Alex (BIG Northwest Book 2) Read online

  “You gonna sit on your ass and scoot there?” Edward leaned to look at the white pants she wore. “You might be able to salvage them now, but I guarantee you won’t get an acre of grass stains off the backside.”

  “Oh. Because I’m sure you’re so experienced at stain removal.” The sarcasm dripped from her words.

  “Actually I am.” He turned away. “My dad made sure I could take care of myself.” Edward curved his arms, tucking his hands close to his sides, assuming the piggy-back position. “Come on, Al. Don’t be a chicken.”

  “I’m not a chicken.” She tucked her chin, blue eyes moving over his stance.

  “You ever had a piggy back before?”

  She hesitated. “I don’t see what that has to do with any of this.”

  Edward crouched lower. “Just wrap your arms around my neck and hold on. It’s not scary.”

  She looked unconvinced.

  “Come on. We’ve got work to do.” Edward wiggled his fingers. “Let’s go.”

  Alex glared at him.

  But then she did something surprising.

  She leaned against his back, the long line of her body pressing into him as she grabbed on. “If you drop me—”

  “If I drop you we’re both going down.” Edward hooked his hands around her thighs and bounced her body into place.

  Alex yelped, her hold on his neck tightening.

  “Relax. I just had to get you in the right spot.” Edward walked to the door. “You need anything before we go?”

  “Shouldn’t you have asked that before now?”

  “Probably. But it is what it is.” He paused at the door. “Are we getting anything?”

  She shook her head. “Just go.”

  Alex was silent as he hiked them across the grass toward where her office sat just off the main road, around the corner from the rest of the tiny downtown. “You’re awfully quiet back there, Al.”

  “I’m trying not to suffer a brain injury from all the bouncing.”

  “So next time I should throw you over my shoulder?” He put a little more lift into each step, just to aggravate her.

  Alex’s arms tightened around his neck. “You’re just doing that to piss me off.”

  “That might be why I do most things, Al.” He grinned. “It’s fun to piss you off.” He adjusted her weight before reaching to open the door.

  “Maybe for you.” Alex let out a grunt as he dropped her butt into the chair behind the overloaded desk he where caught her working late into the night.

  “I need a little fun in my life.” Edward turned his head, glancing around the space for something she could put under her ankle. A metal stool sat in the front corner near the large window. He took the plant off of it and set it beside her chair. “Foot up.”

  Alex’s head fell back against her chair. “What did I do to deserve this?”

  “Probably something awful.” He snagged a pillow from one of the chairs on the other side of her desk and set it on top of the stool. “You should probably reevaluate your life choices.”

  “My life choices are just fine, thank you.”

  “Says the woman whose entire life is working from sunup to sundown.”

  “And what’s wrong with that?” Alex jumped a little as he reached down to grab her calf. “What are you doing?”

  “What you’d be doing if you weren’t so damn hell-bent of refusing to do anything I want you to do.” He carefully set her foot on the pillow. “It’s starting to bruise, Al.”

  “I’m freaking fine!”

  Alex’s lips pressed together, eyes wide on his as if the outburst surprised her.

  “Good. Then let’s get to work.” He dragged one of the green armchairs around the desk, setting it right next to hers. “Where are we starting?”

  “I—” Alex blinked. “I don’t even know what to say to you at this point.”

  “Just tell me what you’re working on. I’m a pretty smart guy. I can figure it out.”

  “Pretty smart gu—”

  He lifted one finger at her. “Don’t start with your bullshit.”

  Her dark lashes nearly reached her brows. “My bullshit?”

  “The conceited bullshit I know was coming.” He turned the pointing finger on himself. “I worked real fucking hard to know what I know, Al, and I’m not going to feel bad for admitting it.”

  She pursed her lips as her nostrils flared. “You’re—”

  “An asshole. I know.”

  “That’s not what I was going to say.” She smirked at him like she’d finally gotten one up on him. “I was going to say, you’re all sweaty.”

  “Well I just carried some chick halfway across town, so.”

  “Shadow Pine is tiny.” She lifted one brow at him. “Halfway across town is the same as the distance from my kitchen to my bedroom.”

  He’d been doing so good this morning. Keeping his mind in the right place even when Alex’s legs were practically wrapped around his waist.

  But that comment tested his resolve. “Not sure I’ll be checking your math on that one, Al.”

  Her cheeks barely flushed. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “It’s what you said, though.” He leaned back in the surprisingly comfortable seat. “Are we working, or would you like to keep discussing how long it would take me to get to your bedroom.” He shot her a grin. “Hypothetically, of course.”

  Alex glared at him a minute longer, the pink on her cheeks deepening to the point it was difficult to determine if it was from frustration, embarrassment, or something else.

  Something he would end up wanting to consider more than he should.

  She was his friend’s sister.

  She was hell on wheels.

  A pile of aggravation wrapped in a personality made of fire and sass.

  Finally her head snapped to the computer on her desk. “Do you know anything about advertising?”

  Edward tried to hide his surprise at the question. “Some.”

  “Of course you do.” Alex woke the laptop up, her background immediately popping up.

