Once I came down from my freak-out and regained my senses, I felt foolish. Garrett would not take advantage of me or anyone else that way. I had been more than drunk; I had been mortifyingly and unprecedentedly wasted last night. In fact, I still felt a little bit off. But even if I had been sober, I could not go there and wreck what remained of our childhood best-friendship no matter how fine Garrett was looking lately. I was a disaster at relationships. What would Becky Lee think if I dated him and somehow messed everything up, like I was so prone to doing? I shuddered at the contemplation. She would be horrified, and then I’d lose Garrett and Becky Lee—not to mention the rest of the Monroes.
My head pounded as I got up to shower and get ready for work. Stupid hangover. I needed a cup or five of coffee, STAT. Something carby and loaded with sugar to soak up what was left of the alcohol couldn’t hurt either. I rushed through my shower, blew my hair dry and slapped on some makeup to cover up the dark circles from the night before. I was halfway out the door before I remembered that I would see Garrett today.
And every day for the next several weeks.
My family owned a bed-and-breakfast called The Smoky Mountain Inn. I ran the front desk, supervised the housekeepers, and made sure the guests stayed happy; basically, I was the hospitality guru. My oldest brother, Landon, acted as the final decision maker, but day to day, he handled the gardens and maintenance. His husband, Leo, was our chef. We also had a hostess and a front desk helper, a few part-time housekeepers and landscapers. Without the extra help we’d never get a day off. My other two brothers, Jordan and Cameron, weren’t in the family business, but we all lived together on the family land and owned the property equally since we’d inherited it from our father.
Landon and Leo had dreams of expanding the inn and someday creating a restaurant within it. But they’d decided to start with the kitchen, transforming it from a basic home kitchen to a fully furnished, tricked-out, top-of-the-line chef’s kitchen. Demo work was on the schedule for today. And in Green Valley, everybody went to Monroe & Sons—Garrett being one of the sons—for any and all construction needs. Their reputation was impeccable and had been for over sixty years. Garrett was one of his daddy’s crew leaders, and of course, his crew would be the one working the inn’s kitchen renovation. Of course.
After hesitating at my front door, I decided I had enough makeup on, my jeans and baby blue Smoky Mountain Inn polo were just fine, and gussying up for Garrett would be foolish. If he had indeed been flirting with me last night, repeating whatever I had done to encourage it would definitely be stupid. And these weirdo feelings—the zing tingles, the fixation my naughty mind’s eye had on his gorgeous face, body, big hands, and the curiosity about whatever he was packing in his pants—would go away eventually, they had to. I probably had leftover horny tequila still coursing through my system.
Despite my attempt to reason with myself, I still dashed back through my tiny cottage to the bathroom for more lip gloss.
Dammit.
I could feel it coming on. The crush. My brain was already gooing out while my heart pitter-pattered like a parade of fluffy freaking bunnies in my chest. Don’t even get me started on my stomach. It fluttered with anticipatory glee every time I so much as thought about Garrett. I couldn’t blame it on the tequila forever. At some point, I would have to acknowledge these feelings. But not right now; now was for denial and the impossible hope that this was all a fluke caused by too much alcohol and not the sexy fantasies that had sprouted in my brain the second I felt his lips touch mine. I wasn’t even one hundred percent sure we kissed, but I had a stirring impression of it in my liquor-filled memory banks, so I was eighty percent certain we had.
With a rough swipe, I removed the lip gloss. I took down my cute ponytail and redid my hair, fashioning an old lady bun at the back of my neck and adding plenty of hairspray so absolutely no curly tendrils could escape. This bun had to be severe. I gave myself an encouraging, determined nod. I had this. I was cool, like a cucumber or maybe a whole entire bag of ice—the good kind from Sonic. Sonic ice always made everything better.
After one last glance in the mirror, I buttoned the three tiny buttons on my polo shirt and spun on my heel. Whether or not Garrett was a boob man was a fact unknown. But there would be no cleavage on display today, just in case. Which was hard for me and my big boobs; I usually had cleavage everywhere, even when I wasn’t trying to show it off.
“Ha!” I said to no one as I crossed the tiny living room of my little carriage house to leave again. With a firm slam, I shut the door and locked it. Since I lived on-site with my three brothers, I only had to walk across the meandering trails distributed over the sprawling lawn to get to work.
Landon and Leo lived on the top floor of the inn while the rest of us lived at the back of the property. Jordan, my second oldest brother, and his six-year-old daughter, Abbie, lived in a house right next to me, while Cameron, big brother number three, lived closer to the forest in an Airstream trailer. My mother and stepfather took another Airstream on the road for an early retirement the second I turned eighteen. We heard from them on holidays and our birthdays and sometimes they popped in for visits.
The inn was situated up front, close to the road and surrounded by white picket fencing, lushly landscaped gardens, and various sitting areas meant for the guests to sit a spell and relax. Our land backed up to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—the perfect location to attract tourists. And we attracted a lot. Business was booming. Green Valley’s two big industries were tourism and lumber. My family made its living from both, as Jordan and Cameron worked at the Payton Mill.
I crossed over a small hill and smiled when I caught sight of the sprawling Victorian mansion, painted pale blue with white trim. The constant mist filtering down the mountains from up above shimmered in the sunrays that had managed to break through the surrounding trees, dappling the inn with bright spots and giving it a magical glow. A few years back, we’d hired Everett Monroe—Garrett’s carpenter big bro—to create custom railings and whitewashed wooden furniture for the wraparound porch, along with a massive attached gazebo. Everett had a gift. What he’d done was add a feeling of serenity to the house with his whimsical floral details and the soft sweeping lines of the furniture. I loved it here, and I adored seeing our guests relaxed and smiling. Happy families, newlyweds, girls’ getaway trips and even the occasional wedding—all of it represented the best days of our guests’ lives, and I loved being part of their stories in some small way. Making sure our guests had the best time possible was my mission and I never, ever wanted to leave this place.
Leo was a stickler for schedules and, as such, breakfast was served every morning at seven sharp. I supported that since I was the type who never ever knew what day it was. One last breakfast would be prepared here before the Monroe crew tore it apart for the remodel. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over me as I pushed the kitchen door open and recalled early mornings before school with my dad in this kitchen.
“Hey, Little Miss Molly! Try this.” Leo greeted me with a huge smile, arm outstretched and brandishing a plate full of scones. Strawberry—my favorite.
“You’re awesome, Leo. Marrying you was the best thing Landon ever did for this family, even though he stole you from me. Where is he?” I snatched the plate while his blue eyes twinkled, and he chuckled at my enthusiasm. His dark blond hair was short and spiky, his white chef uniform was immaculately crisp, and his imposing physique hinted at his gym-rat habits. He’d come a long way from the scrawny kid who used to cut school to drink beer in the woods behind the library with me and our friend Clara, and sometimes her older sister, Sadie. Leo was now a regulation hottie and a brilliant chef. He was one of the best friends I’d ever had, and I loved him to pieces. Landon and Leo were a “best friend’s older brother” romance novel come to life, starring me as the best friend.