4. Becca

4

BECCA

"I can't believe that you didn't want to stick around," Emery says. She's pretty much said the same thing in ten different ways the whole ride home. We’re almost back in Whiskey Run, so for the last forty-five minutes all she’s wanted to talk about was the cowboy that obviously liked me—her words—and me just leaving. That's right. As soon as Lucas won his event, I was ready to get out of there. All I knew was I had to go.

Deciding that it's time to get off the topic of me and my life, I turn toward Emery. "Oh yeah? Did you see that Nash was there?"

She shrugs her shoulders like it's not a big deal. "Nash is everywhere."

"He wants you back," I tell her.

She opens her mouth, but before she can deny it, my phone is ringing. I dig it out of my purse and see Violet's name on the caller ID. "It's Violet," I tell Emery as I answer the phone. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Don't be mad" are her first words to me. Instantly, I prepare myself for what could possibly be about to happen. Nothing good comes when the first sentence is Don’t be mad .

"Don't be mad at you?" I repeat. "What happened?"

"I gave Lucas your number." I gasp and look over at Emery. "Violet gave Lucas my number." I barely get the words out and Emery is laughing. "Way to go, Violet," she says loudly so that Violet can hear her.

"Why would you do that?" I ask her.

She laughs. "Because he wanted it, and you can deny it all you want, but I saw the way you were checking him out."

I gasp. "I was not."

Violet laughs, and I swear it’s like I can see her rolling her eyes at me. "Whatever. Are you mad at me?"

I let out a breath. "I can never be mad at you, Violet." It's the truth. Violet has been a good friend to all of us, and there's no way that I can get mad at her over something like this.

We talk a little more about the event and about Matt and April, and then we hang up. Emery's excited the rest of the way home, wanting to talk about Lucas. But I keep changing the subject to Nash.

She drops me off at home, and I tell her I'll see her at work the next day. I'm barely in the door, setting my purse down when my phone rings. Cautiously, I pick it up and look at the caller ID. It's not a number that I have programmed into it. My stomach tightens. I could easily just let it go to voicemail, but I force myself to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Becca." His voice is deep, and it causes a pull in my lower belly. "Hi." I answer him almost breathlessly and then shake my head, embarrassed. "I mean, hi, who is this?"

He laughs. "This is Lucas. I got your number from your friends."

I sit down on the couch, kicking my shoes off, and inspect my ankle. Thankfully, it’s not swollen and is already feeling better. "So is this your thing? At each event you go to, you pick a girl to hit on?"

He doesn't even laugh. "No, actually, I've never done this before."

I roll my eyes and mutter, "Right" because there's no way I'm going to believe that.

He’s quiet, and I know he heard me. "Look, I know we just met, and you're not going to trust me right off the bat. But how about we get to know each other a little bit?"

I know I should tell him I'm not interested and just hang up. But I figure what's it going to hurt if I talk to him a little bit, maybe just see what he's about?

"Congratulations on your win."

"Thank you. I told you that you were going to be my good luck charm."

I laugh then. "Oh, yeah? So are you saying you didn't win your last event?"

He sounds cocky as he answers. "Oh, I won, but this performance was definitely better than any I've done before."

"It's dangerous, isn't it?" I say it easily, but there's an underlying fear underneath it. It's not like I want him to think I'm worried about him or anything. I mean, we did just meet.

"Yeah, but I've been doing it for a long time. What about you? What do you do?"

"I'm a baker."

"Baker?" he asks, surprise evident in his voice.

"Yeah, you know. I make cakes, cupcakes, pastries, cookies."

He chuckles. "I knew I liked you. It just so happens that I like all of those things." Before I can comment, he asks, "What bakery do you work at? Violet mentioned that you all were from Whiskey Run."

I probably shouldn't give so much of my information out to somebody I just met, but obviously, if he knows I'm from Whiskey Run, it wouldn't be hard to find the one bakery in the town. "I work at Sugar Glaze Bakery.”

He repeats the name of the bakery. "What is your most favorite dessert to make? The one you like the most?"

I don't even have to think about it. "Cherry pie."

"I love cherry pie," he says. "And apple pie, and cookies, and cake." I just have to laugh.

We talk for a few minutes, and just as I'm getting comfortable with him, I start to feel on edge. I've told myself that I wasn't going to do this again, and already, I've fallen under his spell so easily. The deep, warm sound of his voice is almost soothing to me, and it freaks me out just a little. Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, "Hey, I have to go."

He doesn't seem surprised or upset. I hate to admit that that bothers me a little. "Sure. How’s your ankle though? I was worried about you.”

He was worried about me . I suck in a breath. “Good. It’s fine. Not even swollen.”

“Good. You should probably still ice it, though. So can we talk again?"

