Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

AUSTIN

K enny Sweet.

Fuck, I could barely believe it, but once she had told me who she was, memories came flooding back to me. Those long, dark locks of hers used to be short, though. Really short.

I never would’ve guessed it was her. The girl with the boyish haircut and a love for motor oil and engines hadn’t crossed my mind in almost two decades, and I definitely wouldn’t have thought she’d ever braid flowers into her hair, which she now wore so long that it kissed the top of her butt.

Kenny and Jess had been each other’s bad influences. Together, they had been totally wild and completely unstoppable, tomboys who had constantly been covered in dirt, engine grime, or literal cow shit.

I laughed as I looked at her now, still trying to get my head wrapped around the fact that this ethereally beautiful creature was that girl. Clad in a soft, light pink bridesmaid’s dress that hugged her curves and with those damn flowers in her hair, she really did look like something out of the fairy realms.

“You have officially floored me,” I admitted after looking her over much more openly this time. I wanted her bad and yet, Kenny fucking Sweet. Really?

“It’s definitely been a trip, being back here.” She grinned at me before she glanced at the doors. “The wedding is winding down, but it’s been years since I’ve seen the fireflies. I might take a walk. Go check them out before I leave.”

Screw it.

I swallowed my incredulity about her identity and extended a hand toward her. “They’re out tonight. Do you mind if I take a walk with you? The back field is usually covered in them this time of year.”

“I’d love to.” She placed her hand in mine once more, and we left our drinks behind but took our water with us as we left the barn.

Out in the fields, I draped my jacket over her shoulders. “That’s better. I wouldn’t want you catching pneumonia on me.”

She chuckled. “Thank you.”

We strolled across the property. The sounds of the music and laughter from the wedding faded as we slowly put some distance between it and ourselves.

For a few minutes, neither of us said anything. We just strolled through the fields, with Kennedy looking around as if she was struggling to believe that she was truly back here. All around us, fireflies took off when we moved the grass as we walked through it, and she seemed completely enthralled by them.

Their little orange butts twinkled in the darkness, lighting it up like they were trying to show us the way. I hadn’t seen them like this in a long time. I never really made the effort to come out at night when I was in town.

It was definitely spectacular, although the company might have had something to do with the fluttery feeling in my chest.

Eventually, after taking it all in for a while, Kenny glanced at me again, stealing my attention as completely and instantaneously as she’d stolen the tractor. “I heard about you guys striking oil and all the plans for the farm going forward. I think it’s amazing. It couldn’t have happened to better people.”

“It got a bit rocky there for a bit, but we definitely got luckier than anyone has a right to. I’m just grateful Slate was here to help us.”

She arched an eyebrow at me, amusement twinkling in those eyes once more. Now that I knew who she was though, that made a lot more sense. The Kenny I had sort of known had always been one of those people who had found something to laugh about in every single situation she’d gotten herself into.

“Jess told me about the sabotage and all the other things that happened. Rocky might be a bit of an understatement, but I know she’s grateful for all your help too, not just Slate’s.”

I shrugged. “Being here was the least I could do. Although, to be honest, I was more hindrance than help for a while there. Things around here had just been so tough for so long that I almost convinced my dad to sell the farm, so I’m pretty sure you also heard that I was an asshole if she spoke to you about all this.”

Kenny tried to hide a smile by ducking her head, but I saw it anyway. “She might’ve mentioned that you guys had gotten into it, but I don’t blame you for suggesting selling the place. Jess was stressed out about Merrick Meadows practically since she first got involved with the business side of things. It sounded like the farm was in real trouble.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. The agriculture business as well as our family home had been in decline for years before all this happened. We got so close to losing it that I’d started making space in my old place in the city for my parents.

I’d known that Jess would never leave Firefly Grove even if we lost the farm, but I’d wanted to be able to offer my parents a place to stay when the time came. Looking back now, it still hurt to think about seeing them struggle and not being able to do much to help.

Without Jess’s knowledge, I’d occasionally paid some money to the bank to help with shortfalls and that kind of thing. Dad and I had been talking about me loaning them some money to replace some of the old equipment just before Jess had struck oil.

Or rather, I’d been trying to convince him to let me. Again though, he hadn’t been inclined to take money from me. Even as a loan.

I inhaled deeply and glanced back at the barn and the wooden structure they’d built outside it for the wedding, all of it strung with more lights than I could count. It sure didn’t look like the same declining, rundown place it had been just a few months ago.

Especially not now that it was so full of life.

“Yeah, she was always stressed. Always hustling, begging and scraping to get from one season to the next. It was awful,” I said quietly, relief blooming at the center of my being that those days were now behind us.

Not only were we no longer in trouble, but Jess even had all these grand plans to turn Merrick Meadows into a thriving, modern farm, and if she managed to pull off even half of what she was planning, I had a feeling it might just work. “We’re all pretty excited to see what she does with the place from here.”

“She said something about wanting to invite locals onto the property on weekends?”

I nodded. “Among other things.”

“Like what?” she asked, sounding genuinely interested. “Every time I talk to her, there’s another new idea or an old one has been scrapped, so I’m not quite sure what else she’s planning right now.”

