The tables for plating were set back to back and he was very aware of the smell of summer peaches as she moved behind him. He finished and turned to see she was still working, but then she concluded and spun to face him.

  “I think that’s it,” she said, wiping her hands on her curvy hips.

  “It is. Now it’s in the hands of fate,” he said.

  “Fate? You strike me as too cynical to believe in fate.” She gave him that gamine smile of hers again as she tipped her head to the side to study him.

  There was nothing sexual in the pose or the question, but he felt his cock stir. He wanted her. She wasn’t his normal type. That dichotomy of confidence and nerves was usually too chaotic for him, but with Indy it seemed to be making him want her more. “I am, but it’s right up your alley, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe,” she said with a teasing grin.

  “Maybe?”

  “Yes. But I don’t like the feeling I’m getting from you, that because I believe in fate I’m not grounded.”

  “I don’t think that.”

  “What do you think?”

  “That you believe in breaking curses and magical things. I don’t,” he said. “But that doesn’t lessen you in my eyes.”

  Hell. This was why he shouldn’t be here. Why had he said that?

  It was the truth but still...he wished he’d kept it to himself. The sooner this competition was over and he was out of here, the better.

  * * *

  She knew he meant his words as a compliment and took them as one. She wiped her hands on her apron. Nola and Conrad’s assistant weren’t in this staging area. It was just the two of them behind the partition as their dishes were taken out to be served.

  “What happens now?”

  “Nervous?”

  “Since this entire thing started,” she admitted. “You?”

  “Not really.”

  “Of course not,” she muttered. “Can I try yours?”

  “Sure. I’m curious about yours as well. I’m not sure about your biscuits.”

  “Uh, that’s my mama’s recipe, Beast, so watch it.”

  He just tore a piece of the biscuit and put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly and she found herself watching his lips and mouth. God, he had a fine-looking mouth. There was something about it that made her wonder what it would feel like pressed against hers.

  “Not bad.”

  “Not bad? They are damned good. Let me try your bread,” she said, reached for a leftover piece of the sourdough that he’d carved out in order to make his bread bowls.

  The first taste of it against her tongue made her want to moan. It was so good. She loved bread, and this loaf was everything. The texture and the taste were delicious, and she knew they’d complement his soup perfectly. Some doubts about the cheddar she’d added to her biscuits danced through her mind. The cheddar was sharp. Dang.

  She glanced up at him.

  “Not bad.”

  He gave a shout of laughter and she smiled when she heard it. “You’re something else, lady.”

  She shook her head. She wasn’t. She was just a woman determined to have the future she wanted. One away from the woman she’d been. So silly, she thought. But Gilbert Corners was her chance to be the woman she was becoming and find her place. Though he’d asked why she needed Gilbert Corners to succeed, she hadn’t told him that if it didn’t, she’d probably end up back home and back in a life that she didn’t want. Staying in Lansdowne hadn’t been an option for her. She’d always wanted out. But she’d used her time after college to carve out a path for herself. A path out of Lansdowne. And she wasn’t going back.

  She could easily see herself following in her mother’s footsteps back there. Giving up her dreams to become a wife and mother. Not that there was anything wrong with that, except Indy was pretty sure she’d be crappy at them, and it wasn’t her dream.

  “Will they announce the winner soon?” she asked. The clouds were thickening around the edges of Gilbert Manor.

  “Probably. The storm looks pretty fierce.”

  “Yeah, it does. I wasn’t expecting storms like this when I moved here.”

  “Why did you come here?”

  “Nola. She is a whiz at woodworking and joined my show for the last three years. We finished up in Lansdowne and the producers asked us to find another town in need of our help, and Nola suggested Gilbert Corners,” she said.

  “You’re good friends then?”

  “The best. We were college roommates and just hit it off. Again fate stepped in to help me out. Maybe you should be scared.”

  “Of you or of fate? Fate already gave me the finger and I told it to fuck the hell off.”

  He looked like he could handle anything life threw at him. Not just because of his size and the way he stood, as if it would take a bulldozer to move him. But also because of the confidence he exuded. Nothing seemed to faze him.

  “That’s an interesting thought. I guess surviving a car accident like yours would make me feel that way too.”

  He shrugged. “I hope you can take next weekend off because that’s the one I’m claiming.”

  “That will work for me when I win. Glad you’re available.”

  “Still confident after you tried my sourdough?”

  “It takes more than a tasty morsel to rattle me.”

  “Does it?” he asked, leaning closer to her.

  She shifted closer, her head tiping back and her eyes starting to close before she realized what she was doing. She stepped back then realized what she was doing. And stood her ground, her gaze meeting his. An electric spark seemed to arc between them, and the hair on her arms stood up. She was transfixed by the look in his eyes and the memories of watching his mouth move as he’d tried her biscuit. Kissing him was a foregone conclusion.

