Bittersweet (True North, #1)

by Sarina Bowen

I was slowly ruining myself for other men.

“My family loves you.”

“If I helped with breakfast, would she sit down?” “Maybe.” He grinned. “Either way, I want to watch you flip eggs in the air while you boss me around. Come on, princess.”

I had to be careful or I’d start picturing myself as a permanent part of his life. It was all too easy to imagine myself in that kitchen every day, teasing his little brother, helping out his mom. Not only did I have the hots for Griff, I had a crush on his family, too.

my favorite farmer

These remind me of my Easy-Bake Oven.” Reunited at last.

“That sure looks good,” he said slowly. And I wasn’t sure he meant the food.

A tipped-over hay truck wasn’t even half as messy as my feelings for Griff Shipley.

They made me feel useful in a way that was rare for me.

“Do you mind if I take one of these last pies? There’s someone I want to give it to.”

“You brought me…breakfast? Why?” That’s the moment I knew Zara and I had something in common. The look of mistrust on her face seemed awfully familiar.

“Okay. Try not to say I told you so…” Then I explained the problem. “Holy shit,” he said when I was through. “I told you so.”

I saw Zara’s face. “What’s the matter?” “Griffin Shipley calls you princess?”

“He thinks of himself as Han Solo, you know? He has a crusader complex a mile wide.” I snorted. “Yeah. So?” “What did Han call Leia? Princess.

“Seriously. I never saw Griff put any effort in with a girl before. Well done, sister.”

The first time I went into lunch and found him wearing her frilly apron I almost bust a gut laughing, and I think that was the point. It was hard for Mom to be snappish and depressed with Jude there to play the part of kitchen slave.

Maybe because Audrey was a chef, or maybe because she was just so fucking adorable. My mother welcomed her assistance, and Audrey was kind enough to give it.

I was surprised at Zara’s warmer greeting. At some point I realized the greeting was for Audrey. Which just figured. She could win over anyone, and usually did.

we played girls vs. guys. The women clobbered Dylan and me. It’s just the way of the world.

There was nothing I wouldn’t have given her at that moment.

Damn, my farm looked better with her on it.

the two Percheron horses looked bored. One of them stretched his great neck down to sniff the hem of Audrey’s skirt. She leapt out of the way. “Jeez. You’re a little fresh, aren’t you?”

Whenever I passed the cider house I could hear Audrey’s laugh, and I wanted in on the joke. No—I wanted a lifetime of having that laugh nearby.

I wasn’t exactly famous for long-lasting relationships. But Audrey was under my skin.

You just want me for the sex. Ever since she’d said that a week ago, it had bothered me.

“This”—I spread my arms—“is something I’m doing for fun, and to help people who are good to me. They’re nice. They even like me. I know that’s unfathomable to you, but it’s true.

“I would rather wash dishes and live in squalor than go back to letting you criticize all my choices.

You don’t get to cut me off and also boss me around. It doesn’t work that way!”

Telling my mother to fuck off really took it out of me.

She was leaving. That’s what I’d told her to do, of course. But if I were honest, the sight of her turning her back on me hurt. A lot.

I put my head on his shoulder. The beard tickled my cheekbone. So I wiggled a little to feel more of it. It was only a little weird. I’m pretty sure.

I thought everything was looking up. I was wrong, though, because the next day Audrey was recalled by the imperial forces to Boston.

“You left Vermont? Already?” “Yeah,” she said softly. Just like that, my happy vibe collapsed. “Thanks for the warning.”

I’d made it painfully obvious that her leave-taking was harder on me than it was on her.

without the possibility of seeing Audrey later, everything suddenly seemed like more work.

Dylan moped and spent a long time saying goodbye to the cows. So I felt like a jerk.

I said, not even bothering to correct him that she wasn’t really my girlfriend. It had sure seemed like she was for a while there.

“But when’s she coming back?” my mother pried, forcing me to admit to myself that I didn’t think she ever would.

“If you care about that girl, why are you sitting here like a big lump? Go tell her.”

“I knew when you fell for some girl, you’d fall hard.

The idea of a road trip to Boston only made me think about Audrey, though. I found myself scanning the room for her, which was pointless. But hope springs eternal. She wasn’t here, of course.

Kyle leaned forward on his bar stool and gazed up at Zara. “Mind if I ask what you’re doing later?” “Not you,”

“Not yours. Do the math. Are you listening?” I was, but all I’d heard was pregnant.

My brothers and my uncles are pissed at me because I won’t say, um, who the father is.

The truth was that if Audrey told me she was knocked up, I’d…be ecstatic. Jesus. Where did that come from?

I watched Zara lift her chin in that proud way she had, looking down her strong, aquiline nose at me. She was striking. Beautiful even. And I’d never felt about her or anyone else the way I felt about Audrey. Damn, I was in so much trouble.

She softens your edges. Makes you tolerable.

I always fall for the broody ones.” She gave me a sad grin. I wondered which broody guy had accidentally become the father of her future child.

The truth is that we’re too much alike. When I saw you with Audrey, I got it. It wasn’t about me. You two just fit. She’s flighty and cute and silly, and you two balance each other out. Now I get to watch her make you crazy.”

“Go big, you know? Do or die. There is no try.” I eyed her over the top of the screen. “You just butchered that quote. Yoda is rolling over in his grave.”