Free Take Me All the Way by Toni Blake

mean he’s a rotten guy.”
    â€œIt doesn’t mean he’s a good one, either. But no matter what he is, he’s made a terrible impression on me and I’m not attracted to him one iota, and that’s the end of the story.”
    It was a relief when the restaurant’s patio door opened and Polly reappeared with her drink. Andthankfully, conversation shifted to preparations for Christy and Jack’s wedding. Tamra, Cami, and the maid of honor, Bethany, were throwing an engagement party and there were lots of plans to be made.
    â€œI met Bethany,” Cami told Tamra. “I think you’ll like her. She’s an artist, like you.”
    Tamra smiled. She always appreciated that, being called an artist—recognizing her creations as art was the highest compliment someone could give her. Her mission in life was to leave the world a little richer in that way than she’d found it.
    But as the discussion went on, Tamra’s thoughts drifted unwittingly back to what she’d said about Jeremy. The last part might have been a lie. She might have been a little bit attracted. Maybe more than even an iota.
    But she didn’t like that—not at all. Because it wasn’t logical; it didn’t make sense. He was unkempt and hairy. They’d been at odds since the moment they’d met. At best, he was cocky and presumptuous; at worst, downright rude. So why on earth had she suffered any twinges of desire for him?
    Was she that desperate? Was her body that hungry for sex? Would any able-bodied man who’d fallen on her and refused to get up have elicited the same reaction?
    Ugh. Don’t even think like that! You are not desperate. You are not needy. This, too, shall pass.
    After all, it was her first morning working with Jeremy, so this was . . . growing pains in their work relationship. It was new and awkward. He was awkward . . . as in too forward and having too much attitude. But soon enough, what had just happened wouldbe further in the past and their time together would start seeming more normal, less fraught with tension. Working with him would become just “another day at the office.”
    But maybe for right now, while things were awkward, she’d just arrange it so they didn’t spend a ton of time working directly together. She’d provided him with architectural plans for the hut, so assuming he was as capable a builder as she’d been promised, she wouldn’t really need to be on hand for that. While he worked, she could do other things: tend to the landscaping, design the remaining course obstacles. There were a million things to be done, after all. He’d do his part, she’d do hers, and they didn’t have to be Siamese twins about it.
    Meanwhile, Cami was busy scribbling names into a notebook—a result of Polly asking how big this wedding shower party thing was going to be, since she and Abner were providing the food. “It’s nice for Christy,” Cami added, “that there are a few people from her hometown who live here. More will come down for the wedding itself, but for the party, we’ll definitely want to invite John and Nancy Romo. And Jeremy, too.”
    At this, Tamra’s eyebrows shot up. “Jeremy? Are you serious?” She made a face. “He’s becoming part of our social circle now?”
    Cami shrugged and opened her eyes wider, as if to say: Deal with it. “He’s one of Christy’s few links to her hometown here. And besides, everyone else we know will be coming—it would seem weirder not to invite him. And it might be nice to make him feel included.”
    Tamra just sighed. “If he doesn’t get included in things, maybe it’s because he’s . . . say, homeless. Or rude. Or gets arrested because he attacks people.”Now her eyes went wide, silently expressing that she was making excellent points.
    But Cami seemed unmoved. “Riley was homeless once,