Falling For You (Honey Leaf Lodge #1)

Chapter Eleven

Violet

Only I had a guy kiss me and apologize in a matter of a few seconds. But none of those details mattered as he sat in my family room while I warmed up in my shower, feeling the hot water droplets warm my skin.

But one thing was for sure. I had to get my head back in the game and try to regain a shred of dignity.

As I turned off the water, I sighed and toweled off, thinking about the man in my family room.

He kissed me.

Not just a little peck, either.

The electricity running through me was highly charged with desire and something else I couldn’t quite grasp. Whatever drove the sensation was wildly intoxicating, and it took everything I had to keep him out there while I was in the shower.

And that was completely unlike me.

I shook my head and tossed the towel over the shower curtain before I slipped on my clothes. I picked a green wool sweater and a pair of flannel-lined jeans.

Completely sexy.

A shiver ran through me as I thought about where I was only minutes before. Upside down in a trough, followed by minutes of being soaked and nearly carried to my cabin.

I rolled my eyes in the mirror. There was no way he meant to kiss me. Owen was in a small town away from the turnstile of women he was used to.

Simply put, I happened to be available and in front of him.

I scowled at the notion, put some pink lipstick on, and combed my hair.

The moment I opened the door, the heat from the woodstove warmed me, and I glanced at Owen studying me.

“What?”

“You’re just beautiful.”

I smiled and winked at him. “No. I’m here in front of you. I’m easy pickings.”

Owen stretched his long, muscular arms along the back of the couch, and the blanket draped over his shoulders opened slightly, revealing his muscular body even more. A slight smile touched his lips when he caught me checking him out.

My brows furrowed. “What?”

“Nothing.” A twinkle in his gaze lingered as I glanced at the coffee maker.

“Looks like the coffee is ready.” I walked to the kitchen and reached for two mugs. “Do you take anything in it?”

“Plain is perfect.” The gruffness in his voice made me smile. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, his time in Wyoming had made him all man.

“I owe you.”

He laughed. “Yes, you do.”

I spun around with two mugs and walked over to him, handing him his before I sat beside him. The heat warmed my hands as I blew away the steam. Peering at him over the mug’s rim, I couldn’t help but wonder why he was here.

“Your shirt should be dry shortly, and you can be on your merry way doing whatever it was you were doing at Vern’s property.” I eyed him suspiciously.

“Violet.” His voice sounded strained. “I’d tell you if I could, but…” Owen ran a hand through his blond hair, frustration evident on his face. “Look, I don’t want to keep you in the dark, but I have no choice. Mr. Medowski added a confidentiality clause. I had to sign an NDA. It’s ironclad. If I told you anything, I could lose much more than my business. It’s not just about me. There’s other people involved.”

A non-disclosure agreement… His words sounded tinged with anxiety, and I nodded slowly, realizing he wasn’t actually keeping things from me just to be a jerk.

“I hate not telling you. Trust me.” He shook his head and moved the brown plaid blanket over his shoulders.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

His jaw clenched tightly, and he sipped coffee before answering. “Because even saying that could be considered too much.” He shrugged under the blanket and turned to look at me better. “But I just don’t want you to think this is about trust, me trusting you. I do. I just can’t say anything yet.”

“I appreciate that,” I said softly.

“Did it make you ease up on trying to find out what’s going on?”

I took a sip and grinned widely. “Nope.”

Owen laughed, throwing his head back as he nodded. “You’re stubborn.”

“Only when I need to be. It’s not like you aren’t,” I pointed out.

He nodded, bringing his eyes back to mine. “Is the coffee helping to warm you up?”

“Between the hot shower and the coffee, I just might thaw out by tonight.”

I didn’t want to mention that being in his arms soaking wet was hot enough to keep my mind off things like falling headfirst into a trough.

“I’m glad I happened to be there.”

“Me too.” I shook my head. “I’m just glad my family wasn’t around to see it. I don’t think I’d ever live it down.”

“Secret is safe with me.”

I eyed him and smiled. “Promise?”

He nodded as my laptop dinged.

I glanced over to see a message. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to check something.”

He nodded. “Duty calls. I get it. I’ve been meaning to check my email.”

I laughed and stood. “I’m sure you have, but mine’s not like that. I just never get messages on this account. It’s for my blog.”

“Oh, so if you have to look at messages for work, it’s okay because you don’t get many, but if I do, I’m a workaholic?” he teased, and I realized I really liked seeing this lighter side of Owen.

I glanced over my shoulder, noticing Owen taking me in, and I couldn’t help but feel that familiar flutter.

“Exactly. This is a once-a-year phenomenon,” I informed him.

Owen laughed. “Oh, come on. You can’t just get one message a year.”

I used the touchpad and went over to my email. “Oh, yeah? I can show you. I just haven’t put as much time and energy into this as I should.”

“Is that something you really want to do?”

“Yeah, it is.” I nodded, scanning for the inbox. That’s how infrequently I used the software. “But I just don’t know where to start. I need to make things snappy. I have to post videos nowadays. I need to sound funny. My recipes have to be stellar. I need to go viral and…” My voice trailed off as I read the message.

“Well?” he asked.

I lifted my gaze to his and playfully pouted. “And my annual message was spam. How did they get this address?” I groaned and shut the lid, taking the laptop with me before I sat down with it.