  “What is that a picture of?” He leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the grainy shot.

  “Nothing.” Alex immediately pulled up a spreadsheet, the lines blocking out what looked like collapsing buildings tucked into dense forest. “Do you want to help or not?”

  “I’m at your disposal.”

  Alex peeked his way out of the corner of one eye. “You’ve been difficult to dispose of so far.”

  “You definitely can’t do it now.” He nodded to her foot. “Gimp.”

  “It’s your fault. You made me do it.”

  “I made you block me into the camper?” Edward grabbed a pad of paper from the corner of her desk and snagged a pen from the painted ceramic container behind Alex’s computer. “Sounds suspect.”

  “You’re suspect.”

  “Gotta have the last word, don’t you, Al?” He rested his pen against the paper, ready to write. “What kind of advertising options are you considering?”

  She poked her finger in the direction of the monitor. “It’s all right there.”

  He’d already scanned the options Alex had listed and assumed there were some missing. “These are all about as archaic as advertising options get.”

  “Well excuse me that we’re not as advanced as your neck of the woods.” Alex crossed her arms. “This is what people around here are used to. Newspapers. Flyers. Radio ads. It’s how it works here.”

  “First of all, everyone uses the internet. Doesn’t matter where they’re from.” Edward started his own list. “Do you have a website?”

  “Why would we have a website?”

  “Because you want people to be able to find you.” He wrote build website at the top of the paper.

  Alex was silent.

  Edward glanced up at her. “You do want people to find you, correct?”

  Alex let out a little breath. “Yes.”

  “Okay then. We need to get a site
started.” Edward tapped the pen against the paper as he worked through the options. “We can have all the businesses on the same site for now. Maybe branch them off later if traffic is too much.” His eyes jumped to hers. “What about a business page on Facebook? Do you have one of those?”

  Alex blinked at him. “No.”

  Edward added that next. “That’s where we can start. We can do that ourselves.”

  “I don’t even know who to call about building a website.” For the first time Alex seemed a little uncertain.

  A little hesitant.

  She was out of her comfort zone and it showed.

  “I do.” He pointed the tip of the pen her way. “And you tried to kick me out.”

  “I still might.” Her lips almost turned up at the corners before Alex pressed them tightly together.

  “You can try.” Edward tipped his head toward her ankle. “I think we need some more ice for that.”

  Alex eyed the swollen joint.

  “If I leave are you going to hurt it worse trying to lock me out?”

  She shrugged. “Probably.”

  He grinned. “Lance’ll kill me if you suffer irreparable damage because of me.”

  “If you’re trying to deter me then that’s probably not the best way to do it.” That same almost smile teased across her lips.

  Edward stood up from the chair. “I’ll be back. Make good choices.”

  She snorted. “You sound like a kindergarten teacher.”

  It was an offhanded comment meant to chafe him, just like everything else she said to him.

  Only this time it worked.

  But not for the reason she intended.

  Edward tossed the pad of paper and pen onto Alex’s desk and left, the odd reaction to her words making him need a little air.

  A little space.

  He went straight to Charlie’s shop. She was the sister who seemed to like him best yesterday. Hopefully that was still true.

  A group of people milled around the rows of shelves lined with books while two men in dirty jeans and boots waited at the counter. A white shorthair cat was stretched across the surface, her tail flicking as she watched the men with half-shut eyes. Charlie stood behind the counter, sticking labels to a row of small boxes. Edward stood in line behind the men, giving them a nod when they turned to give him a once-over. As soon as the men walked away Charlie gave him a bright smile. “Edward! How are you?” Her smile shifted to a cringe. “How long were you stuck in the camper?”

  “Not too long.” He stepped up to the counter. “Do you have any ice here? Alex hurt her ankle.”

  “I do.” Charlie rounded the corner and slid open a chest freezer, pulling out a large bag of ice. “Here ya go.”

  “I don’t know that I need that much.” He glanced into the cooler. “You have anything smaller?”

  Charlie ripped off a couple of plastic bags. “Here.” She stabbed the bag of ice with a pair of scissors and dug out some of the chunks, adding them to the double bags. “Try this.” She held it out his way, her smile back.

  “It’s perfect.” Edward took the bag. “You think pretty fast on your feet.”

  Charlie shrugged. “I guess.”

  He lifted the bag. “Thanks.”

  “Sure.” Charlie went back behind the counter. “Let me know if she needs anything else.”

  “Will do.” Edward started for the door, scanning the store as he went. It was an odd combination of things. Books. Random household items.

  Bait.

  He turned back to Charlie. “Do you sell t-shirts or cups or anything?”

  Her brows came together over the top of the dark-framed glasses perched on her nose. “Um, yeah.” Charlie pointed to the line of items he’d just been eyeing. “You just looked at them.”

  “No. I mean stuff with your logo on it.”

  Charlie’s brow furrowed. “Logo? Why would we have a logo?”

  Edward glanced to the people still browsing the second-hand books. He looked out onto the street where cars were parked and more visitors to the small town walked along the street.

