Page 23 of Gimme Some Sugar

Carly coughed out a laugh. “Thanks for the reminder.”

Only the last little bit wasn’t exactly true. Not that she wanted to cop to the details of her last kiss, especially since she and Jackson had held true to the whole bygones thing. In fact, she’d barely seen him for the duration of the deck repair project after he’d hightailed it out of her kitchen.

So, yeah. Definitely bygones. Casual or not, the last thing she needed was a man who’d probably end up duping her like Travis had, anyway.

“Sorry. I suppose you’ve been busy at work, and I know the restaurant is important to you,” Sloane said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “But still. All work and no play makes Carly a dull girl.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but seeing as how there’s a definite shortage of candidates willing to polish me to a shine, you may just have to live with dull Carly for the time being. I’m not sure anyone in Pine Mountain would be willing to…what was it you said? Give me some sugar?”

“You’d be surprised. The best men for this kind of thing are usually right under your nose.” Sloane paused in thought. “Take the deck guy for example. He’d be perfect for this. Maybe you can get his number from—”

“No!” Carly jerked up so fast that her coffee sloshed over the death grip she suddenly had on her mug handle. “Uh, I mean, I’m not so sure the deck guy would be a good idea.”

Sloane arched an eyebrow so high that it breached the top rim of her glasses. “Why not? Did you see the man’s biceps? He definitely had second helpings of muscles marinara, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, I know what you mean, all right,” Carly muttered, blowing out a breath.

“Okay, you’re acting very weird. What gives? And don’t even think about sayingnothing. It’s insulting.”

Carly forced herself not to fidget. What was the big deal, anyway? It wasn’t like it was ever going to happen again. “Okay, fine. Last week, before you came home, I kind of…kissed him.”

Sloane choked on her coffee. “I thought it was just a fantasy thing that prompted that verbal slip! You actually kissed muscles marinara? Where?”

“On the mouth,” Carly said obviously.

“No, I meant where were you when it happened,” she replied, starting to laugh. “Not where on his anatomy. Although…”

“The kitchen, the kitchen! We were in the kitchen.” Carly’s cheeks flamed, but it was hard to tell whether it was over the memory of the kiss or the thought of all the other places that kiss could’ve gone.

“You little sneak. Why didn’t you say anything?” Sloane’s baby blues went as wide as ultramarine nickels. “Are you going to see him again? Please, tell me you are. I’m dying over here!”

“No, I’m not going to see him again.” She tried to take a deep breath, only to be denied access to anything even remotely calm. “And I didn’t say anything because we agreed to forget about it. Plus, he likes the Flyers, for God’s sake.”

Her awkward attempt at humor thudded around between them like a giant boulder, and Carly finished the last of her coffee so she’d have something to do other than revisit the whole biceps-scones-hot-kiss scenario in her head.

For the tenth time. This morning.

“And why is it that you’d want to forget about it, poor taste in hockey teams aside? Was it a bad kiss?” Sloane served Carly with a look that suggested she’d lost her mind, but Carly refused to bite.

“No. Yes. I mean—” Carly broke off and took a deep breath. “No, the kiss wasn’t bad, but I barely know him. Add to that the fact that I’m not even technically divorced, I have a career that dominates most of my waking hours, and oh, by the way, I’m leaving Pine Mountain at the first available opportunity, and I don’t think the odds of me getting to know the contractor are too good. Even if it is for...you know. Sugar.”

Carly’s chest filled with resolve, and she held up a hand to stave off the protest she knew Sloane was working up. “So, while it’s nice in theory, in practice I just don’t think that whole friends with benefits thing would work out. Plus, I’m never going to see the guy again, anyway. So that’s why I didn’t tell you.”

Sloane let out a slow sigh. “I hate to see you lonely. But I know better than to mess with you when your mind is made up.” She tipped her head like she was going to say something else, but didn’t. “Well, I guess I’d better get online. Fifty bucks says that wading through the fine print for obtaining Starbucks logo rights is going to take me a couple of hours.”

“Yeah, I have to get to the restaurant anyhow. I know we’re only open for limited service today since it’s the Fourth, but if Adrian beats me there, I’ll still have to listen to him gloat.” Carly swung her feet to the sun-warmed decking, and the image of Jackson’s steady, strong hands as he nailed the boards into place flashed through her mind with startling clarity.

What if…

No. Jackson Carter, with his broad, beautiful chest and those sapphire-blue stunners that crinkled extra when he laughed, was not a possibility, not even in the casual sense. Carly tamped down the memory of his lips on hers, hot and rich and oh-so-good, for the last time. No more thinking about what-if, she decided with a sad nod.

It was time to start thinking about what was.

* * *

“You’relucky I liked you when we started this whole mess.” Shane’s expression suggested he was only half-kidding as he stepped back to eye first Jackson, then the canopy posts scattered on the lawn. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing here?”

Jackson arched a brow, feigning insult. “Of course I know what I’m doing. This is the same tent we used last summer for the Carter family reunion. Once we get the frame together, getting the canopy on it is a piece of cake.”

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