Chapter Seven

“Another reminder why I stayed away from Lakeside.” Rachel stopped in front of the display window of Helen’s gift shop, next door to Bud’s, and stared at nothing. “That’s the kind of publicity we don’t need.”

There had to be a way to make a bigger splash, a bigger buzz. Something that would drown out the gossip of the past.

Beckett came up behind her. He put his warm, strong hands on her shoulders and caught her reflection in the window glass. “I wish I’d never said anything that night. Then Clint Fowler wouldn’t have opened his big mouth tonight.”

“He said you disappeared?”

He made a lazy shrug and dropped his hands. “Traveled around for a while. I sure never told the Fowlers where I went.”

Huh. She didn’t know why she assumed Beck had never left Lakeside. She wanted to ask him where he went and why, but she didn’t need to know. She might want to, but there was no drama there. Stu needed drama.

The sun was setting, the sidewalk dappled with shadows from the trees and the rooflines from the buildings behind them. She turned around to face him, and the attraction she’d felt since she came back to town wrapped around her and gave her a nudge, an idea of how to put a little drama into their evening.

“Truth or Dare?” The words flew from her mouth before she could talk herself out of it.

“Are you serious?”

“Yep. Truth or Dare.”

“Didn’t you get into trouble playing that game before?”

“Lucy’s the one who gave me the dare that night. But now I’m the one asking the question.”

He frowned. “Then go back inside and play it with her.”

Rachel wanted to feel in control again. She didn’t like feeling she had no control when she was around Beckett. “You have to choose. Truth or Dare.”

He sighed. “I don’t know…dare.”

“Kiss me.” She didn’t know what she would have said if he’d chosen truth, but she’d never considered they’d ever be completely truthful with each other.

Beckett glanced around them. “Right here? Right now? There’s probably someone out there with a cell phone waiting for you to do something outrageous like kiss the guy you’re going to be working with.”

That’s the whole point. Drama.

Now that she’d demanded his kiss, her mouth watered and her lips tingled with anticipation. She curled her fingers into his shirt. “Kiss me.”

He didn’t move, studied her for a moment.

“I dare you,” she whispered. She wished she could see his eyes, but the sun had dipped below the horizon. The streetlight was behind him and his face was in the shadows.

“Rachel…” He slipped one arm around her waist and tugged her close. When he lowered his mouth to hers, she moaned from the tasty mix of yeasty beer and hungry man. His beard was soft against her skin. Her fingers tightened on his shirt and she parted her lips because she needed to taste him even more, needed the added sensation of his tongue tangling, rubbing with hers.

She pressed against him as the tingles shooting through her body grew, pulsed. Before she knew it, she was straddling one of his hard thighs, rocking against him, upping the friction as she throbbed between her legs.

A car beeped its horn and they jumped apart. What had she been thinking? She hadn’t been thinking. Why did she keep making mistakes with him? A kiss was one thing. The last thing she should be caught doing was humping Beckett Colburn’s leg.

“Let’s get back to your house. The tablet’s in my car or I’d show you the design right now and get it over with. I’m ready to call it a night.” She strode toward Beckett’s car, then looked over her shoulder. Beckett hadn’t moved. “What’s the matter?”

He shook his head, then started her way. “Nothing. Just a little hard for me to walk at the moment.”

“Oh. Yeah, sorry.” Her face heated. “I don’t know what got into me.” She could never let him know she’d kissed him in the hopes that the pictures went viral.

It didn’t take long to get to Beckett’s house. Rachel couldn’t help but remember that there was no daughter to play chaperone for the two of them tonight. Her body was still buzzing from the desire that had built while they kissed. It had been only a few seconds, but that’s all it had taken. To be attracted to the guy she’d hated for so many years was unexpected. Unbelievable.

They’d agreed last night that just because there was some sort of attraction between them, it didn’t mean it was a good idea to act on it. What if they did have sex and it became a distraction? She had to keep her focus on this project. The make-or-break episode.

Anyway, what if the sex was awful? She wasn’t going to be there that long, but it could make the situation extremely awkward working together. Again, a distraction she didn’t need.

And what if they had amazing sex and things were great…and then they weren’t? The camera would pick up the tension. That would be the worst kind of publicity. Embarrassing. No, some public affection to build buzz was one thing, but it was better to keep things strictly business.