  He was the first man she’d met since college who had distracted her. Or maybe it was because he was so closely tied to her future plans for Gilbert Corners that she wanted him. But no, she knew it was that mouth. And those broad shoulders and the tattoos that covered his body.

  Conrad Gilbert was temptation incarnate, and no matter the outcome of today’s cook-off, she knew that breaking the curse was no longer the reason why she was interested in him.

  It was carnal. She’d never thought about lust at first sight. She’d always prided herself on liking men for their humor and their intellect, but Conrad had those as well. It wasn’t like he was just a hottie; there was so much more to him. Which was a big red flag.

  One of the reasons she’d left Lansdowne was that she didn’t want to be her mother. The woman who had fallen head over heels in love and then stopped pursuing her own dreams.

  And yes, this was a new century, and there was no reason she had to do that. But Indy knew that when she fell for a guy, she tended to start putting herself second, and she wasn’t going to do that again.

  Not even to break a curse.

  “We’re ready for you two now,” Ophelia said.

  Indy took a deep breath and followed Conrad out into the open in front of the judging table.

  “May the best chef win,” Ophelia said.

  Indy realized she was holding her breath as they waited to hear the results. The plates were taken up to the judges for tasting.

  Conrad was announced the winner, and Indy wasn’t exactly surprised, though she was a bit disappointed. She had a moment to herself while the eyes of the town were on them, and without thinking, she turned to him with a huge grin.

  “Congratulations! I’m sure all of Gilbert Corners is excited that you’ll be coming back next weekend to help with the spring renewal project.”

  She saw the shock on his face, knew there would be a price to pay for her boldness. He could deny it in front of everyone, and there was a moment when their eyes met and she was pretty sure he would.

  “That’s right. I’ll be helping with the spring renewal, and then taking Ms. Belmont away to my lair.”

  Four

  His lair.

  She’d be lying if she said those words hadn’t been on her mind since he’d issued them. He had been a good sport. The incoming storm had necessitated everyone leaving quickly, including Conrad, who just gave her a hard look and told her he’d be in touch.

  What had she been thinking? She’d asked herself that question several times, but the answer was still the same. She’d felt backed into a corner so her impulsiveness had kicked in.

  He hadn’t been in touch despite saying he would be, and she wasn’t entirely sure he’d show up today for the park renewal project she volunteered him for.

  So she was the first one in the park with her garden gloves and weeder. If he didn’t show up, she was planning to say he’d been here earlier and had to leave.

  She groaned at the thought. It was like her dad always said, once a lie is started it can only be kept alive with more lies.

  Ugh.

  Nola was offering discounted coffee to the volunteers and, good as his word, Jeff had shown up and was directing most of them. Indy went to work on one of the beds near the train station.

  She heard the sound of a motorcycle and glanced over her shoulder, relieved as Conrad Gilbert parked his bike, took off his helmet and walked toward her. She almost forgot to breathe as she took in his broad shoulders, skintight tee and the slim-fitting jeans that hugged his body like she wanted to. She was glad she had her sunglasses on, so maybe he wouldn’t be aware of her checking him out as he walked toward her.

  The closer he got though, she started to realize he was still ticked. She brushed off her knees as she stood up, guessing that it would be better to be standing than cowering at his feet when he got to her.

  “Hello, Conrad. So nice to see you here today.”

  He glanced around as if just noticing the townspeople working industriously around him.

  “Yeah, I bet. Were you worried I wouldn’t show up?” he asked.

  She told herself there was nothing sexy about his low-timbered, rough-edged voice, but that was a lie and she knew it. “Yes. Thank you for coming. I know it wasn’t what we agreed but I had to do something for the townspeople.”

  “I swear if you mention the curse, I’m not going to be happy,” he said.

  He was being a bit of a jerk, and it was time to draw the line. She needed him back in town of course, but she wasn’t going to allow him to bully her. “I won’t. But to everyone in Gilbert Corners it’s a real thing and we have to respect that.”

  He made a growling sound, shoved his hands through his thick hair and started to turn away, but Jeff Hamilton stopped him.

  “Conrad, I wasn’t sure you were going to actually come to town for this. I spoke to your cousin Dash on Friday. Thank you for coming and for suggesting that the Gilbert Trust pay for this.”

  She watched as Conrad talked to Jeff. She was surprised to learn that he’d arranged the money for this cleanup. The town council had simply said that funding had been found. She had tentatively hoped she’d already broken the curse in their eyes. Of course, she had lost the bet she’d made with Conrad, and she had no doubt he was going to be very demanding of whatever he asked of her.

  “I’ll help Indy,” he said.

  “Great,” she said, realizing she’d been staring at the two men for too long. “I can use the help on this bed. There’s a stubborn—”

  “I meant with the organizing. This isn’t the kind of thing I normally do,” he said, gesturing to the ground and the overgrown flower beds.

  “I’m glad to have your help on both parts of the project. I can show you what you need to do here. Do you have some extra gloves, Jeff?”