  Lance explained that Shadow Pine was starting to be a popular place for visitors to the area. Edward assumed the sisters were part of making that happen.

  Maybe that assumption was wrong.

  He lifted the bag in his hand. “Thanks for the ice.”

  Charlie’s smile came back. “No problem.”

  Edward leaned to look down the street as he left. There was a line in front of the bakery. People walked in and out of the shop where JD worked.

  The foot traffic was decent.

  But for what? Even if the bakery was the best around it still wasn’t worth the trip all the way out here.

  It didn’t make sense. Especially if Alex wasn’t advertising.

  Not that he had any clue what she would advertise anyway.

  Edward walked into her office, the unlocked door a welcome surprise. “Hey, Al. I’ve got a question.”

  Alex glanced up from her desk. “Of course you do.”

  “What exactly are you planning to advertise?” He pulled a few tissues from the box, dropping them over her swelling ankle before resting the bag from Charlie on top.

  Alex’s eyes watched as he worked. “The town.”

  “But what part of the town?” Edward sat in the chair he brought over earlier. “What’s bringing people all the way out here?”

  Her gaze stayed on him, the line of her brows easing together. “Are you trying to tell me you came all the way here without Googling Shadow Pine?”

  “Why would I Google it?”

  “Why wouldn’t you?” She seemed genuinely baffled by his lack of investigating. “You’re planning to spend at least a little time here. Didn’t you want to know where it was? What it was like?”

  Edward shrugged her questions off. The answers didn’t matter.

  Neither did Shadow Pine initially. It was as far from Virginia as he could get. It had to be different. The change he was itching for. Something new and exciting in a life filled with never-ending monotony. “Lance said I’d like it here.”

  “And that was good enough for you?”

  “Yeah. It was.”

  Alex’s brows lifted as her eyes moved back to her computer screen. “You must have wanted the hell out of Virginia then.”

  “I did.” He hadn’t talked to anyone but Lance about where his head was. The decision he’d struggled with for three months before finally pulling the trigger.

  Alex’s eyes dipped his way before returning to the monitor. “Why?”

  “I went through a break-up.”

  “That sucks.” Her eyes moved down to stick to a spot on the desk in front of her. “She must have been devastated.” There was no missing the disdain in her words.

  “She was not.” Edward let out a little sigh. “Not at all, actually.”

  Alex went silent and her eyes stayed fixed on that same spot.

  As if she was listening. Waiting for more.

  “We’d been together since college.”

  Alex’s gaze finally shifted, easing his way a little more. “That’s a long time.”

  “It is.” Edward tipped his head in a nod. “Almost ten years.”

  “So why’d you dump her?”

  “Who said I dumped her?” Alex’s immediate assumption that he simply dumped a woman he’d been with for almost a decade didn’t sit right.

  Alex finally looked at him, the boldness he’d come to expect from her shining in her blue eyes. “Didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t, actually.” Edward leaned back in his seat, settling into a conversation he’d never been able to have, not even with his closest friend. “I asked her to go to couple’s therapy and she said no.”

  FIVE

  THE LIST OF questions she had grew with each word that came out of his mouth.

  But there was no reason to ask them. She didn’t want to know more about this man.

  It didn’t matter why Edward would a
sk his girlfriend of ten years to go to therapy.

  Or why she said no.

  But the other option was discussing why she and her sisters had a sudden and rapidly growing number of people interested in their tiny town, and she wanted to talk about that even less. “Why’d she say no?”

  “You’re awful chatty all the sudden, Al.” Edward relaxed a little more.

  “Fine then.” Alex pressed her lips tightly together, stopping any other words that might want to come out as she glued her eyes to the screen of her computer. Edward was right. Setting up a Facebook business page took her all of five minutes.

  Which was great, but she had nothing to put on it. No pictures. No links to a website or a mailing list. Not even a logo.

  “She said no because she thought what we had was fine.”

  The explanation was just enough to lure her back in. Loosen the lips she was trying to control. “Was it not fine?”

  Damn it.

  Alex rolled her lips inward this time. It shouldn’t be this hard to keep her mouth shut.

  “It was fine.”

  Her head whipped his way. “If it was fine then why’d you want to go to couple’s therapy?”

  Edward’s dark eyes held hers for a silent second. “I realized fine wasn’t good enough. I wanted more than fine.”

  “Greedy, aren’t you?” She wanted to like him less for it. For wanting something better than acceptable.

  “I didn’t just want more for me.” His gaze stayed on hers. “She deserved more too.”

  “But she didn’t want more.” Of course she didn’t. She had Edward. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. What more could a woman ask for?

  “She was fine with fine. It was good enough for her.”

  “So that brings us back to where we started. She was upset when you left her.” It should have felt good, proving herself right. That Edward walked away from a woman who wanted him, leaving her to mourn the loss.

  It didn’t.

  Edward slowly shook his head at her. “She was not. That’s when I knew I was doing the right thing. She was fine being with me.” His lips lifted in a sad smile. “But she was just as fine being without me.”

  That didn’t seem right at all. Edward was the kind of man women chased. Did anything to catch and keep.

  Not the kind of man women easily let loose.