Bad Taste in Men (Clover Park, Book 3) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) (11 page)

He didn’t move. Instead he gently tucked a lock of hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ear. “Do you like that, Rach?” he asked, his voice a whispered rumble in her ear. “Do you like when I kiss you?”

She opened her mouth to deny it, felt like a total hypocrite, and shut it again. Besides, he knew. She’d moaned loud enough. God, this was embarrassing. She should just shut this whole thing down right now. Say something snarky to really piss him off. But then he was cupping the back of her head, holding her there while he trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses down her neck. She swallowed hard, her mind and body at war with themselves. He licked and nipped at the soft dip of her collarbone, and she gasped. His mouth left a hot trail up her neck, skimming her jaw, coming up to the corner of her mouth. Her lips parted in anticipation. She might’ve sighed.

His lips brushed hers, once, twice. “Do you? Say it.”

“No, I hate it.”

And then she grabbed his head and kissed him again to prove it.

He took over the kiss, his tongue delving into her mouth. His hands slid under her bottom and pulled her tight against him. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, forgetting everything but this incredible need to get closer. She had to get closer. His hands were still gripping her ass when they heard a familiar voice. Female.

“Shane?” Janelle called.

Shane jerked away from her, and Rachel slammed to reality with a sickening crash. She suddenly felt shaky and cold from the loss of his body wrapped around hers.

Obviously he didn’t want Janelle to see them together. Hurt sliced through her. She slid down from the counter and quietly slipped out the back door on shaky legs, leaving Shane and Janelle alone.

Chapter Nine

Shane headed for the street-fair meeting in the Clover Park library conference room the next day, wondering how Rachel would react when they saw each other. After they’d kissed at the barbecue, she’d kept her distance, always keeping at least one person between them. But after a scorching kiss like that, he had no plans to pretend he was only interested in her as a friend.

“Why, hello there, Shane,” Miss Smith said as he passed her librarian desk. “Haven’t seen you here in a while.”

Shane couldn’t remember the last time he’d borrowed a book. Whenever he wanted a new cookbook or mystery, he bought it at Rachel’s store. He tried to keep Rachel in business. He didn’t even need the cookbooks since he created his own recipes.

“Hi, Miss Smith. How are you?”

She smiled a rare smile and patted her gray hair in its usual bun. “I’m just fine. You’re such a nice young man. If I were twenty years younger…”

Twenty? More like forty. He felt himself blush anyway from the compliment. Old women loved him for some reason. If only he had that effect on the younger generation.

“I’d better get to my meeting.”

She shook her finger at him. “I want to see your face around here a lot more, Mr. O’Hare. Reading is still an important skill for all ages.”

“I’ll be here every Monday night for the street-fair meeting.”

He headed to the conference room. Only one person here so far, his friend, Gabe Reynolds, wearing what he thought of as a casual outfit: a preppy polo shirt and khakis. Gabe had moved back to Clover Park only a month ago, shedding his expensive suits along with his fast-track job at his dad’s law firm after his dad had died suddenly of a heart attack at age fifty-seven.

“Gabe,” he said, pumping his hand, “they roped you into this, huh?”

Gabe held up his palms. “I’m giving back to the community. It’s my new thing.”

Shane laughed. Gabe had been like a shark with the sharp teeth of his law firm to back him up, so it was hard to picture him as a community volunteer. “What did Rachel promise you?”

“Nothing,” Gabe said indignantly. “Can’t a guy just do his part?”

Shane shook his head. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. There’s this new guy in charge of the street fair, Barry, from that fro-yo place, and I just know he’s going to try to pull some crazy stunt that makes the street fair a total—”

“Hey, guys!” Barry Furnukle waved as he walked in wearing a loud, red Hawaiian shirt. “I brought coupons!”

He handed them each a ten percent off frozen yogurt coupon to his shop The Dancing Cow.

“Thanks,” Gabe said.

Shane stared at it. He didn’t believe in coupons. Quality food was not about a bargain.

Barry sat at the head of the table and rubbed his hands together. “Who else is coming?”

“Rachel,” Shane said.

“That’s it?” Barry asked.

“Whoever else she managed to rope into it,” Gabe said.

“I knew it,” Shane said under his breath.

“I get free coffee for life,” Gabe whispered.

