Never Stopped Loving You (6 page)

“It can wait.”

She stared at the speck of dried mud clumped on the side of his brown boots. “What do you want?”

“To set some ground rules.”

Four-letter words started off her tongue, but she bit them back. She needed this job, this place. If it meant following Wade’s requests, then so be it. She’d made her bed, time to get in it. She met his face and his rage took her breath. She wasn’t afraid. He’d never hurt her. The last time she’d seen that face, though, he thought she was being attacked and he’d stepped in to rescue her. She wet her lips and found her voice. “About what?”

“About you working here.”

She crossed her arms under her chest. Wasn’t there somewhere to curl up out of his gaze, forget what all those women said? Instead she held her ground for what she’d earned. “Go ahead.”

“You’re not going to act like you did last time. If I catch you in my barn or in my orchard one time with John, you’re gone.”

The memories of those moments started in, but she pushed them away. The room shrunk smaller. The air so hot and she needed more space. She could tell him Tate just discussed this with her, but she didn’t. Wade deserved the chance to put her in her place. “Okay.”

“I’m not done.”

She waited. Didn’t have words for him. Didn’t want to just come out with “I was so in love with you I did all I could think of to get your attention.”

“When your name is tied to my business, you’re not to date anyone. I know it sounds extreme, but I don’t trust you.” He stood straighter. Stood so much taller and wider. “Not after last time. I won’t have people calling you a slut and whore because you can’t keep it behind closed doors while you work here.”

The burning energy surging through her fizzled out. Right. His name. She already planned to keep her nose extra clean. She couldn’t judge him for his comments and thoughts. It was her actions that led him to believe it all. “Fine.”

“No more talking to John.”

“That’s ridiculous.” And out of the question. She was going to talk to John. To apologize.

“You want a job? My rules.” He’d come closer again. His chest nearly brushed her arms across her chest. “No talking or flirting with John.”

“Are you done?” she ground out between clenched teeth.

He reached forward. She couldn’t move. Part of her didn’t want to. The tip of his finger slipped under the thin strap of her dress. “No more of this kind of stuff.”

“What?” His nail lingered against her skin and she was powerless but to shudder under the soft and gentle touch.

He ripped his hand away as if he’d been burned and gestured at her. “These sexy clothes. No more. We’re a family farm.”

She glanced down at the orange sundress Whitney had instructed her to wear. The cotton skirt reached to just above her knees. It fit across her breasts, but fell loose around her curves below that. The top of the dress didn’t even cut low enough to show any cleavage. “I’ll be sure to pick up some oversized sweats next time I’m in the store. Will that do?”

He didn’t smile. Not that the moment was funny. “You were hell on my life last time you were here, darlin’. It won’t be the same this time around.”

“Like mine was a picnic.” No worries there. She already made him lose his best friend and she wrecked her friendship with Whitney, no doubt leaving him to pick up those pieces. She’d done enough to him, to herself.

He reached for her, and that was his mistake. She had her opening and she ran for it, cutting around and under his arm out the door.

“Kara!”

She didn’t look back or slow down, but hauled ass down the steps as fast as she could in her strappy sandals and went out the door, back to her post at the front. Facing the public and their glances and stares was far better than facing off with Wade.

Chapter Five

For the next agonizing eight hours, Wade kept his distance. Close enough he could see her. Not so close he could hear. After she fled the house away from him, he’d told Whitney not to leave her side again. He wouldn’t have anyone else coming around causing potential problems.

Last time she’d been here, there’d been talk about Kara’s very public sexual actions with John, and he wouldn’t have that repeated or started up again if he could help it. Certainly not with John here on Wade’s farm. And he especially didn’t want John near her later. Just seeing them together had his skin crawling like spiders building a web around him. Hearing the gossip in the house was worse.

And no, as much as Whitney insisted, he was not just keeping tabs on her for his own personal interest. It was also in the name of Chester Farms.

Other than the encounter with Kara, the day had gone smoothly. Local families had poured in. Kids had run around. People had laughed. It was the exact kind of day his mother always like to have. Mom and Dad had always believed in a strong community and he wasn’t planning on changing that anytime soon.

The last of the cars were being packed up and he was itching to get Kara alone again. After seeing John look at her, stare at her breasts, he’d been so damn angry, he’d forgotten to talk to her about the kiss that was a dumb idea from the start. Not that he knew what to say about it, but they needed to clear the air sooner rather than later before it all fell apart on him worse than it already was.

He waved as another family got in their car and he crossed the porch to stand by Whitney. “Where is she?”

“I assume you mean Kara and she’s putting stuff away in the kitchen then coming out to head home.”

“I’ll catch her on her way out.”

“Don’t be a jackass.”

He raised a brow at his sister. “I won’t.”

“You have been all day. Snippy and bossy. She works with us. Not for you.”

“So long as my name goes on her products, she damn well does work for us.”

Tate came from around the corner and stopped next to him. “I’ll second that, but don’t be a jackass. Your hovering and staring is making a bigger scene than Kara is.”

“I’m not hovering and staring,” he bit out.

