The Reluctant Bachelorette (24 page)

“It sounds too good to be true,” Taycee said.

Jake smiled. “Don’t get me wrong, it will take some money, work,
and time to get the farms pesticide and chemical free—usually in the
neighborhood of three years. But if the farms can survive the transitional
period, ultimately the returns are much greater. In addition, they’ll live in
healthier conditions, have better soil, and better tasting produce that needs
less water to grow.”

Three years sounded like a century to Taycee, especially with
the way things were going now. Very few of the existing farms could survive one
more year—let alone three. But maybe the farmers market co-op could help them
get through those years. The farmers would be a lot more willing to consider
something like this if it meant they could one day sell through regular
distribution channels again. That was their biggest concern with the co-op. No
one was excited about taking on the responsibility of selling their own
produce.

“Hey,” Taycee said. “Would you be willing to put together a presentation
for the farmers in the area? Talk to them about organic farming and how your
company works?”

“If you think it’s something they might be interested in, I’d
be happy to.” Jake stopped and turned to face Taycee. “But please don’t think
that’s why I’m here. I didn’t come to drum up more business for my company.”

Taycee grinned. “No, you came because your sister roped you
into it.”

“That may be true, but when I saw your face and read about the
girl who owned her own flower shop and liked making people happy, she didn’t
have to twist my arm too hard. That’s why I’m here—not for any other reason.
But if I can help at all with your town’s situation, maybe there’s a chance this
can end up being a win-win,” he said with a smile.

Taycee forced herself to return his smile, even though she
knew it could never be a win-win—not if one of those wins included her and Jake
getting together. It made Taycee wish that he
had
come with ulterior
motives so he wouldn’t care if she walked away at the end of it all.

“I honestly don’t care what brought you here,” Taycee finally
said. “Not if your company really can help the town. In fact, if it’s all right
with you, I’ll see if Jessa can get something set up soon. Maybe Saturday
night? Would that work?”

Jake tugged her closer, and his hands circled her waist.
“Sure, as long as you’ll come with me.”

“I’m not sure Jessa would approve of that,” Taycee joked. “You
know, no preferential treatment and all that.” She hadn’t been to a town
meeting since the whole bachelorette fiasco, and she had no intention of going
again anytime soon—especially not as the date to one of the bachelors. There
would be whispers and pointed fingers. Maybe Luke would even be there.

No thanks.

Taycee backed out of Jake’s hold and led him toward the car. “Okay,
so now that that’s settled, do you really want to keep looking at farmland, or
can we do something else?”

Jake chuckled. “I have some reservations at a restaurant in Colorado
Springs, and then I was thinking we could do some window shopping afterwards.
Or do you have a better idea?”

A hearty breeze whipped some of Taycee’s hair into her face,
giving her a much better idea. She cocked her head to the side. “How do you
feel about kite wars?”

“Kite what?” The bewildered look on his face made Taycee
laugh.

“Wars,” she said as she climbed into his car. “You’ll love it,
I promise.”

“If you say so.”

Megan climbed in back with her camera, and Taycee directed Jake
to Nicky’s Novelties where they purchased a couple of kites. Ten minutes later,
he pulled to the side of the road, next to a wide open grassy meadow.

The wind lifted Taycee’s hair from her shoulders and whipped
stray tendrils across her face. She closed her eyes, enjoying the fresh country
air and how comfortable it was being with Jake. He didn’t make her nervous. Her
stomach didn’t knot and twist whenever he was around. Her thoughts didn’t
scatter. It was nice. Easy.

“So how does this war thing work, exactly?” Jake asked as he
assembled his kite.

“Well . . .” Taycee snapped the plastic rods into the
connector, making the bright pink and black checked kite go taut. “Basically
the first kite to get knocked out of the sky loses.”

Jake waited a second before his mouth lifted in a half-smile.
“That’s it?”

“Welcome to Shelter Springs.” She grinned at him. “We like to
keep things simple ‘round here.”

Jake chuckled. “I can live with that. In fact”—his fingers
brushed some hair behind her ear—“I’m starting to really like simple.” His
words, combined with the way he looked at her made Taycee’s stomach knot. Not
good.
Don’t look at me like that. Don’t!

Before she could step away, Jake dipped his head, and his lips
brushed across hers. It wasn’t a bad sensation. It felt good—his touch, his
apparent admiration. She didn’t feel chills or fireworks or the all-consuming
desire to wrap her arms around him and return the kiss, but she didn’t
necessarily want to stop it either. Besides, it would make Jessa happy which
was always a good thing.

Jake pulled back, and Taycee studied his eyes. So open. So
honest.
Do I like you?
Could
I like you?
He really was the
complete package. Why wasn’t she throwing her arms around him and kissing him
back? Feeling giddy? Twitterpated? At the very least excited?

Probably because when she looked into Jake’s blue eyes, what
she really wanted to see was deep brown.

Taycee dropped her gaze and picked up her kite. Holding it up,
she forced a smile. “Ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Jake said. “But just so you know,
if your kite dies first, you owe me another kiss.”

Taycee watched him as he backed away. Was he being sincere or
was it all an act for the camera—him doing his duty like Jessa had asked? If
they were all alone, completely alone, with no camera, no future viewers, no
expectations or pressure, what would this date really be like? Would Jake still
look at her that way? Would he still want to hold her hand and kiss her? Or
would he relax, let things be as easy and uncomplicated as they had been
before?

Because it suddenly seemed like easy just got complicated.

“What’s the matter?” Jake taunted, holding his kite high to
catch the wind. “Afraid you’re going to lose?”

