Page 22 of The Billionaire and the Runaway

“Let’s go get ice cream,” I announce.

“Well, that’s definitely a way to a girl’s heart,” she giggles. “Come on.” She gets up and walks straight out the side door toward the truck. I jump up and follow her. Hell, I think I might follow her to the ends of the earth.

CHAPTERNINE

Ariana

“Kingsley, I’m here for my grand tour,” I announce as I skip into the farmstand. I twirl in a circle, trying to be theatrical, and instead, I knock over a pile of cabbages.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry,” I mutter as I attempt to pick them up and place them back into a pyramid, which sounds simple enough, but they all just keep rolling off the table.

Kingsley laughs. “I got it, Miss Harlow. There’s a science to it,” he says, trying to make me feel better. I’ve never thought of myself as clumsy until I showed up at this farm. Now, I feel like a toddler learning to walk and not very successfully.

I reach down and hand him a few cabbages and he neatly arranges them like the pro he is.

“It’s just Ariana. And you’re very good at that,” I say as I look around the small store space.

“I may have been doing it for a while,” he admits with a shy grin. Kingsley is probably about my age, maybe a few years younger. He’s attractive in a farmstand-operating-boy sort of way.

“So, you run the farmstand?” I ask because I’m not sure where to start.

He nods. “I started working here in middle school. I’ve known Eric since I was a kid.”

“That’s cool. Are you in school now?”

“Yep. I’m just finishing my freshman year,” he says as he begins pulling lettuce out of a container and organizing them in a refrigerated showcase.

“What are you studying?” I ask as I lean against a wall.

“I’m undecided. I have another semester before I need to declare a major. I just haven’t figured out what I want to do for the rest of my life,” he admits.

“I hear ya. I switched my major freshman year and my dad wanted to kill me,” I say with a roll of my eyes.

“Oh yeah? What were you going to do?” he asks.

“I wanted to be an interior decorator,” I say with a sheepish grin. “I mean, I still like that stuff, but then I started on social media and got a bunch of followers, and it piqued my interest.”

“Yeah, guess I just haven’t figured it out yet,” he says with a shrug.

“Well, you have plenty of time,” I assure him.

I swear he gives me a sad smile, but then quickly looks away. What the hell is that about? I decide not to pry.

“Sooo…tell me about the farmstand,” I say as I look around. The farmstand takes up about half of the giant red barn. There’s a wooden wall that looks to have storage on the other side of it. This part of the barn is two and a half stories high. The only light coming in is from two large barn doors on the front wall and a smaller one on the side wall. It’s sort of dark even with a few hanging lantern lights above. The walls are dark wood and so is the floor. The only pops of color are from the fruit and vegetables in the stands.

I look up at the big empty wall behind the piles of cabbages and lettuce. There’s a single photo and I squint to see it in the dim light. I can make out a much younger Eric and a young girl and two adults. Eric’s family? Then there are two framed newspaper clippings. One about the farmstand opening and one about them winning some award at a county fair.

I run my hand over some purple leaves. “What’s that?” I ask.

“Purple basil. It’s really good. There’s this recipe with gnocchi and some onion and tomatoes…to die for,” he says as he turns the computer on that is set up with a swipe and touchpad for credit cards.

“Do you have other recipes?” I ask.

“Sure. People are always giving me recipes and I’m always looking them up. It’s fun. Sometimes, Eric lets me try them out in his kitchen. Have you seen it there? His kitchen is freaking awesome.”

I laugh. “It is. He just made gnocchi last night. It was really good.” I pause as I look at some plants. “This looks like the one someone put on my desk.”

He blushes as I glance back at him. “That would be from me. It’s a succulent. They’re easy to take care of.”

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