She grabbed her tablet from her rental car and followed Beckett into the house. His tight butt and long legs caught her notice. The dog barked for attention as soon as they stepped through the door. He picked up Mocha and the sight of his large hand cradling that tiny dog made her tremble. Awful sex? She couldn’t imagine that ever being the case.

Focus. No distractions. This is business.

They sat on the sofa again, elbows rubbing, thighs touching. She pulled up the Salvage Station folder on her tablet and passed it to Beckett. She wanted to shift away so she wasn’t touching his tempting bod, but she needed to see what he was looking at and be able to comment, so she leaned against him, like she’d been aching to.

“Give it time to sink in before you say anything,” she told him. “I took what we’d talked about yesterday and added some other things I found online. I located a source for the old fire helmets. I think they’d look great hanging on the wall at the end of the bar.”

“What do you have planned for the wall by the restrooms?”

“I’m sure I can find something in the showroom to hang there.”

“The restroom entrances are opposite the pole, next to the stairs. Be fun to have the fire helmets there.”

“Good idea.”

She took back the tablet for a moment and made a note. Then she pointed out where the ducting would go. The seating she’d planned. And where they’d hang the recycled industrial lighting.

He studied the entire plan then glanced at her. “You’re going to put in landscaping, too? And the sign out front?”

“All part of the service.”

“Everything is handicapped accessible?”

“Of course.”

He went back to studying the plan, as if he were looking for something to complain about.

“I told your family I’d bring the design in tomorrow so they can check it out.”

His expression darkened. “What? You already talked to them?”

She leaned away. “They wanted to be kept in the loop.”

His fingers tightened on the tablet. “This is my bar. You need to go through me. Not my family.”

“Stu told me the agreement was with Noah. I technically should be going through him for all of this.”

He shoved the tablet into her hands and surged to his feet. “I’m the one in front of the damn camera, right?”

He towered over her but she didn’t feel threatened. She knew this was difficult for him. “Right.”

“Then I’m the one to make the decisions.” He slapped his big hand onto his chest. “Me. And I want to be there when it’s discussed with anyone else. Got that?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah. I got it.”

“Good. I want to be there when you go over everything with them in the morning. Can you come in first thing?”

“Of course.”

His tone softened. “Look, it’s a sore subject with me. I’m the youngest, and the rest of the family still treats me that way.”

There was that chip on his shoulder she’d noticed earlier. “When I talk with your family, they speak of you with respect. I don’t get the sense that they don’t trust you. They just want to know what’s going on.”

“You didn’t grow up with them.”

She raised a brow. “No. I grew up with parents who just outright told me what to do and how to do it.”

He sent her a wry smile. “Point taken.”

“So if we can continue, I’d like to scope out the items from the store that are available for us to utilize. Lighting. Furniture. Shelving. Who knows what else? I can’t wait to get in there and poke around.”

“I’ll take you through. Text me when you’re on your way in the morning.”

“I will.”

So there they were. Business completed. Shoulder to shoulder. Hip to hip. Gazing into each other’s eyes. Rachel’s tongue darted out to moisten her lips without even thinking about it. Now Beckett would think she wanted him to kiss her and she didn’t.

Really. She didn’t.

“We can’t do this,” Rachel said. She bounded to her feet and reached for the tablet. Beckett handed it to her, then stared at her for a moment before he stood as well.

“You were the one who asked for a kiss tonight. That wasn’t me.”

“I didn’t say it was you. I’m well aware it was me and it was a mistake.”

His grin nearly undid her. “I don’t know. It was a great kiss.”

“It was a great kiss, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a mistake. I can’t fool around. I need to focus on the show.”

“And now we’re back to the same argument we had last night.”

“It wasn’t an argument. It was a conversation. We both agreed that we’re too invested in this project to threaten it with something as shaky as a physical relationship. So no argument.”

“Damn. No make-up sex, then?”

She chuckled. Damn, she really did like him.

…

Beck didn’t like the nerves dancing in his stomach when he got to Colburn and Sons the next morning. He was nervous about what his family would think about Rachel’s plans. Would they trust his oversight of it, or would they want to have more say in the design?

Ginny pounced on him as soon as he walked in the door. “Heads up. Your parents saw the picture on the village page this morning. They don’t usually check it first thing but they got to it before me.”

