Page 15 of One Night

I swallowed. “Um... I’m working the stall while Huck and Cass enjoy the market. He’s taking over in about ten minutes, and Charles is meeting me here.”

Annie smiled with no hint of jealousy or judgment. “Nice. Have fun!”

Relief washed over me, and I offered a small smile. “Thanks. You too.”

I watched her curls sway as she bounced away, and my eyes flicked to Duke, who was standing with his brother Lee at his booth. His gaze immediately fell, and I was interrupted by the next customer. I shook my head, not knowing what was worse—Annie’s leftovers or secretly lusting after her surrogate older brother Duke.

He was broad and commanding behind his stall. Women flocked to him for the opportunity to flirt with the broody farmer, I had no doubt. Had I had a different last name, I might have done the same. Instead, I learned to school my features and fade into the background. Unlike my little sister, MJ, who flounced up to my table with sunbeams practically shooting out of her ass.

“Good morning!” she singsonged.

I smiled at my little sister and immediately began making her favorite coffee. MJ propped herself up on a stack of milk crates beside the booth. She scanned the crowd, and her eyes stopped. “How’s your secret love affair going?”

My eyes sliced to hers. “Shh! Cut it out.”

MJ giggled and swatted the air. “Whatever. You might say you’re just friends, but there’s no way that man can be friends with a woman.” She gestured toward Duke, but I refused to give in to her. “Just look at him.”

My face warmed as I shoved the paper cup into her hands. “I regret ever telling you.”

She grinned, knowing it was actually true. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing, you know.” She lifted a slim, hopeful shoulder.

“Are you kidding?” I struggled to keep my strained voice at a whisper as I smiled and worked my way through another customer’s order. “It is thedefinitionof the worst thing. What am I supposed to do, ride off into the sunset with Duke Sullivan?Come on. I’d be a pariah. The boys would never speak to me again. They wouldkillhim.”

MJ chewed her lip and sighed. “It would be weird, but they’d get over it eventually.” She shrugged. “Probably.”

I shot her a bland look, because even she knew it was a stretch of the imagination to think my brothers wouldn’t hold on to a grudge, especially if a Sullivan was involved.

“Did you hear Royal duct-taped a harmonica to the underside of Duke’s truck? I guess Duke took it to a mechanic to get it looked at with concerns of a ‘whistling noise’ when they found it.” MJ snorted.

I clenched my jaw to keep from smiling. It was ridiculous to think I wasrelievedthat things were going back to normal. The pranks were dumb and childish, but sometimes even I had to admit they were pretty funny. “I bet he waspissed.”

MJ nodded. “No doubt, but at least things seemed to have settled back to harmless pranks. It’s been weird lately, right?”

I nodded. My sister wasn’t wrong. The Kings and Sullivans had always fought by way of pranking each other, but after the fight, things seemed to change for the worse. Even my brother JP had been more secretive than usual. I’d caught him in more than one hushed conversation with Dad. Plus, Kate Sullivan was acting a little strange at book club, and there were whispers she had uncovered something during the renovation of Tootie’s farmhouse, but no one was really talking about it.

All around it really wasweird.

Regardless, it all added up to anything between Duke and me being completely unrealistic.

A tiny ripple of sadness washed over me. I looked at MJ. “And what about Dad?”

MJ’s smile faltered. When it came to Russell King, no one crossed him and survived it. Even precious little Mint Julepunderstood that. “Dad’s not that bad. With you and him, things are just... complicated.”

I scoffed. Complicated didn’t even begin to describe the relationship between my father and me.

Duke and I weren’t even supposed to befriends. I gritted my teeth to hold back the sting of tears and continued smiling at patrons who passed the booth.

When it was clear I wasn’t going to talk about it anymore, MJ hopped off the crates and wrapped me in a hug. “Gotta run. Lunch tomorrow?”

I nodded, but then she looked over my shoulder and squeezed. “Incoming.”

Following her gaze, I watched Charles walk up to the booth, lost in friendly conversation with Huck. His smile was easygoing and bright. I tried to search his face forsomething—any kind ofmore than friendsfeeling—but came up lacking.

He was justso cleanand, god, I wanted to get dirty.

A low flutter erupted in my belly as my mind flickered to Duke’s wide stance and deep scowl.

I sucked in a breath as Charles approached, and I plastered on a fake smile. Huck took over filling orders for customers, thanking me as I slipped out of my white apron and balled it up behind the table.

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