Always On My Mind Page 27
It was early, not close to seven yet, but he liked early. Fewer people. Quiet air.
Or maybe that was just Lucky Harbor.
Either way, he was nearly content, and that in itself was such an odd emotion for him. He shoved the thought aside, uncomfortable with the feeling.
A few snowflakes floated out of the low, dense clouds. At his right, the Pacific Ocean pounded at the shore. The pier was strung with white lights, still shining brightly through the morning gloom. On his left was downtown Lucky Harbor, an oak-lined street of more colorful Victorian buildings strung with the same lights as the pier, still quiet and sleepy.
A month ago, he’d been in another country, hell, practically on another planet, elbows deep in a project rebuilding a water system for war-torn Libya. Before that, he’d been in Haiti for months. And before that, Africa. And before that…Indonesia? It was all rolling together.
He’d seen people at the worst moments in their lives, and at some point, he’d become numb. So much so that when he’d gone to check out a new jobsite at the wrong place, only to have the right place blown to bits by a suicide bomber, he’d realized something.
He didn’t always have to be the guy on the front line. He could design and plan from anywhere. Hell, he could become a consultant instead. Five years of wading knee deep in shit, both figuratively and literally, was enough for anyone. He didn’t want to be in the right hellhole next time.
Polishing off his second bear claw with one more bite, Ben sucked the sugar off his thumb. Turning to head toward his truck, he stopped short at the realization that someone stood watching him.
It was Aubrey, and when he caught her eye, she dropped the things in her hands. “Oh,” she said. “It’s you.”
Her tone suggested she’d just stepped in dog shit with her fancy high-heeled boot. The tone didn’t surprise him. She’d been a few years behind him in school, and they hadn’t traveled in the same circles much. In those years, he’d spent much of his time either in trouble or on the basketball court—the only reason he’d ended up in college and not in jail. Aubrey had been the Hot Girl, the one with a sharp wit and sharper bite.
Few had ever messed with Aubrey.
There’d been an instinctive mistrust between them, as if they both recognized two like-troubled souls and had made a mutual decision to steer clear of each other.
And except for the rare interaction, they had done just that. So he had no idea where the animosity between them came from. It’d simply always been there, like a limb. He crouched to reach for the things she’d dropped.
“I’ve got it,” she said, prickly, bending low to get her own stuff. “I’m fine.”
She certainly looked the part of fine; she always did. Her long blond hair was loose and wavy, held back from her eyes by a pretty pale-blue knit cap. A matching scarf was wrapped around her neck and tucked into a white wool coat covering her to a few inches above her knees. Leather boots met those knees, leaving some bare skin below the hem of her coat. As always, she was completely put together. In fact, she was always so purposely put together, it made him want to ruffle her up.
A crazy thought.
Even crazier, he wanted to know what she was wearing beneath the coat. “Where did you come from?”
“The building.” She scooped up her things, and he grabbed a fallen notebook.
“The building,” he repeated. There were three storefronts in this building, one of the oldest in town. The floral shop, the bakery, and the closed bookstore. She hadn’t come out of the floral shop or the bakery, he knew that much. He glanced at the bookstore.
The windows were no longer boarded up as they’d been the last time he’d been home to Lucky Harbor, and through the glass panes, he could see that the old bookstore was in flux. Shelves were scattered, half empty. Boxes were open on the floor. Someone was cleaning up, packing all the old stuff.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, reaching to take the notebook from him.
Ben didn’t know why he did it, but he held it out of her reach. “It’s a public street.”
Again she reached for the notebook. It was small and like Aubrey herself, neat and tidy. Just a regular pad of paper, opened to a page she’d written on. It was nothing special but clearly his holding on to it was making her uncomfortable. If it’d been any other woman on the planet, he’d have handed it right over.
Instead, he folded his arms.
She narrowed sharp, hazel eyes on him. “I want that back. It’s…my grocery list.”
Grocery list, his ass. It was a list of names, and his was on it. “Why am I on your grocery list?”
“You’re not.” She tried to snatch at it again, but one thing living in third-world countries did for you, it gave you quick instincts.
He held it firmly. “Yes,” he said, looking down at it. “I am. I’m right here. Number four says Ben.”
“It’s Ben. And Jerry. Ice cream,” she informed him.
Bullshit. Straightening, he skimmed the rest of the list. “Cathy Wheaton,” he said, frowning. “Why do I remember that name?”
“You don’t.” Straightening as well, Aubrey tried to crawl up his body to reach the pad.
Ben wasn’t too ashamed to admit he kind of liked that. A lot.
Frustrated, she fisted a hand in his shirt, right over his heart. “Give me that!”
“Wait—I remember,” he said, wincing since she now had a few chest hairs in a tight grip. “Cathy…nice girl. She was the grade in between us, right? A little skinny? Okay, a lot skinny.”