“What picture?”

She propped her hands on her hips and looked at him like he was an idiot. “The kiss. I mean, what were you thinking? In public? Right on the sidewalk?”

Fuck. “It was dark. It was spur-of-the-moment craziness.” Beck paused from listing all the excuses he could think of. “Did someone actually post a picture online?”

She scoffed. Yeah, he should know better. “More than one. Tons of comments on the village page. But it’s not all bad. Most people think you’re drumming up interest in the filming.” She paused and when he didn’t reply, she added, “This is why you kissed the woman you always said you hated, isn’t it? The woman you’re going to be working very closely with?”

“It was just a kiss, Ginny.”

“And it must have been while the rest of us were still in Bud’s.” Her voice rose then, indignant. “Right there. Inside. While you guys were kissing. Outside.”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

“You sound tired.” Ginny gasped. “You did more than kiss, didn’t you? Did you sleep with her, Beck?”

“We’re not sleeping together.” Yet. Because, yeah, she was going to be in Lakeside for a while and Beck couldn’t see them resisting the pull they felt for each other much longer. Ginny glanced over his shoulder, and her eyes widened in warning. He straightened his shoulders.

“Beckett?” His mother.

He turned around and beamed her the kind of smile that had gotten him out of trouble for years. “Morning, Mom.”

She shook her head in what clearly was disappointment. “It’s a bad idea to mix business with pleasure. You should know that by now.”

“It was just a kiss, Mom.” A really hot kiss. “I didn’t know anyone would see it.”

“That doesn’t make it any better. You can’t forget that what you and she do together doesn’t just affect you personally.”

She was right. He knew she was, but man, here he was, getting scolded again by his mother.

“Not only could you get hurt,” his mother went on, “and I don’t want to see you get hurt, but she could hurt our business, too. And we can’t let that happen.”

“Rachel wouldn’t hurt our business,” he assured her even as he remembered worrying about the same thing only a couple of days ago.

“And emotions can cloud our judgment.”

“My judgment, you mean?” he snapped.

“Anyone’s judgment.”

“I’m not going to let her do something bad for the business because of one kiss.” Okay, two kisses. “You guys are the ones who brought her here in the first place, remember?”

“And you’re the one who kissed her.” He hadn’t heard Pop approach. That wheelchair was like a stealth bomber. “You couldn’t keep your hands off her. What are you, a teenager?”

A throat cleared behind them. “The kiss was just for publicity, didn’t he tell you that?” How long had Rachel been there?

“Publicity?” Pop repeated.

Publicity? Beck met Rachel’s gaze and hoped she didn’t see the betrayal he felt in his eyes. He swallowed. “Yeah, why else would we kiss out in the open like that?”

“I knew it,” Ginny whooped.

“Why didn’t you say that to begin with?” his mother asked.

“I wanted to see if you trusted me,” he lied. But he had his answer. Not much. And he’d also learned that the kiss he thought was real was only to generate more buzz. Great morning this turned out to be.

His parents managed to look a little guilty.

“It worked!” Ginny waved the tablet in the air, then turned to Rachel. “Did you see all the comments?”

Rachel nodded. “I can show you the design I came up with now.” Her voice was a little flat. She’d probably heard a lot that was said. “Beckett gave his approval, so I hope you’ll be just as pleased.”

They went into the conference room and gathered around Pop’s desk. Beck stood back and let Rachel make her pitch. He didn’t think he could say anything tactful at the moment, so he kept his mouth shut. When both Mom and Pop looked up at him with a smile, he couldn’t help but wonder if they would have approved Rachel’s design if there hadn’t been the argument beforehand. Not only sexual emotions affected judgment.

“Your Pop and I like what she’s come up with. But more important, what do you think? You’ll be the one working there. The place is your vision. Are you happy with it?”

This was the first time his mom had spoken positively about the project and the first time she admitted he’d be working at the bar instead of salvaging full time. But again, did she say that because he’d made her feel guilty earlier? “Yeah, I’m happy with it. She listened to what I wanted and, while it wasn’t what I had in mind, in the end she came up with something even better.”

“I like that she wants to use our salvage,” Pop added. “The Salvage Station is part of the Colburn and Sons family, and this will tie it in even more.”

