CHAPTER TWO

CALEB VICKERS

“You called the cops on me?”

“I didn”t do anything, sweetheart. There”s a silent alarm that automatically notifies the police department of a break-in,” I explain, eyeing Sierra’s skintight outfit. It screams sexy Catwoman, if Catwoman had large tits and an ass made for bouncing while riding my cock.

Shit.Time to shake that image out of my head.

I thought I was over my infatuation with my next door neighbor/bane of my existence, Sierra Kipley. From the moment we met at a Chamber of Commerce meeting, sparks flew. Not heart sparks, mind you, just your regular old run-of-the mill fireworks. My one-track mind had hoped they would translate to hot sex, but it immediately became apparent Sierra had other ideas.

Like electing me as her sworn enemy.

At least, that’s what it felt like with every glare in my direction.

So, I played along. If she wanted a fight, then game on. Thus began the Cold Coffee and Cakes War as coined by my best friend’s wife, who also happens to be Sierra’s best friend. And who currently stood in my cafe looking ready to melt to the floor in embarrassment due to Sierra’s crazy antics.

“Is everything alright down here?” A new voice enters the fray as a couple cautiously makes their presence known. James and Shiloh, who live above Sierra”s bakery, come in from the hall that runs along the back of the building, allowing our two businesses and the empty storefront on the other side of Buttercream Dreams access to each other. James has a key to the back door in case of emergencies, so the flashing lights must have disturbed their evening.

“Yep, just have a minor case of B E from our dear friend Sierra here.” She rolls her eyes, and I can”t help but smirk at her attitude. What did she expect to accomplish by sneaking into the cafe? I”m not really upset, and it”s not like I think she’s going to steal from me. But I do wonder what was going through her head.

“Sierra?” Shiloh’s brows reach her hairline as she takes in the odd tableau. Two women dressed like extras in a spy movie. Sheriff Lawson stepping through the front entry. Multi-colored lights beaming across the space in a rhythmic pattern.

It’s a fucking circus at two in the morning.

Sierra waves awkwardly and offers a chagrined smile. Poor Shannon”s in the background, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Cole’s going to have a field day when he learns what his wife has been up to.

“If everything”s alright here, I”m going to head back out,” Sheriff Lawson says. We all know each other, so it’s obvious his authority won’t be necessary. I’m not having Sierra arrested. I’ll deal with her antics myself. Privately.

“Sure, thanks for getting here so quickly.”

He shrugs. “It”s my job.” Then he turns to Sierra. “Avoid doing anything like this in the future, huh?”

She nods, a red blush creeping up her cheeks.

“I”m gonna take that as our cue to go, too. I”m glad everything”s okay.” James and Shiloh escape back upstairs, and Shannon excuses herself as well—ignoring Sierra”s pleading expression for her not to leave.

I”m happy to have everybody clear out. We need to talk without an audience.

“Care to explain what you’re really doing here?” I ask, going behind the counter to grab a couple of bottles of water. It”s too late—early?—to make coffee.

“I don”t have a good explanation,” Sierra says. She slides onto a stool at the end of the counter before dropping her forehead to the linoleum between her crossed arms with a groan.

“Oh, I know that. Do you want me to guess what I think your purpose was?” This whole time I’ve been wracking my brain for an explanation of her behavior when it finally hit me. “You overheard me mention a plan to beat the new competition, so you thought you would sneak in and see what you could find. Am I close?”

“Are you psychic?” The words are garbled from where her face is still buried in her arms.

“No, I just happen to know you, babe. You”re very predictable.”

“Excuse me?” She straightens with a huff, and I hold back a chuckle at the red mark on her forehead. “Would a predictable person be in my current situation? I think not.”

Bracing myself on the other side of the countertop, I twist the cap of her water bottle free before setting it in front of her. My finger lightly taps the flushed spot leftover from banging her head on the counter before she swats it away.