Aubrey went still as stone, and Ben went back to the list. “Mrs. Cappernackle,” he read. “The librarian?”
With her free hand, Aubrey pulled her phone from a pocket and looked pointedly at the time.
He ignored this because his curiosity was getting the better of him. “Mr. Tyler.” He paused. “Wasn’t that your neighbor when you were growing up? That cranky old DA who had you arrested when you put food coloring in his pool and turned it green?”
Her eyes were fascinating. Hazel fire. “Give. Me. My. List,” she said.
No way. This was just getting good. But clearly far more motivated than he, she twisted the grip she had on his shirt, yanking out those few hairs she’d caught.
“Hey. Ouch—”
Aubrey got a better grip on the pad so now they were tug-o-warring over it. “Seriously,” he said. “What’s going on?”
“None of your business,” she said through her teeth, pulling on the pad.
He still didn’t let go, even though his chest was on fire and missing a few hairs now. “It’s my business when you’re carrying around a list with my name on it.”
“Why don’t you Google the name Ben and see how many there are?” she said. “Now leave me alone.”
The door to the floral shop opened, and a uniformed officer walked out. Luke, with impeccable timing, as always. Eyeing the tussle before him, he raised a brow. “What’s up, kids?”
“Officer,” Aubrey said, voice cool, eyes cooler as she yanked the pad from Ben’s fingers. She shoved it into her purse, zipped it, and yanked it up to her shoulder. “This man is bothering me.”
Luke grinned. “Should I arrest him?”
Aubrey slid Ben a speculative look. “Can’t you just shoot him?” she asked hopefully.
Luke’s grin widened. “I could, but there’d be a bunch of paperwork. I hate paperwork. How about I just beat him up a little bit?”
Aubrey didn’t take her eyes off Ben.
Ben cocked his head at her.
Finally she blew out a breath. “Never mind.” Still hugging her purse to herself, she turned, unlocked the bookstore, and vanished back inside it.
The door slammed shut.
“I thought the store was closed,” Ben said, absently rubbing his chest.
“It is,” Luke said. “Mr. Lyons is her uncle. She’s going to renovate and reopen it. She’s living in the tiny little studio above it.”
“How do you know so
much?”
“Because I know all,” Luke said. “And because Mr. Lyons called. He needs a carpenter, so I gave him your number.”
“Mine?”
“You’re still good with a hammer, right?”
“Yeah.” Ben’s phone rang, and he looked at the unfamiliar but local number.
Luke looked too. “That’s him,” he said. “Mr. Lyons.”
Mr. Lyons opened with a gruff “Don’t say no yet.”
Ben sighed. “I’m listening.”
“I need a carpenter.”
Ben slid Luke a look. “So I’ve heard. I’m not a carpenter. I’m a civil engineer.”
“You know damn well before you got all dark and mysterious that you were handy with a set of tools,” Mr. Lyons said.
Luke, who could hear Mr. Lyons’s booming voice, grinned like the Cheshire cat and pointed at Ben.
Ben bit back a sigh. “Why not hire Jax? He’s the best carpenter in town.”
“He’s got a line of customers from Lucky Harbor to Seattle, and I don’t want to wait. My niece Aubrey needs help renovating the bookstore. She wants to reopen next month. I know damn well she can’t afford you, so I’m paying. For my sweet Gwen’s memory. Don’t give Aubrey the bill, and whatever you do, don’t tell her how much you’re going to cost me. I don’t want her worrying about it. She’s going through some stuff, and I want to do this for her. For both my girls.”
“You should be asking me for a bid.”
“I trust you.”
Jesus. “You shouldn’t,” Ben said. “You—”
“Just start the damn work. Shelves. Paint. Hang stuff. Whatever she wants. Can you do it or not?”
Ben started to say no. Hell no. Being closed up in that bookstore with Aubrey for days and days? Surely one of them would kill the other before the month was up.
But he couldn’t deny that he wanted to know what she was up to. “Yeah,” he said. “I can do it.”
Whether he’d survive it was another thing entirely.
Also by Jill Shalvis
The Lucky Harbor Series
Simply Irresistible
The Sweetest Thing
Heating Up the Kitchen (cookbook)
Christmas in Lucky Harbor (omnibus)
Small Town Christmas (anthology)
Head Over Heels
Lucky In Love
At Last
Forever and a Day
“Under the Mistletoe” (short story)
It Had to Be You
Other Novels
White Heat
Blue Flame
Seeing Red
Praise for Jill Shalvis and Her Novels
Forever and a Day
“4½ stars! Top Pick! Shalvis once again racks up a hit with the latest Lucky Harbor novel…laughter is served in doses as generous as the chocolate the heroine relies on to get through the day. Readers will treasure each turn of the page and be sorry when this one is over.”
