Page 61 of Valentine's in Bayberry

“But this is important...” Her voice softened as though sharing a secret with him. “And we could get reacquainted.”

Wait. What?How had this conversation gone from business to...to something else entirely? What she was insinuating made him intensely uncomfortable.

“Don’t look so surprised,” Brittany said. “You have to know that I always had a thing for you.”

She did?Sure, Carrie had mentioned it in passing, but he just thought Carrie was giving him a hard time. Apparently, he needed to heed more of Carrie’s warnings in the future.

His heart was racing. But not in a good way. This was more like he was in fight-or-flight mode.

The next thing he knew Brittany was right in his face, and then her lips pressed to his. She was kissing him? Right here? In the middle of town?

It took a moment for the shock to subside and his common sense to kick in. He gently pushed her away. He wiped off his lips. A streak of bright red lipstick smeared on the back of his hand.

He glared at her. “What are you doing?”

“You can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“Don’t do that again. Ever.” Anger pumped through his veins. Was it possible that no one had seen what had happened?

He glanced around to find people had stopped in their tracks and were openly staring at them. There were raised eyebrows and gaping mouths.

He restrained his rising anger as he focused back on Brittany. “Since you can’t be professional, I’m going to take my family’s business elsewhere.”

As he strode away, he heard her call out, “But what about the favor I did for you?”

He kept walking. He knew she was referring to adding Totally Chocolate to the Happy Hearts event. The truth of the matter was that Carrie’s business always should have been a part of it. The only reason it hadn’t been initially selected was because ofsome old rivalry stuff between Brittany and Carrie. The way he saw it, he’d done Brittany a favor by getting Totally Chocolate included in the town’s Valentine’s weeklong event.

He wiped off his lips again.Ugh!He hoped he got off all of that lipstick before he saw Carrie. He looked at the back of his hand with the smudge of lipstick. He wiped it off on his jeans.

He needed to tell Carrie what had just happened before she heard it through the grapevine. He didn’t even want to imagine what sort of spin they would put on the unwanted kiss. With his phone in hand, he dialed Carrie’s number. It went to voicemail.

With a sigh, he climbed into his rental car and headed home. When he passed by Carrie’s driveway, he didn’t see her car there.

When he reached his driveaway, instead of pulling in and parking, he merely turned around and headed back to town. He had to find Carrie and clarify things before the busybodies got to her and ruined any chance he might have with her. His nose scrunched up at the memory of Brittany throwing herself at him.

Carrie had told him years ago that Brittany had a thing for him. He chose to ignore it. But this wasn’t high school anymore. And Brittany couldn’t just go around kissing whomever she pleased whenever she pleased. That was just too much. And now he was worried that Carrie would read too much into the meaningless act.

Where is Carrie?

Maybe she was still at the chocolate shop. Maybe she hadn’t left yet. Maybe he was worried about nothing.

It was dark now, but the street lights lining the sidewalk lit up the road. With it being a cold, blustery evening, not many people were out and about. He would presume that most of them were at home, keeping warm. It was where he’d like to be with Carrie by his side.

He pulled up at the end of the alley. He spotted Carrie’s car not far away. Why was she still at the chocolate shop? Was itpossible her plans had changed once more, and he hadn’t gotten the message?

It made no difference to him. If she needed help getting her work done, he would pitch in, if it meant that he got to spend more time with her.

He walked up to the back door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. He rapped his knuckles on the metal door. He waited.

When he didn’t hear anything, he knocked harder. “Carrie!”

He waited some more.

And then the door opened a crack. Carrie stood there in the opening. He noticed she hadn’t swung the door wide open; instead, she opened it just enough for her to see him.

She didn’t smile. “Jackson, I can’t talk now.”

“But I thought we were going to have dinner.”

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