an apartment, then?”

Kira bit her bottom lip, as though weighing how much to share with me. A churning in my gut told me this had something to do with the ex Luke commonly referred to as The Asswipe. “It’s kind of a long story,” she finally said.

“I have time?—”

A loud, piercing whistle silenced the crowd. The music stopped.

“They’re coming!” Thoren announced, his voice carrying effectively. “Get ready to make my mom cry.”

“She’s not going to cry,” Aspen yelled.

I glanced at Kira, and we shared a silent laugh.

It was fucking with my head how natural this felt between us.

As though I’d known her for years instead of days.

I guess in some ways, though, I’d known her longer—through her brothers and their animated stories about the fearless little sister who was not afraid to throw snakes, climb trees, or walk barefoot everywhere as a kid.

She’d always intrigued me, long before I ever met her.

I was about to tell her as much when the crowd yelled, “Surprise!”