I’d somehow scooted a little closer to Owen on the couch, and I could nearly feel the warmth rolling off his body. He wasn’t kidding when he said he ran hot.

“You know, I’m pretty good at growing businesses. We could brainstorm some ideas and get your business plan together before I leave town.”

“Business plan? It’s a blog.”

He cocked his head slightly and smiled. “Right, but why wouldn’t you need to implement the same structure as if you were doing a brick-and-mortar or online retail? Your job is to sell recipes, right? A lifestyle, possibly?” He nodded toward the laptop. “And as you do that, sponsors and brand deals will come. Maybe you could write a cookbook? Who knows? But it all starts with the first step.”

I stared at Owen for a few seconds as his words went through me. “Wow.”

“Wow, I was being redundant and condescending, or wow, I was helpful?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Are you used to getting the condescending one?”

He laughed and tugged on the blanket. “How’d you guess?”

“I think it’s just your delivery. You’re trying to be helpful, but it could be misunderstood.” I shrugged. “But I didn’t take it that way at all. Honestly, I always look at my food blog as a hobby with some faraway and unattainable dreams attached to it. You, somehow, made me feel less crazy, thinking it’s possible.”

He scowled and shook his head. “Of course, it’s possible. There are a ton of foodies out there dying for fresh recipes, but it sounds like the first step is believing in yourself.”

“I never thought I had a problem with that.” I opened my laptop. “But maybe you’re right.”

“Trust me. I know I’m right.” He smiled and eyed me. “If someone can make a Reuben casserole amazing, I can only imagine what you can do with less stinky ingredients.”

I snorted, and my eyes widened. “Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe that just slipped out.”

He moved a little closer, and my breath hitched. His gaze dropped to my mouth again. I slowly licked my lips, praying that we might kiss again.

My heart hammered in my chest as he inched closer. It felt like all the blood in my body rushed to my toes.

But…

Before I knew it, Owen scanned my blog on my laptop.

He leaned over me with his brows furrowed in concentration as he took control and scrolled through my blog.

If he got any closer, he’d probably be able to feel my pounding heart.

I let out a deep breath, and he glanced at me. His face was only inches from mine, and a faint smirk rested on his features.

He definitely knew what he was doing to me.

Owen sat back and looked at me. “So, you’ve got some great recipes, fun little anecdotes, and awesome photos.”

I cleared my throat and tried hard to shift my focus away from Owen and onto my food blog, but something about him just ticked all the darn boxes.

My gaze met his, and he smiled wider like he could read my mind. “But I think you need a little more focus. I feel like you’re juggling fifty different things, and it’s unclear what sets your brand apart from the others.”

I groaned a little. He was right. Why hadn’t I come up with that? “I have so many ideas, but something else pops up whenever I try to focus. I come up with some great dessert idea, or I forget to post and—”

He shook his head. “I don’t believe you ever forget to post. I think you might be scared to post, but I don’t for a second believe it slips your mind.”

“How so?”

“You’ve taken too much care with it.” He sat back and pushed his legs out in front of him. “I think you’re scared of failure.”

I chuckled. “Who isn’t?”

“No, you’re right. You can’t let fear define you. It’s how you will push through. When you go visit your site logs in the future and it shows you’ve only had ten visitors instead of ten thousand, how will you keep that drive and motivation until youhit ten thousand visits?”

I nodded, feeling like I might just have a shot. “You’re absolutely right. I have been afraid. I have hundreds of photos and recipes at my fingertips, enough for a year of daily posting, but I haven’t done it.”

Owen’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re that far along? You have that much content?”

“I do.” I suddenly felt sheepish, as if he were ripping the Band-Aid off while simultaneously analyzing my mind.

He tapped his finger on his knee. “Then we need to come up with a solid business plan. First, we’ll narrow down your goals to help you keep focused. Do you want this to become an income stream? If so, do you want it to be your main income stream or a side hustle? After that, we’ll focus on what you want your brand to be. Easy meals? Desserts? Main dishes? Quick meals?”

“I feel like I just finished a quarter of business school at university.” I laughed, shaking my head. “You make it sound so easy.”

He reached for my hand and squeezed it. Another charge pushed through me as our eyes locked on one another. “It is easy. You just need a little push and some guidance, and you’ll be off and running when I leave.”

“That fast?” I asked, surprised.

He nodded. “That fast. So, tell me. Can you answer the first question?”

“Easy. I want my food blog to be my main source of income, and working for my parents to bea fun side hustle.”

He smiled and nodded, not letting go of my hand. “Nice. Let’s open up a blank document and start making notes.”

I quickly obliged, not wanting to lose any of this information.

“We know you’ll have the content to bring the audience. So, let’s work on growing subscribers on your blog and building your follower base. We’ll start researching what the various retailers want regarding followers and subscribers to become partners and affiliates.”

I nodded, typing the tidbits, and looked up at him. “This is actually doable. Isn’t it?”

“Heck yeah.” Owen smiled. “It’s more than doable. With a solid plan, plenty of focus, and determination, you’ll grow your food blog and business in no time.”

“I really can’t believe this. Thanks for helping save my life today and, you know, giving me a boost to focus on my business.”

He shrugged, but his smile didn’t fade. “It’s what I do. Besides, helping you grow something this cool is a win for me.”

“How so?”

His smile only widened, and he grabbed my hand again. “I get to spend time with you.”