Page 3 of Stuck with the Mountain Man

Then I sketched. All night long.

CHAPTERTWO

Jack

I wasdeep in numbers-crunching mode when my sister, Adalynn, burst through my office door with her best friend Suzie right behind her. Their laughter distracted me, and I heaved a sigh, annoyed by the interruption.

Lifting my eyes, I did my best to hide the irritated look on my face, wanting to work through these numbers so I could move on to the next thing on my endless to-do list. It wasn’t easy.

“Hey, bro.” Adalynn plopped herself in the chair in front of my desk with Suzie taking the one beside her. I avoided looking in Suzie’s direction, not wanting to lose myself in her sexy jean overalls she was wearing, the shorts definitely too short. Which goes to show I was checking her out anyway.Fuck, I annoy myself.

The attraction I felt toward Suzie irked me. Most of the time, I tucked it away in a part of my brain I didn’t access much, but as the years passed, she only became more beautiful, which made my lust for her harder to ignore.

Because that was all it was—lust. More like hate lust, considering we slammed each other with zingers half the time. But I didn’t hate her, no matter how much I acted like I did. Far from it.

She was my little sister’s best friend, what could I say?

I would certainly never likelikeher.

We were opposites. I was practical, running my business, and she had her head in the clouds as she daydreamed up her next painting.

Whatever, it didn’t matter. I made a profile on Mountain Mates, and I already had dates lined up. Kind of, not really. More like a lot of open-ended conversations.

“Got a second?” Adalynn interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to the present.

I put my pen down and leaned back in my chair. “For you two, always.” I snuck a quick glance at Suzie, her eyes set on me. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make my insides twist and my pulse race.

“I’ve come up with a new marketing plan, and I’d like you to hear it. Suzie is a part of it.”

“Oh?” My curiosity piqued.

“I’d like to attract more buyers with vibrant, eye-popping paintings of the orchard. I want them to showcase the true beauty of the place and just how special it is. And I think Suzie is the perfect one to paint them. She’s going to get started today.” She smiled at Suzie and reached over to squeeze her hand.

I wasn’t sure what I had expected Adalynn to say, but it wasn’t that.Artwork? Really?

“So you think a few pretty paintings will bring more business in?” I kept the snark out of my tone, my voice dead serious. Our sales had declined recently, mainly due to competition, with more orchards popping up around the mountain. The other issue was word of mouth. I couldn’t afford to pump a ton of money into advertising on social media, and lately, it seemed like nothing I tried helped.

Adalynn sat up straighter and pushed her shoulders back. “I do. We need to showcase the beauty of this place. Artwork done by a local artist is a perfect representation. Suzie will paint beautiful images that I can share online, and I really think it’ll draw people in.”

“I imagine you expect to be compensated, Suzie?”

“Of course, Jack!” Adalynn jumped in. “She isn’t going to paint for free.”

“Okay, relax. I didn’t know if maybe we could make a deal of some sort. I don’t see how paintings of apples will help bring in any kind of business.”

“You promised me you wouldn’t intervene in my marketing decisions. That you would trust me. I need you to follow through on that.”

“You’re right, I did. But I am allowed to still have an opinion, yes?”

“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, this could be great exposure for Suzie. A jump-start to her career.”

“Her career? In painting?”

As soon as the words were out, I knew they were the wrong ones to say. Suzie looked murderous, and my sister’s mouth hung open in shock.

“Yes. Is there something wrong with that?” Suzie snapped, breaking her silence, her lip curled up on one side.

I was a practical guy and looked at things in a practical way. Being an artist wasn’t necessarily a career choice I found to be practical. Often, you’re chasing a dream you’ll never catch, and you only end up with disappointment in the end.

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