—RT Book Reviews
“[Shalvis] has quickly become one of my go-to authors of contemporary romance. Her writing is smart, fun, and sexy, and her books never fail to leave a smile on my face long after I’ve closed the last page…one of my very favorite series of all time…Jill Shalvis is an author not to be missed!”
—TheRomanceDish.com
“It’s a small-town romance of the first order…Their romance grows naturally, moving from pure physical chemistry to love in a realistic way. Watching it unfold was the most enjoyable part of the book.”
—All About Romance (LikesBooks.com)
“Jill Shalvis is such a talented author that she brings to life characters who make you laugh, cry, and are a joy to read. In Forever and a Day, we fall for Grace and Josh and hope that their sizzling romance means the start of a future—forever and beyond.”
—RomRevToday.com
At Last
“Shalvis’s latest Lucky Harbor novel is a winner—full of laughter, snark, and a super-hot attraction between the main characters. Shalvis has painted a wonderful world, full of entertaining supporting characters and beautiful scenery.”
—RT Book Reviews
“A sexy, romantic read about starting over and learning from the sins of your past…What I love about Jill Shalvis’s books is that she writes sexy, adorable heroes…the sexual tension is out of this world. And of course, in true Shalvis fashion, she expertly mixes in humor that has you laughing out loud.”
—HeroesandHeartbreakers.com
“A sexy, fun tale from the creative mind of Jill Shalvis…At Last will have you laughing, smiling, and sniffling…Another stellar read I highly recommend; pick up At Last for some pure reading enjoyment.”
—RomRevToday.com
Lucky in Love
“Shalvis pens a tale rife with the three ‘H’s of romance: heat, heart, and humor. Lucky in Love is a down-to-the-toes charmer…It doesn’t matter if you’re chuckling or reaching for an iced drink to cool down the heat her characters generate—Shalvis doesn’t disappoint.”
—RT Book Reviews
“I read most of it with a big fat grin on my face. What can be more fun than watching Lucky Harbor’s goody-two-shoes decide to stop playing it safe and begin to walk on the wild side?”
—Examiner.com
“I always enjoy reading a Jill Shalvis book. She’s a consistently elegant, bold, clever writer…Very witty—I laughed out loud countless times reading Lucky in Love…[It] is also one of the hottest books I’ve read by Ms. Shalvis. Mallory and Ty burn up the sheets (and the pages) with regularity and these scenes are sizzling.”
—All About Romance (LikesBooks.com)
“Whenever I’m looking for a romance to chase away the worries of life, all I have to do is pick up a Jill Shalvis book. Once again she has worked her magic with the totally entertaining Lucky in Love.”
—RomRevToday.com
Head Over Heels
“[A] winning roller-coaster ride…[a] touching, character-rich, laughter-laced, knockout sizzler.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“Healthy doses of humor, lust, and love work their magic as Shalvis tells Chloe’s story…Wit, smoking-hot passion, and endearing tenderness…a big winner.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The Lucky Harbor series has become one of my favorite contemporary series, and Head Over Heels didn’t disappoint…such a fun, sexy book…I think this one can be read as a stand-alone book, but I encourage you to try the first two in the series, where you meet all the characters of this really fun town.”
—USAToday.com
The Sweetest Thing
“A wonderful romance of reunited lovers in a small town. A lot of hot sex, some delightful humor, and plenty of heartwarming emotion make this a book readers will love.”
—RT Book Reviews
“A Perfect 10! Once again Jill Shalvis provides readers with a sexy, funny, hot tale.”
—RomRevToday.com
“Witty, fun, and the characters are fabulous.”
—FreshFiction.com
“It is fabulous revisiting Lucky Harbor! I have been on tenterhooks waiting for Tara and Ford’s story and yet again, Jill Shalvis does not disappoint…A rollicking good time.”
—RomanceJunkiesReviews.com
Simply Irresistible
“Hot, sweet, fun, and romantic! Pure pleasure!”
—Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author
“4 stars!…Introduces some wonderful characters with humor, heartwarming interaction, and an abundance of hot sex. Readers will be eager for the next story.”
—RT Book Reviews
“This often hilarious novel has a few serious surprises, resulting in a delightfully satisfying story.”
—LibraryJournal.com
“Heartwarming and sexy…an abundance of chemistry, smoldering romance, and hilarious sisterly antics.”
—Publishers Weekly
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
A Preview of Once in a Lifetime
Also by Jill Shalvis
Praise for Jill Shalvis and Her Novels
Newsletters
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Jill Shalvis
Excerpt from Once in a Lifetime copyright © 2013 by Jill Shalvis
Cover design by Melody Cassen. Photo by Herman Estevez.