“That sounds about right.” I chuckled. “Well, uh, let’s see. On the farming side of things, they’ve upgraded the machinery and they’ve got a bunch of ideas for increasing production. After tonight, they’re going to convert the hayloft into a bunkhouse for the farmhands so that there’s more help on the property and there’s talk about a petting zoo. She’s really going to make the farm into something special for the whole town.”

“I remember her wanting to move into that hayloft herself when she grew up.” Kenny smiled. “I guess that won’t be happening anymore.”

I laughed. “That was the plan until just a few months ago, actually, but she and Slate are living in the main house now. They built my parents their dream cottage and they’ve also put up another, smaller place as a guest house for when people come to stay.”

“Jess always has been a go-getter,” she said, still smiling as she looked up at me. “I’m really happy for her. For all of you, really.”

I nodded, leading her over to a rocky outcrop where we could watch the fireflies. Our back field had always been overrun by them during the season, and as we sat down, we watched them float from here to there. Some drifted almost to our faces as we settled in.

Kenny sighed happily. “I didn’t realize how much I missed being here until right now. I used to love Merrick Meadows. When I was a kid, your farm was my happy place. There’s just always been something magical about it. Don’t you think?”

I leaned back, looking at it through her eyes and imagining seeing it for the first time in so long, and honestly, I had to agree. “I spent my whole life trying to figure out how to leave, but now when I come back, I can finally appreciate it for what it is. It really is pretty magical when it doesn’t feel like a prison.”

Kenny shivered and I wrapped an arm around her. I hadn’t even planned the move. It just happened, naturally occurring as soon as I’d felt her tremble. She didn’t seem to mind, though. Cuddling into me and smiling, she got comfortable against my side.

“You know, I’m really surprised that you left,” she said quietly. “I hardly ever even saw you because you were always out working in the fields when you weren’t at school or playing football. Now you’re saying it felt like a prison?”

I shrugged, my gaze fixed on hers. “My dad needed me to be in the fields. That’s why I was always out here, not because I loved it. We couldn’t afford help back then, so it was just him and me. It was also a good way for me to blow off steam back in those days, though. I needed it, or else I’d have blurted out how much I hated it over breakfast on any given day, and that wouldn’t have gone down well.”

“Really?” She frowned. “You hated it?”

“Every second,” I admitted, drawing in a deep breath. “I just didn’t have the balls to tell them for the longest time.”

“How did it go when you finally came out with it?”

I shook my head. “Let’s just say it’s better now.”

Kenny chuckled softly, dipping her chin in a nod. “Okay, so that’s a story for another day. Got it.” She stared at the fireflies for another beat before she glanced back at me. “Jess must’ve been happy when you finally came out with the truth. She always did want to stay on the farm and take it over from your parents.”

“Yeah, she really loves it. The property. The work. It’s everything to her.” I hesitated. “I used to be so jealous of her for it. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t have the same passion for farming that she did.”

“What do you do now, then?” she asked. “In New York, I mean.”

“I’m an investment banker.”

She laughed, her eyebrows shooting up, and she pulled her head back to blink at me in surprise. “An investment banker ? I definitely didn’t see that one coming. Is that really what you’re passionate about, then?”

“I’m not sure about the work.” I winked at her. “I am passionate about the lifestyle, though. About the fast pace, the pressure, and the grit needed to be successful. It’s an outlet for me, and not to sound too immodest, but I’m exceptional at it, so yeah. I think I am passionate about it. A lot more passionate than I was about farming, anyway. What about you? What do you do?”

She blushed and averted her gaze as her teeth sank into her lower lip, but then she dragged in a deep breath, took a moment, and brought her eyes back up to mine. “I’m trying to open a restaurant, actually. It’s not an easy feat, though.”

“A restaurant? I can imagine that not being easy. Where is it? You said you left Firefly Grove, but you never told me where you went.”

“New York City,” she said with a slow grin spreading on her lips. “You and I have that in common, but yeah. The competition in the hospitality industry around there is steep as hell, and so far, nobody is willing to take a chance on me.”

Before I could respond, she blew right past it and laughed. “It doesn’t really matter. This weekend is my one chance not to think about it and I promised myself that I was going to have forty-eight stress-free hours, so let’s talk about something else.”

My heart started pounding in my chest as I looked into her eyes. “Would you like a distraction?”

“I would love one,” she said, searching my gaze. “What did you have in mind? And before you answer that, you should know that my tractor-stealing, farm-road racing days are behind me.”

“I’m pretty sure I can do better than that.” Lifting a hand to her face, I tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and sealed my lips over hers in a passionate kiss that sent sparks flying through me.

Kenny smiled against my mouth, wrapped her arms around me, and drew me closer to her. I groaned and hooked an arm around her waist. Devouring her soft, full lips, I pulled her onto my lap. She moved willingly, sliding a leg on either side of my hips and pressing her chest against mine.

I didn’t quite know how I had ended up here with Kennedy Sweet of all people, but I couldn’t deny that I felt something with her. She’d barely touched me and I was already as hard as a rock. My heart thrummed as my cock throbbed.

Lying back on the flat rock, I brought her with me. My hand traveled into her hair and gripped it hard. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d wanted someone this much, but as she moaned into my mouth and kissed me back just as hungrily as I was kissing her, I knew I had it bad.

Just for tonight anyway. But while I was waiting for that spell to break, I figured we might as well have a good time with it.