  “Here, take mine. On second thought...you probably need some extra-large ones,” he said, taking a pair from the canvas tote he carried and handing them to Conrad. Jeff waved and went back toward the main park area.

  “I don’t do menial labor.”

  She gave him a look down her nose that never failed to bring even the most recalcitrant person in line. “This is charity.”

  He growled again.

  “You don’t scare me. I need your help getting this thick weed out. I’m not strong enough and your T-shirt is broadcasting the fact that you should be.”

  “Should be?”

  “I don’t judge a book by its cover,” she said.

  Then turned and knelt back down on the ground digging the dirt around the stubborn root. A moment later he knelt to the ground next to her. She took a deep whiff of his cologne which had been teasing her memory since he’d left her a week ago.

  “Which one?”

  “Right here,” she said, pointing to the spot. He worked quickly and efficiently, and for someone who’d professed not to do this kind of work, he was actually really good at it. As he worked, she couldn’t help but study the thorned-branch tattoos on his arms, and in the sunlight she noticed the scars underneath.

  He’d been badly injured. She’d read the newspaper report on his accident when she’d done her research, but seeing the decade-old scars affected her. She almost reached out to touch him, but pulled herself back.

  It was interesting to her that he chose to emphasize his injuries with thorns. She’d never be able to wear her pain on her body. She wrapped it deeply inside where she hoped no one would ever notice it. To her, Conrad had made a brave choice.

  And the more time she spent with him the more he intrigued her. He was like an attic treasure, she thought whimsically. She had no idea what she was going to uncover as she pulled him into the light.

  He was essentially a stranger, and she didn’t want to give him any signals other than she needed his presence to convince the town that the curse was broken.

  He noticed her watching him and pushed his sunglasses up on his head. “What?”

  “Not bad for your first time. If you want to start from that end, we can meet in the middle. Once we get this bed weeded, we can replant the rose bushes.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Do it anyway,” she said with a sweet smile.

  She turned away but not before she caught the edges of a slight grin on his face.

  * * *

  Conrad refused to admit that he was starting to enjoy himself with Indy. She was funny with her little asides and when she forgot herself, she sang little snippets of Taylor Swift songs under her breath—which she clearly didn’t know the words to because she sort of hummed half of the time.

  It didn’t change the fact that he was still pissed off at her for forcing him to come back to Gilbert Corners, but in her shoes, he might have done the same. And he respected that. Grudgingly but still. He respected her.

  He pulled his phone from his pocket and noticed he’d missed a call from Dash. He got up and started to walk away.

  “Hey, where are you going?”

  “I have to make a call. I’ll come back,” he said. He wasn’t used to explaining himself to anyone, and he didn’t particularly like it. He moved down away from the train station and the crowds of townspeople. Some of them seemed genuine curious about him. A few stopped him to congratulate him on the success of his show.

  “Con?”

  “Yeah, what’s up?”

  “Just checking to make sure you’re okay,” Dash said; there was a note in his voice that Conrad hadn’t heard in a long time. Something that he remembered from the teenage years before like had changed.

  “Why?”

  “Saw a picture on social media of you in Gilbert Corners. I’m pretty sure hell hasn’t frozen over—”

  “Fuck off. You know she told everyone I was coming,” he said, but there was no heat in it. He was happy to hear Dash laughing. Something his cousin didn’t do very often.

  “I do—you just normally don’t allow yourself to be manipulated like that.”

  “Well between her comment and you donating the funds for the project, I couldn’t not show up.”

  “I thought that might be the case, but that’s why I was vague about either of us showing up to help. So... Indy Belmont?”

  “What about her?”

  “You like her?”

  “I hadn’t realized I’d dialed in to your talk radio show, Dr. Dash,” Conrad said.

  “So that’s a yes.”

  “I’m hanging up now and I’ll mention to Jeff that you can’t wait to come help next weekend.”

  He hung up the phone and pocketed it. The accident had changed so much between him and his cousin, but until this moment, he hadn’t fully realized what it had taken from them. None of them had been the same after. Conrad had leaned into his anger as he always did and let that drive him away from Gilbert Corners and their grandfather, but also from Dash. Something he wasn’t going to allow to continue.

  “Would you like an iced coffee?”

  He turned to see Indy standing a polite distance from him holding one of two tumblers toward him. “Figured you might want something before we start planting.”

  “Trying to butter me up?”

  “Is it working?”

  “No.”

  He took the tumbler from her and their fingers brushed. Her hands were cool and unblemished, he noticed, her fingers long with no nail polish. He almost turned his hand to take her fingers in his but she pulled her hand back quickly. She blushed as she tucked her hand into the back pocket of her jeans. There was something innocent about her and he didn’t understand it. She was so bold most of the time.

  But every time they touched, it popped up.

  “So...tell me about you,” he said.

  She tipped her head to the side studying him. “Why do you want to know?”

  “I want to be able to give the police as much information as I can on my blackmailer,” he said sardonically. “It’s called getting to know someone.”

 

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