My words came to an abrupt halt as I turned the corner and ran smack-dab into something hard. I threw my hands out to stop myself from falling, but whatever I grabbed slipped free. It felt like it happened in slow motion, like a train wreck you can’t help but watch, as a gallon of milk clattered to the floor and exploded all over me.
OLIVIA
“Oh my god!”I screeched, looking down at the mess I’d made. Milk soaked my clothes and seeped into my shoes. I bet when I tried to walk, it’d make a disgusting squelching noise like it did in the freaking movies.
My eyes drifted up to someone standing in a pair of sneakers just ahead of me. Sneakers that were also covered in a stupid white liquid I now despised.
“I’m so sorry,” I said in a rush, bending forward to pick up the loaf of bread I’d knocked to the ground. “I wasn’t paying atten—” My words cut off as I noticed who the large, broody figure in the sneakers was. A figure that definitely wasn’t supposed to be there anddefinitelywasn’t supposed to look as handsome as he did. “Duke?”
He studied me closely, bright green eyes carefully combing every inch of my face. Something about it was unnerving. Unnatural. His hair was longer than I remembered, touching the collar of his T-shirt and tucked beneath a dark ball cap. Dark stubble along his chin blended in with the thick mustache framing his lips.
“Well, I can see you haven’t gotten any more graceful as you’ve gotten older,” Duke mused.
“Nope,” I said, chuckling dryly. “Just as clumsy as ever.”
“Try watching where you’re going next time,” he said, bending back down to pick up my purse. He held it out, shaking it when I didn’t immediately take it.
“Uh, okay. I’ll try to do that.”Freaking asshole.I wasn’t sure why the interaction struck me the wrong way, but it did. Something in the way he spoke put me on high alert. Sure, it wasn’t ideal to be covered in fucking milk, but I’d apologized. It was an accident. I was too worried about Charlie and the way she’d run from me to notice where I was going.
“Mom, you ran right into Harper’s dad,” Charlie said, crossing her arms. The hint of worry in her voice from earlier was gone. I was clearly back on her shit list. And honestly? She was on mine now, too.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t run off. Seriously, Charlie. I know this is a small town, but I called your name, and you didn’t stop. I was scared.”
She rolled her eyes. “Nothing ever happens here, Mom. Dad says it all the time. So does Mr. Bennett.”
“Okay, well, if you could hold off on giving me any more heart attacks today, that’d be great,” I said, turning my attention back to the man in question.
“Olivia,” he gritted out, tipping his head in greeting. It was forced. Like it was taking everything in him not to run and hide from me. “It’s been a long time.”
“It really is you, huh?” I said, letting my gaze rake down his body.
Duke and my brother had been best friends growing up. Where one went, the other followed. They spent the summers running amok and causing absolute havoc in Pinecrest. One time, they’d gotten banned from the summer fair. Apparently,Duke stood guard outside one of the abandoned booths while Lukas got frisky with the old mayor’s daughter. Needless to say, Uncle John smoothed things over with a nice donation, and Lukas and Duke spent the rest of the summer working to pay him back.
“In the flesh,” he said.
I poked him in the center of his chest, staring at the spot where the tip of my finger met his body. He was the perfect mixture of hard lines and soft edges.
“You done?” he asked, knocking my hand away.
“I don’t know. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone or something,” I answered honestly.
Someone tugged on my sleeve, and I looked down at Charlie. “Mom, can Harper and I have a sleepover?”
I glanced at the small girl at my daughter’s side. Her fair complexion made her long auburn hair, pulled back in an unruly ponytail, stand out. There was a dusting of freckles across her nose, and she had gorgeous green eyes.
That sweet girl was Duke’s daughter? I recalled Lukas saying something about him getting married, but that was ages ago. She looked nothing like the grumpy bastard in front of me. Lukas never mentioned anything about it, and to be fair, why would he?
She lifted one hand in a shy wave. “Hi. I’m Harper,” she said quietly.
I smiled. “Hi, Harper, it’s so nice to meet you?—”
“Mooooooom,” Charlie interrupted. “Please?”
Duke just stood there, covered in milk, awkwardly staring at the three of us. His arms were crossed over a wrinkled t-shirt, muscular legs on display in a pair of athletic shorts that looked like they’d seen better days.
“Sunshine, they might have plans today?—”
“They don’t. Harper’s soccer game is over. Dad usually takesme to it. I wanted to go today, but he said we couldn’t because you were coming to get me.”