Sugarlips (Beefcakes Book 2) by Katana Collins (best love novels of all time TXT) 📗

I caught my reflection in the mirror behind the register. Holy shit, maybe Chloe was right. I barely recognized myself at first glance with my paler than normal skin and the dark, bruised circles beneath my eyes. This week had been rougher than normal because I had taken the early morning shifts so that Neil could pack and get ready for his trip. But it was clear that I needed more than the short bursts of sleep I was getting. I cleared my throat. “We’re closing both the truck and the bakery for the two days after Mom’s surgery,” I said. “I’ll have a couple days to catch up on rest then.”

“You seriously think you’re going to rest well for two days while your mom is in recovery? But fine. Let’s say you have two nights of the best sleep of your life. Neil’s gone for weeks.” Chloe’s eyes were cold as ice as they traveled from me to Neil, then back again. “You’re killing yourself. You can’t survive on four hours of sleep a night.”

I shrugged. “Sometimes it’s five…” But I saw her point.

“Something needs to change, and you know it.” She blinked and her cobalt blue eyes locked onto mine. The chemistry between us had shifted in the last week in a way that I couldn’t quite define. Her eye contact lingered longer, her touch, softer, her voice, husky and needy.

And hell if I didn’t like it.

Chloe’s phone buzzed across the table, breaking the moment, and she jumped, tugging her hand away from mine. Standing, she tucked her Bluetooth headphones into her ears and headed for the front door. “I’ll take this outside,” she said.

“Our next interview isn’t for another thirty minutes,” I called after her, grateful for the break.

I stared after her as she gently closed the door. The sunshine reflected off her golden ringlets and she gathered her hair off the nape of her neck, securing it into a high ponytail. She paced on the sidewalk out front, moving with the lithe grace of a dancer.

Neil’s cough ripped me from my wandering thoughts. I startled, snapping my gaze toward my brother in a feeble attempt to cover the fact that I’d been gawking at Chloe through the window.

He leveled me with an amused smirk. “Dude,” was all he said.

“What?”

“Ask her out already,” Finn called from over by the register. “The whole town already thinks you’re a couple. You might as well receive the perks.”

I snorted, dropping my eyes to the stack of resumes in front of me and shook my head. “Shut up.”

“He’s right,” Neil said. “Save yourself time and just ask her out.”

Heat flamed in my cheeks. “Trust me guys, she doesn’t…” Doesn’t what? Want me? Well that wasn’t quite true either. She did want me. At least, I was pretty sure of it. But she made a promise to her sister. A promise that I would never ask her to break. I thought way too highly of her to come between her and Elaina. “She’s got too much on her plate right now. And for the record, so do I.”

I inhaled a slow, deep breath as Neil snorted beside me. “Take it from me, Liam. Don’t let a good thing pass you by just because you’re scared.”

“I’m not sca—”

“I see the way she looks at you. And the way you look at her. Just… don’t wait too long, okay? Girls like Chloe? They don’t stay single for long.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” I admitted. “Chloe has never been alone for any length of time. Maybe she needs to not be with me or anyone for a while.”

I knew Neil was right. I thought she was wise to take some time for herself, but she would move on eventually. A lump lodged in my throat at the thought. I had to steel my heart for this—it was going to happen. And probably soon. “Chloe and I are friends, okay? That’s all.”

“If you say so,” Finn sang from over near the registers while Neil scoffed but didn’t say anything more.

I opened my mouth to argue when the bells over the door chimed and Chloe came strolling quietly back inside. Too quietly. Chloe had two levels and that was it—excited… and nuclear.

She slowly made her way back to the table and plopped down beside me.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

She nodded, her full lips parted as though she was about to speak, but no words came out. A dim flush raced across her high cheekbones and I pressed my palm to her forehead, feeling for a fever. “Are you sick?” I asked again.

“That was a producer for Coffee Talk with Bruce and Jill.”

“Bruce Vick and Jill Moore?”

“Isn’t that what Mom always watches in the morning?” Finn asked.

“Probably” She nodded, blinking rapidly as a spectacular grin spread across her face. “They heard about The Dump Truck… and they want to have us on the show. Their national cable morning talk show. Next week.”

Air punched from my lungs. “This is big, right?”

Chloe nodded, her eyes wide. “This is huge, Liam.”

“How in the hell are we going to go to New York next week?” I asked quietly. “Neil is leaving on Saturday and we haven’t even interviewed everyone yet.”

“We don’t have to,” Chloe cut me off quickly. “They’re willing to shoot on location and come here to Maple Grove.”

Holy shit. “It’s a six-hour drive from New York—that’s crazy.”

“They said they wanted to get footage of our actual truck. Another opportunity like this may never come along again,” Chloe said. “People work their whole lives for this sort of exposure.”

Our eyes met, and my body stiffened in shock. Panic climbed up my gut, lodging in my throat. It was too much. With my mom’s surgery and Neil leaving and Beefcakes orders and the truck… I didn’t have the time for everything. “But—” I started but was promptly cut off by Neil.

“No buts,” my brother said, his voice stern. “You said this food truck was your dream,