“Maybe they wouldn’t resort to criminal activity, but I figured you’d try to learn my plan. My money was on you badgering Shannon for what she knows from Cole. Guess I’m too irresistible, though, and you had to go straight to the source,”

“Ha! Don’t flatter yourself.” Her eyes flicker to the menu board behind me. “Shannon didn’t know anything. Cole’s lips were zipped tighter than a nun’s chastity belt.”

There’s no disguising my bark of laughter for what it is—pure amusement at her hijinks. “Fuck, Sierra, you can be a real menace, you know that?” Unfortunately, it seems that’s my type. “I warned Cole not to share with Shannon because this is between you and me. This conversation was supposed to happen at a reasonable hour when you decided to hound me for answers, but kudos to you for choosing breaking and entering over coming by for a civilized chat.”

Sierra’s gaze narrows, the deep green nearly eclipsed by her pupils. “Are you saying that you would have told me your grand plan if I’d asked?”

“Yep.” I grin at her snort of disbelief. “Because you’re a key part of it. Our feud is well-known in town, so I’ve been thinking… Why don’t we put this conflict between us to our advantage and stick it to the Chain That Shall Not Be Named?”

“What do you mean?”

Grabbing a folder from underneath the counter, I lay it open for her. It’s full of brainstorming sessions for what’s been on my mind the last three weeks. “Let’s have a competition. Your bakery versus my coffee shop. We’ll drum up business while adding an element of fun for the town. It’s not a secret how you feel about me, and this gives everyone a front row seat to the fireworks.”

She thumbs through the sheets of paper, every once in a while releasing a low hum of interest or biting her lip in thought. Her emotions have always been a distraction for me. They’re just so open and honest. What you see with Sierra is what you get. She doesn’t hide.

It makes me wonder how she looks in bed while her curvy body’s being railed by a—

“This isn”t a totally terrible idea,” she says reluctantly, snapping me out of my wayward thoughts. Clearly, the late hour is fucking with my head and loosening the reins around my inappropriate fascination with Sierra. “What are you thinking as far as contests? A list this long would be impossible to get through.” She holds up the numbered lines of ideas that span one sheet front to back.

“You’re right. I narrowed it down to three rounds. Sort of like a bake-off but with coffee thrown in. Those have stars next to them.” I point out the blue doodles in the margins. “We can brainstorm more ideas tomorrow if those don’t work. After we’ve gotten some sleep.” The clock on the wall across from us shows that it’s nearly 3 A.M. At the rate my mind is devolving into sexual fantasies featuring the one woman in town who absolutely despises me, it’s time to wrap this up before I do something I’ll regret. Like drag her across the counter and claim her sassy mouth for my own.

“Sounds good. Though I won’t be getting much sleep since the bakery opens in a few hours.” A black-gloved hand covers a yawn, reminding me of why we’re even in this predicament, before she starts to back out the way she snuck in.

“You realize you can just walk out the front door, right? There’s no point in sneaking around now.”

“Right.” She flushes. Plastic crunches beneath the flexing fingers around her half-empty water bottle. “Except I’m parked out back and don’t fancy a walk around the block to get there. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Hang on, I’ll walk you out.” Suitor’s Crossing is a safe town, but you can never be too careful. After securing the back door, we silently tread down the short hallway to the building exit, fatigue finally winning out over the adrenaline of earlier.

Sierra slips into her Nissan with a mumbled good-bye before reversing then slowly driving down the dark alley leading to the street. Sighing, I scrub a hand over my tired eyes then retrace my steps to get to my car in front of Brewed. It’s a haphazard parking job considering I rushed over here once my phone alerted me to a break-in. Normally, I would’ve waited for a call from the cops rather than risking my life by confronting a thief or vandal, but the security camera trained on the back door showed an easily recognizable Sierra and Shannon.

And that was all I needed to jump out of bed and hightail it down to Main Street.

Wouldn’t Sierra laugh if she knew how tightly she has me on a string…