“We could even go crazier and put stuff up for sale in the bar,” Rachel said.

“What?” She didn’t mention that last night.

“I thought about it when I stopped at The Coffee Mug this morning. They have all those shelves of colorful mugs for sale. Their ground coffee is, too. Even some of the art on the walls.” Her expression was bright, excited. Beautiful. Beck’s heart began to race. Her excitement was contagious. “Maybe not the lighting fixtures because they would be a pain to switch out but, except for the old fire helmets, most of the art on the walls will come directly from your showroom. Some of those mirrors could go in the entryway and restrooms. Even the tables and chairs, if you have enough in storage to switch them out.”

“I never would have thought of all that.” Pop’s smile told them he liked the idea.

“Beckett’s going to show me around today. I’ll see what else comes to mind.” She smiled up at Beck and after a moment of hesitation, he smiled back. He knew he had no right to be upset about the kiss. She’d never pretended she was here for anything but doing what she could to save her show.

“We’re going to want at least one cool bench for along this wall here,” she continued. “And another for outside, for when people are waiting for friends. We’re going to have to upgrade the restrooms to get up to code, and we’ll get rid of the utilitarian look, too. You’ll need a sturdy but cool entry door.” She grinned. “I’ve got a list. And whatever we don’t find here, I’ll find online and order. My sources are very fast.”

“I’m impressed,” Mom said. “This is so exciting.”

“It’ll be even more exciting when the TV cameras come,” Pop added.

“Oh, and don’t forget next week is Fourth Fest,” Mom added. “We always host a Fourth of July cookout at our home and, Rachel, you and your TV friends are welcome.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Colburn. I forgot about the Fourth of July coming up. I didn’t know Lakeside still held the Fourth Fest.”

Noah had come in at some point and was leaning against the doorjamb, listening. Now he stepped into the room. “This is the fiftieth year. It should be quite a celebration.”

“And you’re still not going to be here,” Mom scolded.

“Sorry, Mom. It’s July.” He turned to Rachel. “I promised my wife when I asked her to marry me. The trip’s already planned.”

“Noah and his wife, Anita, take July off to travel,” Beck explained. “This year it’s where, Noah?”

“Egypt. Anita’s always wanted to see the pyramids.”

“Wow, sounds great,” Rachel said. “Where else have you gone?”

“Last year we went to the Greek Isles.”

“I’m jealous,” she said. “You’ll be here when the crew arrives on Monday, right?”

“We won’t be leaving until Thursday, the first.”

“Good, I know Stu expects to talk to you when he gets here about the filming he wants to do around town.”

“Of course. How are the design plans coming?”

Beck didn’t want to hear it for a third time. When Rachel mentioned benches for outside, he remembered some old church pews stacked out back. They were in rough shape, but he could salvage enough of the original wood and find some metal for the legs. He’d show them to Rachel when they started to scavenge.

…

It was a calm day and the sun shining down made Lake Margaret sparkle. Beckett had suggested grabbing sandwiches and eating in the park after they spent the morning scavenging the showroom and storage yard at Colburn and Sons. She’d had fun. School was out and kids were running around the playground on the other side of the stretch of sand and grass.

They sat beside each other on the picnic table bench so they could both look out over the lake. “I’ve missed the water,” she murmured. The colors always took her breath away. The soft blues from the sky melting into the varied shades of the water. The bright greens from the grass and the trees were a dynamic contrast. She could sit here all day.

“Don’t you live by the ocean?”

“Miles away. I’m somewhere else as often as I’m home, anyway.”

“That’s tough. Or do you like it that way?”

No one had asked her that before. “I’ve done it for so long now I don’t know anything else.”

“You ever miss Lakeside? You know, with the water and all.”

She glanced at him and resisted rolling her eyes. “No.”

“Okay, short and sweet.” He chuckled wryly and she felt a little guilty for keeping the answer so simple.

She wasn’t used to explaining herself. She could chat easily on camera, but it was hard when she was just being herself. “My family. The gossipy villagers. Being a million miles away from everything. That’s just off the top of my head.” Beckett used to be on that list, but she couldn’t put him there anymore. She shrugged. “I never belonged in Lakeside.”

“Tell me about where you live now. You got a house?”