“I never lose at kite wars.” Which was a complete lie. Taycee
had only ever played with Luke and Caleb, and Luke had always won. Every.
Single. Time. Him and his pathetic little cheap kites that always refused to
die.

“Until today,” Jake said.

Taycee pointed a finger at him. “Pride goeth before the fall.”

It didn’t take long before both kites sailed high in the sky,
beating against the wind and soaring.

“Okay,” Jake said as he let out more string. “Here’s the
stakes: If I win, you owe
me
a kiss, and if you win, I owe
you
a
kiss. How’s that?”

Taycee laughed. “Sounds like a win-win to me.”

“Exactly.”

“You’re on.” Letting out more string, Taycee let her kite sail
even higher, until it looked like a tiny pink and black diamond diving this way
and that as it floated high above the ground.

“The trick of it all is to get the distance right,” Taycee
explained. “If one’s higher than the other, all we’re going to end up with is
twisted string and two kites stuck together.”

“Gotcha. No twisted string.” Jake grinned. “So much for
simple.” He pulled his kite towards Taycee’s and missed, hooking his string
under hers. Taycee stepped around him to untangle them, wound her string around
her handle to lower her kite, and then steered it toward Jake’s once again.
They bumped against each other and separated.

“Perfect,” Taycee said. “Game on.” Without missing a beat, she
yanked hard on the string and rammed Jake’s kite again, making it drop dive
before soaring up again.

“You don’t play nice, do you?” Jake said.

“Not if I can help it.”

“For that, you’re going down.”

“In your dreams.”

Jake sailed his kite into hers, crashing into it and making
Taycee laugh. After a few more minutes of battling it out, Jake’s arm locked around
her shoulders, keeping her prisoner.

“Cheater!” Taycee called, giggling. The strings tangled and
the kites wrapped around and around each other. “Stop it! You’re going to make
us both crash!”

“You said there are no rules. I can do whatever I want.”

Taycee’s laughter rang out as she struggled to free herself and
the kite. Soon, both kites nose-dived toward the ground, with Jake’s landing a
second before her own.

“I won, I won!” Taycee hopped up and down beneath Jake’s arm.
“I can’t believe I actually won!”

Jake’s sandy blond eyebrow raised as he studied her. “You
sound pretty excited for a girl who always wins.”

“Okay, so maybe I never win,” Taycee admitted. “Until now,
that is.” She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, thank
you. Seriously, you have no idea how happy this makes me.”

“I guess if you’re happy, I should be happy,” Jake joked. “But
seriously, how bad does that make me if I just lost to a loser?”

Taycee grinned. “Only by a second or two.”

“True.” Jake’s arms circled her waist. “But it still means
that I owe you, right?”

Before Taycee could remember the bet, his lips were on hers,
warm and soft. His arms tightened around her as he tried to deepen the kiss.
But she’d finally won her first ever kite war and what she really wanted to do
was run and dance and scream into the open sky, “I won!”

Maybe Luke would even hear.

Jake finally drew back with a sigh. “Wow, this really does
mean a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

“I’m sorry,” Taycee said, laughter threatening to burst. “Really,
it’s just so . . .”

“Funny?”

“No. So great.”

Jake shook his head. “Is this some sort of sanctioned sport
around here or something? I mean, do you now get a medal for beating me?”

“No, only bragging rights. But believe me, I
will
brag.”

“I believe it.”

Together, they wound up their kites, and Jake’s arm came
around her again as he led her back to the car. “Note to self: Don’t play any more
games with Taycee.”

Her shoulder nudged his side. “You’re just bugged you lost to
a girl.”

“It’s true. First Speed and now Kite Wars. My pride can’t take
anymore.”

Taycee gave him a side-hug as they walked the rest of the way
to the car. “Thanks, Jake,” she said. “You have no idea how much I needed
that.”

A
loud pounding on the door
awoke Taycee.

With a yawn, she rolled to her side and squinted at the clock.
Seven o’clock. Who would be waking her up at seven on a Sunday morning? Someone
with no compassion, that’s who.

Jessa.

More pounding.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Taycee rolled from her bed and raked
her fingers through her hair as she padded toward the door. The banging came
again before she finally opened it. Sure enough, Jessa stood on her doorstep.

“Do you know what time it is?” Taycee groaned.

“I brought breakfast.” Jessa handed Taycee a muffin then
waltzed past. “Did you see the show yesterday? Holy cow, girl, you’ve got the
message boards hopping. How many times did you kiss Jake anyway? I lost count.”

Taycee suddenly felt very awake. “Three. How could you lose
count with only three? And small ones at that. They shouldn’t even count.”

Jessa laughed. “Burt and Megan must have done some creative
editing because it looked like a whole lot more than three. And a good thing,
too, because the site is flooded with traffic. With the footage of the
farm—which was quite brilliant of you—we scored several more donations. Oh, and
Wake Up Denver
wants to have you on their show in a couple weeks.” She
said this last part in a rush of words that Taycee almost didn’t catch them.

“Whoa—what?” Taycee nearly dropped her muffin as she stumbled
after Jessa. “You said no, I hope.”

“Of course not,” Jessa said. “They want to interview you and
the two remaining bachelors right before the final vote. It will be great—the
perfect time to remind everyone how much we need their vote one last time.”

“Jessa! You told me those two news interviews would be it. Please
don’t make me do this.”

Jessa leaned across the bar. “I knew you’d feel this way, but
this isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually a very good thing. We’re so close, Tace,
but we really need all the votes we can get.  You’ll be awesome.”

“And if I’m not?”

“The show will be practically over by then so it really won’t
matter.”

“Jessa!”

“Oh please. You’ve got nothing to worry about. You have those
viewers wrapped around your pretty manicured fingers.”