Shane grinned. He’d let that one go. He just hoped Rachel hadn’t promised anyone else the same treatment or they’d never keep the café profitable. Gabe had always helped him with legal questions and paperwork and never charged him. They’d become fast friends after Shane had kicked the ass of that middle school bully. Turned out Gabe, a scrawny “late bloomer” as Gran liked to say, had been tortured by the kid too.

“It’s a lot of work,” Shane said to Barry. “A lot of business owners are busy in the summer.”

Barry pulled a pen from his front shirt pocket along with a Dancing Cow napkin and set them on the table, presumably to take notes. “The more hands, the lighter the work.”

Just then Rachel walked in with Liz and Janelle.

“I brought many hands,” Rachel declared.

Shane went instantly hard. She wore a snug pink T-shirt that read Born to Read. Her black shorts showed lots of leg. He couldn’t wait to get her in his arms again. He tried to catch her eye, but she avoided looking at him and walked to the far side of the table with Liz. She needed a little convincing, a little reminder of their kiss. After the meeting.

Liz waved. “Hi, everyone.”

It was almost like a high school reunion. Shane had graduated with Liz, Rachel, and Gabe. He relaxed. This wouldn’t be too bad.

Janelle slipped into the seat next to Shane and stuck her lip out. “I haven’t heard from you.”

Were they supposed to do something? He shifted closer to the table to hide his massive interest in Rachel.

“I, uh, just saw you yesterday,” Shane said.

She put her hand on his arm and whispered in his ear, “Let’s grab some drinks on Friday. That was fun.”

“I’ll let you know,” he said noncommittally. He really needed to have that talk with her. He’d gotten distracted with Rachel yesterday. He’d never had to reject a woman before. He’d wait until they were alone and explain that he was interested in someone else.

Janelle smiled at him. She pulled a notebook and pen out of her purse. “Rachel wanted me to take notes,” she announced. “I’ll email you all each week with the minutes so we don’t forget what we agreed on.”

“And here I thought the napkin would cover it,” Barry said, waving it in the air.

Liz giggled and quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.

Rachel spoke up. “Barry, I just wanted to let you know what we’ve done in previous years. The street fair is always on Labor Day, and we close Main Street to cars. The sidewalks have sales from all the stores, and in the street we set up games for the kids like bean bag toss, fishing in a kiddy pool, sand art, and face painting. Last year we all went in on an inflatable bounce house.”

“And of course, food,” Shane chimed in. “We have a tent set up with burgers and hot dogs grilled by Garner’s.” He inclined his head toward Liz. She smiled. “And I have a small freezer set up for ice cream with more flavors offered in my shop.”

“Ooh, this year we could offer iced coffee and iced tea from our café,” Rachel said, meeting his eyes for the first time. Their gazes locked. It felt like an invisible thread drew them together even across a table in a room filled with people. This attraction was real and growing with every look, every touch. He wished they were alone right now. He couldn’t wait for the meeting to be over. Her cheeks turned a pretty pink.

“Great idea,” he said, but he meant
I want you so bad
.

Rachel quickly looked away and twirled the end of her braid. Was she really that freaked out by the idea of the two of them? They were good together. Friendship was a great foundation for a relationship, not a reason to avoid one.

Barry scribbled something on his napkin. “So the entire street fair’s on Main Street?”

“That’s where most of the businesses are in town,” Rachel said.

“I’d like the fair to extend to the front of my shop too,” Barry said.

“You’re a mile away from downtown,” Rachel said, her voice amping up a degree in irritation.

“And well worth the walk,” Barry said cheerfully. “People will love cooling off in my spacious air-conditioned shop. And the kids will love seeing the dancing cow giving out wacky glasses.”

“Don’t forget how healthy the frozen yogurt is,” Shane said, looking to get Rachel smiling with their favorite joke.

Barry nodded vigorously. “That too.”

Rachel tipped her head and gave Shane a sideways look. “Why is that again?”

“Because of the pro-bee-otics, of course,” Barry replied.

Shane and Rachel stifled a laugh.

“I should put that right on the sign out front so people will remember,” Barry said. “You and Shane are always forgetting about the most important ingredient.”

“You don’t need a sign,” Shane said, working hard not to crack up. “Just remind them. Much more effective that way.”

He exchanged another amused look with Rachel across the table. She smiled, biting her lip. Her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

“You know it’s actually pronounced—” Gabe started. He jolted as Shane kicked him under the table.