She scoffed. “I rent a one-bedroom apartment in L.A.” She could afford something bigger but that would just be a waste of money. “It’s small, but I have all the room I need. I’m hardly ever there.” It didn’t escape her notice that while she worked to make other people’s houses feel like home, she’d never really had a place like that for herself.

“So you never wanted to settle down? Like with a family?”

“Not a good idea when you have to keep scrambling to promote yourself, your talent, your skills. No time to rest on your laurels, you know?” That was the Bradford motto. “If I don’t watch out, the next best thing will be somebody else.”

“Sounds tiring.”

Rachel chuckled. No sense in agreeing. She’d decided years ago to focus all her energies on her goals. She wasn’t going to stop now. “Back in high school I would have thought you’d be the one out searching for your dreams.”

Beckett’s brows lifted. “You told me I was going to be stuck in Lakeside working for my parents my whole life.”

She’d said a lot of horrible things that night. They both had. “Haven’t we both apologized enough for the stupid things we said to each other that night?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

They ate in companionable silence for a moment. No one seemed to be paying much attention to them. It was nice to feel like a normal person once in a while. Until Becket spoke up.

“Guess it wasn’t dark enough on the sidewalk after all last night.”

She knew he’d felt blindsided when she announced to his parents that their kiss had been staged. She should have told him of her plan ahead of time. In that moment, though, with the shadows and heightened emotions, she’d wanted to kiss him. She’d used Stu’s demand for drama only as an excuse to justify her dare.

Hmm, strange she hadn’t heard from Stu today.

She pulled her phone from the pocket of her shorts. “Crap, I turned the ringer off when I went to bed last night and forgot to turn it back on. Missed calls from my mother. And Ethan. And Stu.” She looked over at Beckett. “Do I want to listen to these messages?”

“Don’t know if you want to, but you probably should.”

The first message from her mother was left last night, so it couldn’t be about the pictures online this morning. “I wish you’d answer your phone when I want to talk to you. I’ve invited some people over tomorrow night. Dress for dinner and be here by six o’clock.”

She moaned and dropped her forehead to the picnic table.

“Trouble?” He ran a soothing hand down her back, then snatched it away as if he remembered the attraction wasn’t supposed to be real.

She sat up and shifted on the bench to face him. “My mother is having a dinner party tonight and has commanded me to attend.”

“Commanded, huh?”

“She likes to be in command.”

“Maybe the other messages will be better.”

She groaned and clicked on Ethan’s message.

“What the hell, Rachel? Do you have to slum it with a Colburn? Or don’t you care what you do for free publicity?”

She hit delete. Then played Stu’s message.

“Glad to see you were paying attention. Would have been better if there’d been more light, but I can recognize you both and that’s what counts. Play that up some more.” He laughed. “A romance with a client. Your fans will eat it up.”

Rachel dropped her head to the table again and groaned. “My boss is delighted our kiss has hit social media. He wants us to pretend to have a thing while we’re here.”

Beck stared at her for a moment, then handed her a lemonade. “Sorry there’s no alcohol in here, but maybe the sugar will help.”

She gulped some of the drink. “I should just toss my phone.”

His voice was flat as he asked, “Do you have to do that often? Pretend to be dating?”

She shrugged. It didn’t usually bother her. “Once in a while.” She took another sip of the lemonade. “It’s all a game to keep your name in the news.”

“That sounds tiring, too.”

Right now she was tired of games. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” Beckett said. “I don’t expect you to pretend to date me.”

“No, I mean I’m sorry for kissing you under false pretenses.”

He slid his hand over hers. “That wasn’t a pretend kiss.”

She shivered from the contact. “No, it wasn’t. But I promise to discuss it with you before we do anything else for show.” She checked the time. “If I’m going to get ready for this dinner party, I should probably head back to the inn. Thanks for lunch. It was delicious and nice to spend some time at the lake again.”

He threaded his fingers with hers. “Do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

She was surprised to realize that even if she’d had something planned, she might have cancelled it if it meant spending more time with Beckett Colburn. “No plans. I think I’ve done everything I can to get ready before the crew gets here.”

“I have a boat. It’s not big or fancy, but we could go out on the lake, get away from people. Away from family.” He leaned in close, his lips brushing her ear. “We could have some private time before cameras invade our lives. What do you think?”

It probably wasn’t a great idea. More like a mistake. Still, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I’d love to.”