“Yeah, okay. That’s bullshit, though.”

“Piss off.”

“I don’t know what your hang-up is with that girl.” Tate glanced at Whitney then too. “Either of you. After all Mom and Dad did for her, then how she treated you, Whitney. She doesn’t deserve your friendship.”

“She’s my friend, Tate. And you were off doing your own thing and ignoring us. You don’t know anything.”

Tate shook his head. “I know enough because when she did finally leave, Wade spent a week drunk off his ass on my couch moaning about it all.”

Wade winced, still remembering the piercing pain of that hangover. “That was a long time ago. I don’t want her here, I’m just tolerating her for Whitney’s sake.”

Whitney crossed her arms over her chest. Four inches shorter, she’d never backed down to either of them. “She is my friend and I asked her here, so I better not catch either of you treating her like shit.”

The corners around Tate’s eyes ticked. “For God’s sake, Whitney, watch your mouth.”

“Kiss my ass.”

“Fine. I’ll back off from her.” Wade shook his head. “We wouldn’t want Kara to have one damn bad day in her entire life, never mind how she treated you.”

“Yes.” Kara moved past him, her eyes on the ground. “Because my life has been a peach.”

The sound of her voice pierced through his head and his throat thickened. Ridiculous. His cheeks shouldn’t heat because she heard him being honest, but as he turned and met her blue eyes, the anger softened. “Kara. I’m—”

“But it was all my own making.” Chin up, she glanced around him and to his sister and then to Tate. “And I’m not that person anymore. Just give me time to prove it. See you tomorrow. It’ll be a busy day for me.”

“Actually, Kara.” His sister’s elbow landed sharply in his ribs before she stepped forward and interlocked their arms. “We’re about to head to the bar. It’s tradition. Come with us.”

Kara didn’t blink. He wasn’t sure whether or not she continued to breathe as her gaze slid between them all. “I’m a little tired. The move and after today and all.”

“I won’t take no for an answer. We want you there, don’t we?” Whitney pinned them with a stare.

Wade cleared his throat, only doing this for Whitney. He swore that was the only reason. If Whitney wanted her, then damn it, he’d figure out some way to deal with it. “Sleeping is for the dead. We won’t stay too late. Long enough to grab a beer. Have a few laughs.”

“Shit,” Tate groaned. “Yeah. Sure. It’ll be a party.”

“But I...”

Whitney grabbed her hand and tugged her toward her truck. “No buts. Get your skinny ass—”

“Your mouth, Whitney,” Tate cut in.

Whitney rolled her eyes. “A drink will be good for us all.”

Tate put his hands in his pockets. “Or just a Coke.”

Whitney’s lips parted as she stared at Tate. “Right, that’s a good idea for you, but I’m taking whiskey. Straight up.”

Tate’s gaze swung to Wade’s. “You said you’d watch her after Mom left!”

Wade shrugged. After all this time, that—he didn’t know—spark was in Whitney’s eyes. He hadn’t seen her smile like that since before her dad died. Whether it was because of Kara, the good day or just random coincidence, he couldn’t help but play along with her. “I do. I watch her. Then I drive her home if I need to. Honestly, Tate, she’s only passed out once at the bar.”

That made Kara laugh and Wade was knocked back on his heels from it. She laughed with his sister. He’d seen that since her return. He’d so far not been this close when it happened. The sound echoed through him. Vibrated his already-pulsing blood to racing levels.

What would it be like to have her tucked along his side? His arm over her shoulders? Not to simply put it there—he’d done that before—but for her to want him that close too. Like they were before he’d crossed that line. He shook his head and headed for his own truck. Like hell was he going to be trapped in a small, enclosed place with her sweet scent filling him.

Tempting as it was to stay home and in the barn he was renovating, Wade walked to his truck and climbed in. And Tate hopped in the passenger side. “Guess I better go.”

“No one is making you.”

Tate rolled his eyes. “Let me tell you what’s going to happen. We’ll get to the bar. That jackass John Martin is going to be there and you’ll likely end up in a fight. You’ll either get your nose broken—”

“Thanks for the confidence.”

Tate buckled up and kept on. “Or you’ll kick his ass. Either way it leads back to people talking about us all because Kara returned to town.”

Wade pulled out of the drive and followed after Whitney. “Did you put a fortune teller table in at your store?”

Not that Wade disagreed. With John showing up. He had no plans to get in a fight tonight so it was either spend the evening in disaster at the bar where he fully expected John Martin to show his face or at home wondering if the two of them were making out in a not-so-dark corner.

He meant what he’d said. He wouldn’t have her running around like she had before. Because of the business. And he was only going so that if John caused a problem, he could stop it before it became a big problem.

The parking lot was packed and as he figured, John’s red pickup was parked off the front corner. Wade parked his truck well away along back of the building. Leave it to John Martin to do something like ding his doors for the hell of it.

Tate pointed. “Told you.”

“Anyone ever told you you’re a genius?”

“Anyone told you lately you’ve got a stick up your ass?”

He sighed and shook his head. It was Kara doing this to him. Driving him nuts.