Rachel got herself back under control. “Barry, it’s really too far of a walk. It doesn’t make sense when you’re the only one in the chamber of commerce out there.”

“Don’t forget Derek from Flying Leap Fitness,” Barry said.

“Yes, but what are people going to do at his shop?” Rachel asked.

Barry made a nonexistent muscle. “Get fit.”

“That’s not the point of the street fair,” Rachel said.

“Okay, let’s just table this issue,” Barry said, tapping the table. “Let’s move on to the important stuff. Coupons.”

Shane frowned.

“Coupons,” Rachel repeated, looking like she wanted to throttle Barry. Shane would be happy to watch.

“I love coupons!” Janelle declared. She looked around. “Who doesn’t love a good bargain?”

“Yes, but there’s the paper and printing and distributing,” Rachel said. “Not to mention cleaning up all the coupons that kids lose or throw on the ground.”

Barry stood and walked around to Rachel’s seat. He whipped a coupon out of his shirt pocket. How much did he manage to fit in that pocket? “I present to you ten percent off a frozen yogurt. Come into my shop, try it, and then tell me how you feel about coupons.”

Rachel gingerly took the coupon. “Uh, okay.”

Barry nodded and gamely returned to his seat. “What else? Someone to make balloon animals? Pony rides? Maybe a carousel?”

“There’s not that much room on Main Street,” Gabe said.

“There is if we push it all the way out to my shop,” Barry said. “I’ll host the pony rides in my parking lot.”

Liz looked at Rachel. “That does sound like fun.”

“It sounds expensive,” Rachel said. “And we’re not stretching the fair that far because there’s nothing between downtown and your shop but houses.” She threw her hands up. “It makes no sense!”

Shane intervened. “We should vote on it.”

Rachel shot him a grateful look. No one would vote this in Barry’s favor. He was the new guy, and he just didn’t get how things worked around here.

“How many in favor of extending the fair out to The Dancing Cow?” Gabe asked.

Barry’s hand shot up in the air. Everyone else sat hands down. Barry slowly put his hand down.

“The people have spoken.” Barry frowned. “Guess I’ll have to cancel the ponies,” he muttered under his breath.

“Maybe for another occasion,” Liz said. “It sounds like fun.”

Barry had lots of ideas and lots of friends in the kiddie “entertainment” industry. The group decided to let him make some phone calls to get an idea of costs and then meet again the following Monday.

The meeting adjourned, and everyone stood and gathered their things. Shane waited outside the room for Rachel. He wanted to walk her back to her place, clear the air between them, and kiss her until she was soft and willing again.

Barry got to her first.

“Allow me,” Barry said, holding out an arm to Rachel.

“I can walk,” Rachel said. “I know I’ve got this ankle thing, but I’m managing fine.”

“You’d be doing me a favor,” Barry said with a smile. “I haven’t had a beautiful woman on my arm since, well, I can’t remember when.” He looked at her sheepishly, with an aren’t-I-so-adorable look that made Shane want to puke.

Rachel fell for it. “When you put it that way.”

She took his arm, and they walked out together. Barry was telling her all about frozen yogurt and its many flavors and healthful benefits.

A rare temper flared in Shane as they walked right by him. What was Rachel doing? They liked to make fun of this guy. She looked genuinely interested in what he was saying.

Liz placed a hand on his arm. “Why don’t we all get some ice cream at your shop?”

“Sure,” he said, knowing she was just trying to distract him from Rachel leaving with the fro-yo guy.

“Sounds great!” Janelle chirped.

“You got any of that salted caramel left?” Gabe asked.

“Yup, let’s go.” Shane left with Janelle talking his ear off, Liz and Gabe trailing behind.

When they got outside, he saw Rachel getting into Barry’s Honda Accord. Shane stopped right there on the sidewalk to watch. The bright blue car had a huge Dancing Cow magnet on both sides. There was a loudspeaker mounted on top that actually mooed. They always made fun of that stupid car, and now Rachel was driving around in the thing?

Janelle pulled at his arm. “Come on. I’m hungry.”

He stayed rooted to the sidewalk. The cowmobile drove past Book It and continued down Main Street. Was Rachel taking Barry up on his offer? Was she choosing fro-yo over the far superior ice cream he offered? Really? Fucking Barry the dancing cow?