Sweet Hill Homecoming by Joya Ryan

“Thinking about other things? Things from a previous night, perhaps?”  
    He grinned and for the first time since he’d pushed Mia through her car, she was a bit speechless.
    “You wanted information about last year’s event,” he said, helping the obviously flustered Miss Blake.  
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I was under the impression that you were last year’s coordinator.” She didn’t need to air quote that last word, the tone of her voice said it all.  
    “I was. The spot this year is at the courthouse and I have all documents and planning paperwork I could keep but I don’t know why that concerns you.”  
    “It concerns me because I am heading up the event this year.”  
    As if his chest was a balloon and her words were the sharp end of “eff you” he exhaled.  
    “You’re heading up the event?”  
    She nodded happily.  
    “Under whose authority?”  
    That smile got wider and damn the thing could launch ships. “Your mother’s.” Tate’s face fell but she just reached forward and adjusted his nametag. “I’ll give you a day to gather your paperwork and get it to me. I see here that the Sheriff’s Department is in charge of toys this year.” She tapped her clipboard. “I’m going to need you to build some booths.”
    “How—”
    She shoved a piece of paper at him. “Those are the measurements and dimensions. I need twenty.”
    “Twenty?” He looked over the layout she had in mind. Simple enough but, “Do you have supplies for all of this?”  
    “Well, of course.” She smiled at him like he was some kind of enfilade that lacked a brain. “I went and saw Brett at the hardwood store before I came here. I told him my predicament and, can you believe it, he offered to donate all the wood and supplies to build the booths.”  
    When Mia bent down a little to flick a fuzzy off her stocking, Tate had a pretty good idea what that woman and her perfect ass could accomplish. And yes, he could believe it.  
    “So I’ll let you get to that,” she pointed at the paper Tate held. “And it looks like I’ll really be seeing you at the courthouse.”  
    She turned on her sexy heels and strutted that perfect ass right out of his lobby, pausing only to look over her shoulder and say,  
    “Looks like we’re partners.”  

Chapter Six
    “I think she’s ballsy,” Luke said, cutting a small branch off the apple tree.  
    Tate scoffed and he could see his breath in the brisk winter afternoon. There was no doubt about that.  
    “I just can’t believe we’re paired up for this. She walked into the department yesterday and talked to me like I worked for her,” Tate said, cutting a branch from a neighboring tree.  
    With the winter setting in, the apple trees only needed a bit of pruning. So when Luke asked him to help out today, Tate couldn’t really turn his friend down.  
    “Why haven’t you hired a foreman yet? Shouldn’t he be heading up the crew to do this?”  
    Luke nodded. “Just haven’t found the right guy for the job.”  
    Tate just kept snipping away.  
    “You know I think Mia on this event is a good thing. Annie said it’s kind of what she did in Seattle. She already has me donating five cases of apples and Annie is going to make pies for some kind of contest and to sell. Mia seems to be on the ball.”  
    Tate nodded. He’d heard something along those lines too. Of course it wasn’t a surprise that Mia made a living at throwing parties. But if there was one person to get people on board with her ideas, it was Mia. Tate knew firsthand how persuasive she could be.  
    “It’s going to be a long few weeks,” Tate said.  
    “Will it? Looking at her on a daily basis can’t be that bad, since every time she’s around you can’t seem to look anywhere else.”  
    Speaking of “looks” Tate shot Luke a clear “shut the fuck up” glare and went back to cutting.  
    “On the bright side, if she can handle most of this event stuff, you