"Sure," I tell him, even though I’m not going to hold my breath. I’m sure he’s going to be traveling to another event soon, and he’ll forget all about me.

"Have a good night, Becca. I'll be seeing you soon." He hangs up, and I lean my head back on the couch. For the first time in a long time, I seem to have forgotten Thomas, and that's a good feeling.

I’m almost too worked up to sleep, but I have to be at work at four o'clock the next morning. It seems as if I barely get my eyes closed and then I'm having to get up again.

When I get to the bakery, the girls and I are all working to get everything ready for the day. We have a few special orders and special events that are coming up, so Emery, Tara, and I are all in the bakery at once. Emery gave April the day off.

Tara is preparing dough and looks at Emery and me. "I hate that I missed it last night. I bet April was so happy, wasn't she?"

"She was thrilled, and she had no idea. I can't believe that we were all able to keep it a secret. It was perfect, actually." I can feel Emery staring a hole in me, and I almost want to beg her not to say anything to Tara. As soon as she does, Tara is not going to let me live it down.

I start to think that the moment has passed, but Emery opens her mouth. "Becca wouldn't even talk to the perfect rebound guy last night. His name is Lucas Granger. I mean, even his name is sexy."

Tara looks at me in interest. "You found a rebound guy? I told you that's the way to go."

I hold my hands up, shaking my head side to side. "I'm not interested, Tara."

She shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not saying you have to get married. I'm just saying, you know, get busy. Have some fun, have a few orgasms."

She starts to laugh at her own joke, and Emery laughs too. "In all seriousness, you do need to have some fun."

Tara throws her hands up and looks at me. "Yeah, have some fun and have some orgasms." As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she looks behind me, and her mouth drops open. "Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry."

I can feel my face heat, knowing that there's a customer at the counter that probably just heard what Tara said to me.

I turn, and my mouth drops when I see the cowboy standing there. "Lucas?" That's right, Lucas Granger is standing at the counter with his hat in his hand, watching me.

Tara is looking between us. "Wait, what? This is the rebound guy?" she says, pointing at Lucas. I'm so embarrassed. I want the ground to open up and swallow me whole. You can always depend on Tara to just say it like it is.

I try to ignore her and look at Lucas. "What are you doing here?"

He's smiling. "I heard you had good cherry pie."

Without missing a beat, Tara reaches into the display case and pulls out a slice of cherry pie, handing it to me with a fork wrapped in a napkin. "Here you go, he wants a piece of your cherry pie."

I take the plate from her while giving her a dirty look and walk around the counter to stand next to Lucas, handing him the plate. "I'm serious. What are you doing here?"

He has the plate in one hand and his hat in the other. "I wanted to come and see you."

I swallow roughly. It's one thing to talk to him on the phone, but having him right here in front of me is a whole other matter. I can't help but take in his wide shoulders, muscular arms, and handsome face. He looks really good in a cowboy hat, but just as good without one too. He holds the pie out. "What do you think? Do you have a few minutes you could sit down with me?"

I should tell him no, but the guilt of knowing that he drove an hour to get here, I don't have it in me to do that.

I nod. I look at Emery and Tara to let them know I'm going to sit with him and then follow him over to the table. He sets the pie down and then holds the seat out for me. It's weird having a man hold my chair out for me. But when I sit down, he puts his hand on my shoulder and then moves around to sit across from me. He unfolds the silverware and takes one bite of the pie.

I can't take my eyes off his lips as they wrap around the fork. Then he moans, "Wow, that is good pie." I watch him take a few bites and then he holds one out to me. "Do you want some?"

I shake my head. "No, I think I've had enough sugar today." He shrugs his shoulders and takes another bite of the pie before setting it down. "So what is she talking about, a rebound guy?"

I roll my eyes. Of course he heard that. I mean, how could he not? Tara practically screamed it in the shop. Without going into detail, I answer him. "I had a bad breakup. They"—I point toward Emery and Tara, who are trying to act like they're not paying attention to us but obviously are—"seem to think I need to get back on the horse, so to speak."

He nods. "What do you think?"

"About a rebound guy?" I ask him.

"Yeah. What do you think? Do you need a rebound guy?"

Instead of answering his question, I make the comment, "I don't imagine that I'm good company."

He seems surprised by that. "You've obviously been hurt. Can I ask what happened?"

It seems like we've just met, and already, he's wanting to know all of my deepest, darkest secrets. How do you tell somebody that you were a fool that believed in fairy tales and all of that stupid stuff? Gave your virginity to some guy that had been cheating on you and using you? Yeah, I definitely don't want to get into all of that. Not only is it embarrassing, it’s just too much. "Yeah, I was hurt, but I really don't want to get into it. Trust me. It's not worth repeating."