Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
When he pulled up in front of Rhys’s small, white cottage, he reached across the cab and laid a hand on Rhys’s thigh. “Thank you for working with me. We’ve got a good start, and I know we’re going to find the perfect drink, whether it’s a different version of this one or something else.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so.”
“I should go.” Rhys still didn’t look at him.
“I know. You need to get some sleep, and so do I.”
“Are we working together again tomorrow night?”
“I’m up for it if you are.”
“All right. I’ll come by after work. I’ll bring dinner this time.”
“Sounds good.”
Rhys turned for just a moment and gave him a small smile. It was enough. They’d see each other the next day, and who knew what might happen. So much had already happened in the last twenty-four hours it made Caleb’s head spin.
“Good night, Rhys.”
“Good night, Caleb.”
He waited until Rhys had unlocked his door and disappeared inside, and then he drove back to Cloud Nine, not sure if he would be able to sleep or not since he’d be thinking about nothing but Rhys.
Kate called when Caleb was almost home, and he remembered he’d promised to let her know how apple picking went. “Hi, Kate. How’s it going?” Maybe he could get her talking about herself while he had more time to figure out what he was willing to say about Rhys.
“I’m okay,” she said. “But everything is tense. I hate this stupid case I’m working on, but you don’t want to hear about that any more than I want to talk about it.”
Caleb would have happily listened to all the details of her horrible case because he cared about her, not just because it would keep him from having to reveal too much about Rhys. “You know I’m here to listen to whatever you need to share.”
“It’s even boring to me.”
“Ugh, it must be bad.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
“You’re the one who said it.”
She huffed. “How was apple picking?”
“Fun. I brought home tons of apples, and I’m playing around with an apple puree for drinks.”
“Did you get some of the famous doughnuts?”
“Of course, and they were everything they were hyped to be. It’s too bad I can’t get those to sell in the shop.”
She hummed her agreement. “You should see if Tessa and Finn can make some.”
“I don’t think they want to add frying doughnuts to their busy baking schedule.”
“I guess that would be a big production. Is that why doughnuts usually have their own shop?”
“Yes.”
“Was Rhys there?” Caleb was surprised it had taken her that long to get to the question she surely wanted to ask first.
“Yes.” He wasn’t going to lie, even though he was tempted to.
“Any new developments?”
So damn many, but he wasn’t going to share all of them. Their kiss felt too private. For now, it was only for them. He was certain Rhys wasn’t going to tell anyone since he didn’t even want his friends to know they were working together.
“We talked some. They have rabbits there, and he loves them, so we stayed by the hutch, feeding them treats for a while.”
“Just the two of you?” He heard the interest in her voice, but he wasn’t going to encourage her. Things with Rhys were fragile at best.
“Yes, but don’t read too much into that.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
She obviously didn’t believe him, and telling her about their partnership was only going to add to her skepticism, but he needed someone he could talk to plainly about the festival. “We decided to work together on the festival after all.”
“Ooh, that’s exciting. Are things going better?”
“We’ve only met once, but yes. We made an apple pie latte that isn’t perfect yet but we both agree is a viable candidate. We’re going to try some other ideas tomorrow night.”
“The two of you. All alone. At night.” He didn’t need to see her to know she was smiling maniacally.
“Kate, I told you how difficult it would be for us to be anything but friends.”
“But you would say you’re friends now.”
“Tentatively.”
“He’s not being as ass to you, is he, because—”
“No. He’s not. He knows he doesn’t compromise easily, but he’s trying. I promise he’s nothing like Adrian.” The thought of comparing the two of them was laughable. Rhys might get scared and run from whatever was happening between them, but he wouldn’t deliberately hurt Caleb or deceive him. Caleb was sure of that, and he’d known Adrian was an asshole all along. He’d just taken forever to admit that Adrian wasn’t going to change. He wasn’t going to be fooled like that again. “I’m also not the same person I was when I met Adrian.”
“You’re not, and I’m so glad. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“I know, and I am happy here. This town is great, and now Rhys and I are friends.”