“I’m not about to consider a one-night stand.” Perish the thought. She’d never done anything like that in her life.
Plus, she was afraid one night with Cameron would never be enough.
“I didn’t say a one-night stand. But I heard he’s in town for a few weeks.”
Chloe paused, making Alison stop as well. “Who told you that?”
“Well, Mac did.” Ali looked away, almost as if afraid to meet her friend’s gaze. Strands of dark blond hair escaped her ponytail, swirling about her face, tickling her cheeks. She was pretty, with cornflower blue eyes and a willowy figure. Chloe could be sickeningly jealous of her if Alison wasn’t such a good friend. “We were talking last night at the reception. And he told me his brother planned on sticking around for a while.”
“I had no idea,” Chloe breathed as they started walking once again. Her mind raced with possibilities. Cameron was in Lone Pine Lake for the next few weeks, which meant…what? Would he contact her? Probably not. But chances were she’d definitely run into him again. Would it be awkward and painful? Or would he pretend nothing had happened?
She didn’t know which option was worse.
“Mac said he was going with some friends to The Pine Tree tonight,” Ali said, her voice deceptively casual. She was referring to the local bar and grill where they liked to hang out. “He invited me. Want to come along?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t gone to The Tree in ages.”
“Me neither. It’ll be fun. And you never know—maybe Cam will be there.”
“Huh. I doubt it.” She didn’t have that sort of luck. She’d run into him somewhere far more embarrassing, like at the market among the vegetables or while hanging out lakeside wearing nothing but her swimsuit.
Just the thought of him seeing her in a swimsuit made her want to walk the lake trail again.
Well. Maybe not.
“Let me check.” Ali whipped out her cell phone, her fingers flying on the keypad.
“Who are you texting?”
“Mac.” Ali kept her gaze trained on her cell screen, her face screwed up in concentration. “I’m asking who’s going tonight.”
Chloe watched her friend carefully. “And what are you doing with Mac’s number anyway? I didn’t realize you two were that close.” Again, adding fuel to her suspicious fire that maybe something more was going on between her two friends.
Ali shrugged, her demeanor nonchalant. “We’re not close. Casual friends, that’s it. He gave me his phone number a while ago, more like an emergency thing, I guess.”
“An emergency thing? Like what, you need help mulching your yard and he’s the man to call?” Mac owned the local nursery and gardening center in Lone Pine Lake. Had bought it when the owner, his old boss, retired two years ago.
“Shut up,” Ali muttered. “And I’ll have you know he’s been a tremendous help with starting my garden this year.”
“Starting your garden. That’s an interesting way to put it.” Chloe squealed and ran when her friend tried to yank on the end of her ponytail.
“I didn’t give you any grief about your secret,” Ali called after her as she chased Chloe up the driveway and into her front yard. “So give me a break.”
“Ah, you know I’m just kidding. And are you implying you have a secret?”
Ali grabbed the bottle of water she left on Chloe’s porch, unscrewed the cap, and took a long drink before answering. “I’m not going to lie. I find Mac very…attractive.”
“Oooh,” Chloe started but shut up when Ali slanted her a look.
“I wondered more than once if he had something for you.” At Chloe’s incredulous expression, Ali continued. “You two are together a lot. He’s protective of you. At one point, when I first moved here, I thought you were dating.”
“We’ve never dated. One mistaken drunk kiss a long time ago when I was still in college, but that was it.” Chloe screwed up her nose. “And it wasn’t even that great of a kiss. Felt weird. Like I was kissing my brother.”
“Eww.” Ali shook her head, took another drink. “So you’re saying he’s a bad kisser.”
“No, I’m saying that when it comes to the two of us, kissing will never be an option.” She couldn’t say that about Cam, though. The minute his lips had touched hers, her body had flared to life, tingling everywhere. She’d been filled with a needy ache ever since.
Ali’s phone dinged and she checked it, her lips curling into a little smile. “He mentioned Cam in his list of everyone going tonight.”