Page 18 of Chapel Bend

“Drive me up the damn wall,” I agree.

“Well, you drive me nuts, too, so maybe we’re even.”

“And how do I do that if I’m, as you put it, alwaysbitchy?”

“Exactly.” He points the business end of his fork at me and then takes a bite of his potatoes. “You’re sassy, moody, a good friend, and you can be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen when you’re in your dirty coveralls and trucker hat with your hair all messy. Then you turn around and look like this”—he gestures vaguely my way with that fork—“and you’re just as hot.”

“So, I’m bitchyandhot, and that irritates you?”

“Hell yes.”

We’ve stopped eating and are just staring at each other.

“We’re weird people, Apollo.”

“Don’t I know it,” he mutters and then digs into his steak. “But I can’t help it. We might be really good together, you know.”

“We can’t date each other.” I shake my head and reach for my martini, realize my glass is empty, and wave down Darla. “I need another one, please.”

“You betcha,” she says with a wave.

“We can’t date each other,” I say again, “because we’d end up killing each other, Apollo. I don’t want to die young.”

His lips twitch into that sexy-as-hell smirk that he always flings my way. “But what a way to go, Juniper.”

“Yeah, there’s that.” I nibble on my lip. “What if we tried to get each other out of our systems for a while?”

“You mean, we hang out?” He’s toying with me, and damn if I don’t like it. “Binge-watch some TV, maybe have a healthy cooking competition?”

“That”—I nod slowly—“and, I mean, we could…you know. Be naked together. If we decided that sounded fun.”

“I did enjoy the naked part.”

I stop talking as Darla sets my new drink down and takes the old glass away, but my gaze never leaves Apollo’s.

“I don’t want to tell the others.”

“What do you mean?”

I take a sip of my new martini. “I don’t want to tell Luna and the others that we’re having a little fling. I don’t want the questions or any of the attention. It’s just you and me and nobody else.”

“So, you want us to be a secret?” I can tell by the way his eyes narrow that he doesn’t like that idea.

“No, I don’t want to tell the others because we’re only enjoying each other.” I frown. “It isn’t keeping it a secret so much as not sharing it with them.”

“We live in a small town, Juniper. They probably already know that you’re having dinner with me tonight inpublic.There are no secrets in this town.”

“It’s not a secret,” I insist. “It’s just…not anyone else’s business. That’s all.”

“I’m not crazy about that part, but the rest of it sounds damn good to me.”

“Great, no-strings sex.”

“Whoa.” He holds up his hands and shakes his head. “That’s not what I’m agreeing to. I plan todateyou, Juniper, to see you on a regular basis outside of the little friend group we have going on. Yes, I also plan to have a lot of sex and enjoy you, but it’s not only about the sex. If that’s what you want, I’m not the right guy for that job.”

I’m back to chewing on my lip, wondering if I misheard him. So, he doesn’t just want to fuck? He wants to, like, have a relationship?

Who even am I right now that I’m considering this?

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