Page 2 of The Perfect Deal

Pulling myself away from her that night had been nearly impossible. She’d been drunk and going on about how amazing I was. I’d wanted so badly to kiss her, to stay with her, but it wouldn’t have been right for any of us.

Now, I found myself avoiding her gaze as she greeted me. “I didn’t know you were here, Joshua,” she said with a bright smile. “How are you?”

“Good. Good. I’m doing good,” I stammered, turning back around to face the door and wishing I could barrel through it. I had no trouble speaking to Liberty when it was just the two of us together, but with Landon there, things quickly became complicated.

“Cool.” She came in and wrapped her arms loosely around me before she sat down a few feet from me on the couch. The hug had my body electrified, and it took every ounce of willpower I had to keep my eyes off her thighs. “Are you going to the barbecue tonight at the Robertsons’ house?”

“Yeah, sure. Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I told her. “Are you going to be there?” It was a stupid question. Of course, she was going.

“You know it,” Liberty said. “I can’t wait to catch up with everyone. This summer is going to be amazing.”

“Do you have a lot planned?” I tried to take a leisurely tone with her since I was aware Landon thought I just considered her to be a kid sister myself, though my true feelings were far from it.

“Not really.” She grimaced and folded her arms. “Just work.”

“And our trip,” Landon piped in. We both knew that Liberty didn’t really like working for her family company because what she was doing for Landon wasn’t her passion. Liberty had studied photography in college and then had gone to California to try to make a living with it, but that hadn’t worked out, so she’d moved back here. While I wished that she was able to do what she loved, I was glad she’d come home to her family.

Home to me.

“Well,” I said, slapping my hand down on my leg. “I’m sure it’ll be a great time. As long as we’re all there.”

Liberty smiled. “I’m sure we will.”

2

LIBERTY

The sound of Joshua’s voice coming from downstairs had caused me to take more time than usual to get ready than I normally would have. It was nice to hear him, but it was even better to see him sitting there talking to my brother in the living room. I tried to act nonchalant as I hugged him, but I just loved touching him. With a casual tone, I sat there, asking them about their plans for the evening. After all, if Landon had a hunch that there was something going on between us, he’d lose his mind, and that was the last thing I needed.

I could tell I was making Joshua nervous. He wouldn’t look directly at me, and he was having a hard time holding the conversation, even though we were talking about our friends and families from all the years we’d spent growing up on Swanson Ridge.

“I just can’t wait to eat some of that famous Robertson barbecue,” I said as my phone vibrated in my pocket.

“No doubt,” Joshua said, running a hand through his hair and still not meeting my eyes. “It’s the best barbecue in Tennessee.”

I smiled but didn’t look directly at him. It was pretty clear he was struggling to think of anything to say. Glancing down at my phone, I saw that the text was from Poppy. I’d planned to go over to help her work on her parents’ front yard. It was a great way to kick off the summer, and I wanted a chance to talk to her before the barbecue anyway. “Well, I am going to head across the street to chat with Poppy,” I said, hopping up from the couch. “Any messages, big brother?” I teased.

Landon pulled out his phone. “Nope. If I have something to say to my beautiful fiancée, I’ll send her a text. Thank you, little sister.” He grinned at me, and I shook my head as I walked to the door.

“Okay, but you know there’s something to be said for the old-fashioned way of courting the woman you love.” I turned then and looked at Joshua. His face turned red as he dropped his eyes to the floor. I glanced at Landon and saw him arching an eyebrow at me, but it had nothing to do with Joshua. He just thought I was being weird.

“See you later, sis,” Landon called, shaking his head.

“See you. Bye, Joshua.” I waited for him to look back up at me. The weight of his gaze made a smile form on my face.

“See you at the barbecue,” he said, the hint of a grin touching his lips.

“Looking forward to it.” I walked out the door before I could say more, but the smile didn’t fade. I knew that I’d have a better chance of seeing Joshua at the barbecue when Landon would be socializing. There’d be a ton of people there to distract my older brother so that Joshua and I could at least steal a few minutes to ourselves.

Across the street, I could see Poppy sitting on her knees, a spade in one hand and a pair of shears in the other. She was humming to herself as she worked on trying to tame back some of the out of control plants that were threatening to take over the yard. Her parents, Laila and Johnny, loved nature and didn’t like to do much to prevent it from doing whatever it chose, once their plants of choice were inserted into the ground. My father had complained about it for years, but no one seemed to care much now. Poppy had asked me to come over and help her, though, because her parents had been traveling a lot recently, and things were getting particularly wild out there.

“Good morning,” I called, dropping down to sit next to her. “How are you, bride-to-be?”

Poppy turned and grinned at me. “I’m good. How are you?” Her eyes widened. “Wait—you look particularly happy today. Did you see Joshua?”

“See, now this is why you’re my best friend. You know me so well.” My face was beginning to ache from smiling so much. “Yes, he came over to speak to your fiancé this morning.”

“Oh, well, do tell.” Poppy put her tools down and turned to face me, an excited expression on her face.