Why,
why
did Kara have to fall for John? Of all the men in the world. Every option out there, she turned and blinked her pretty eyes and long lashes at fucking John Martin. Wade hadn’t realized what a dick the guy was until after she’d stepped between them. And it wasn’t just because John had the woman Wade wanted. Only part of it. He’d never seen such an asshole talk about women the way John had.

The way the guy had trashed Kara’s name that night for those few minutes while Wade had stood unknowingly behind him. Listened to the disgusting ways the man had described her. He’d heard sex talk before. Had heard John talk about other women before, but this was different. This was little Kara Duncan who’d apparently been a virgin and John had gone too damn far with details.

By the time he’d ripped John off that stool and held him up in the air by the front of his shirt, there hadn’t been another damn word whispered about Kara from John. A satisfied smile bloomed over Wade’s mouth. Other people talked but there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

He couldn’t very well go around threatening every old lady in this town who met at noon on Saturdays for sandwiches and sewing, talking about how Kara and John had been caught with the windows steamed up in the parking lot of the local gas station.

“Wade.”

He stopped and glanced back to his brother. “Tate?”

Tate took a breath. “You need to know what you want before you go in there.”

“I want to make sure she doesn’t make a fool of our name by doing something stupid.”

“Are you sure that’s all?”

Wade shrugged. “What else would there be?”

“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe that you were completely head over heels with her years ago and you’ve been restless since she got back?”

Wade snorted and started toward the door. “I wasn’t head over heels. And I’m not anything different.”

“Right.”

Wade headed to the front door of the bar a little faster so as not to get stopped again. It didn’t matter what Tate thought. It was the truth. He was only worried about their name because any other worrying was completely useless. No chemistry. No desire. Hell, proof was right there on the front porch when she hadn’t kissed him back. Or even reacted a little. She didn’t want him.

He jogged around the corner over the loose gravel of the parking lot and caught up to the girls as they reached the door. He grabbed it and held it open, following them into the bar, Tate right on his heels. Four stools were in line at end of the bar and he gestured to them. Thank God for the bathrooms on that end keeping those chairs open.

Kara waved as a few people called her name. The jukebox volume was set to loud as hell and didn’t give her much of a chance to stop and chat. The two hopped on the bar stools, ordered their drinks and Wade sat on the next seat, unhappy that Kara was at the end of the bar and that that whole side of her was open. Brandon, the bartender, looked to him, and Wade ordered a beer while Tate asked for a Coke.

Tate glanced to him. “In case you get drunk off your ass, I’ll DD you.”

“Won’t complete intoxication be as bad on the Chester name as fighting?”

The corner of Tate’s mouth kicked up. “You’re a lazy, sad drunk. Anyone who noticed you bawling into your beer would just think you’re a pansy who can’t hold your liquor.”

Wade scratched his temple with his middle finger toward his brother and glanced to the girls. They faced each other, deep in conversation about whatever girl things they talked about. Well that was good and he didn’t want to interrupt the reconciliation. He spun around, propped his arms on the bar at his back and found half the room staring in their direction and quickly looking another way.

“Nosey-ass bastards.”

Tate chuckled. “You might as well admit it. You’re still hung up on her.”

“Am not.” He so was. The way everything ended years ago was unfinished and left hanging. She disappeared in the middle of the night and that was it. He didn’t get a chance to see her or talk to her. She had just left before he got to respond to her middle finger. Here she was, he had his chance, but she was still taking his breath.

“So this mood is normal for you after a great day at the farm then?”

“I don’t like all this.” He gestured at people giving sidelong glances and whispers with tips of their heads in their direction. “You weren’t here last time. And this is how it was. People staring and glancing away when I caught them.”

Tate nodded. “Give it a week of good behavior on her part and most of it will stop. They’re probably just curious right now. She has been gone all these years and with no warning, she reappears today.”

“If I trusted her to stay on good behavior.”

“You don’t?”

“I don’t trust her when I can’t see her.” And it was the sad truth. Last time he’d turned his back on her, she’d run.

Tate sipped from his drink. “Then hope a teenager gets knocked up by a coach and takes the heat off.”

He shook his head. Now that he was here, this was the last damn place he wanted to be. He should screw it all, screw her and let her hang herself. If she jumped together with John in a not-so-dark corner, then this would be over with. All he’d have to do is turn his beer up, down it in seconds and get them the hell out of there. He stared into the dark longneck, but couldn’t make his arms lift. He could no sooner turn his back on Kara now than he had then.

That was until John Martin started across the room. Only an idiot wouldn’t know where he was headed.

Wade leaned over to Whitney. “Y’all about ready to head out?”

Whitney blinked. “We just got our drinks.”

“So you’re done?”

Whitney shook her head. “No, we’re not done. Chill out. It was a great day. We had a good time.”

John was a few feet away now, weaving his way through the crowd. “We need to go. We shouldn’t have come here this time.”

She spun more and John reached them. “Oh.”

And that was all that reached past her lips as her gaze slid to Kara and back to John.

“Yeah,” was all Wade could say.