by Brooks, Abby
He looked genuinely confused. “What?”
“You so don’t know how to do girl talk.” She shooed him from the room and dragged Willow onto the deck. “Tell me all about your day. I want the details. All the grit. Was it life-changing?”
Yes. It was, Willow thought, but instead of saying it out loud, she just rolled her eyes. “It was really nice, but life-changing?” She shook her head. “I work in New York and he has a restaurant here and we’re both apparently married to our jobs.” She turned away, surprised by the surge of bitterness that clenched her jaw.
“Hey…” Juliet put a hand on Willow’s back. “I was just trying to have some fun.”
Willow studied the water and took a deep breath. “I know. I don’t mean to be weird. I’m just feeling way off balance.”
“Do we need to trade in our coffee for something with a little more kick?”
“I think that’s the only way through this.”
Juliet took Willow’s mug and disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing moments later with two very full glasses of red wine.
“I thought this might be a double serving kind of conversation.” She smiled and gestured for Willow to follow her off the deck toward the beach. “Grab those chairs. I’ve found that heavy topics don’t feel quite so heavy by the water.”
They set up the chairs so they could watch the tide roll out while they dug their toes into dry sand. Willow wasn’t sure where the bitterness was coming from and she told Juliet as much. Julz nodded and stared off toward the horizon.
“Does it have to do with Harry?”
“No.” Willow shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not sure.” Juliet stayed quiet and Willow sighed. “We kissed today and it was wonderful. In fact, the whole time I was with him was wonderful.” She turned to her friend and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t judge, I know we barely know each other and I fully recognize I’ve gone off the deep end here.”
“Believe me. I’m the last one to judge. I stumbled across the love of my life six months ago and we’ll be married at the end of the week. I know how it feels to stand next to a man you’ve only just met and wonder if you’re crazy for wanting more time with him.”
Willow wiggled her toes, enjoying the way the sand moved between them. “Not just more time. All the time. I want to spend all the time I have with him.”
“I get it.” Juliet lifted her glass in agreement then took a long drink.
“But I can’t do that. I have my career to focus on, a career that I’ve invested my entire life into. And it’s not like I can just pick up and find another job here. I don’t even think South Carolina has a ballet company, let alone a ballet company like ACB. And then, there’s his business. It’s not like he can pick up and move to New York either. So, then I wonder if it’s silly to be spending any time with him at all? Especially when it’s destined to fail.”
“Willow.” Juliet held out her hand. “You don’t have to plan your whole life with the guy in order to enjoy spending time with him while you’re here.”
Except when I’m with him, it feels like I’ve found my forever. Like finishing my life with him is an inevitability.
“I guess. It’s just…well…” She searched for the best way to explain what she was feeling. “Harry makes me feel like I’m more than a ballerina. Like I’m more than what I do. Like…”
“Like you make more sense when you’re with him.”
“Exactly.” Willow took a drink of her wine and sighed heavily, the truth of the admission tangling with the impossibility of the situation.
“And you’ve spent an entire life living on not enough of everything and never knew it until he showed up and suddenly you understand what it means to have it all?”
“Yes, exactly like that.”
Juliet raised her glass. “Well, my friend. Experience has taught me one thing. Sometimes our best laid plans go awry.”
“You can’t quote Robert Burns and think that makes you sound smart. I know all about you and your thirst for inspirational quotes!”
“Just because I didn’t write the quote doesn’t mean I can’t get credit for knowing when to pull it out.”
Willow laughed and took a sip of her wine. Maybe Juliet was right. Maybe her life didn’t have to march along to some pre-determined plan she’d laid out when she was a kid.
Julz shifted in her seat, folding her legs under her as she twisted to meet Willow’s eyes. “Here’s the thing, and I’m vamping off something someone really smart once said to me. If this guy makes you feel that good, then fuck it, spend this week with him.”
“Are you distilling my great advice to you about Ian down to fuck it, spend a week with him?”
“Yep. And it’s as awesome now as it was back then.” Juliet pursed her lips and made a face that dared her friend to argue with her logic.
Willow took that dare. “If you say so.”
“I know so. Sometimes you have to take a big breath and do the shit that scares you.”
“Says the woman living her happily ever after.”
“Exactly.” Juliet raised her brows. “See how well it worked out for me?”
Chapter Fifteen
Willow
After another, albeit smaller glass of wine and a short, fiancé-chauffeured car ride, Willow, Juliet, and Ian walked into Harry’s restaurant. Willow teetered over the threshold and choked back a giggle as Juliet clutched her arm to help keep her upright.
Maybe we had a little too much wine, she thought, hoping there would be bread or something at the table to sop up the alcohol in her system.
The hostess led them to a table with a gorgeous view and Willow quietly crossed her fingers that Harry would be working so she might see him again. If the decor of the restaurant had any amount of insight into his character, she found herself all the more interested in the man who’d captivated her every thought for the last two days. Clean lines and simple textures came together to create something unobtrusive yet beautiful. The waitress took their drink orders and, thankfully, brought a breadbasket. Before Ian had a chance to consider taking a piece, both women dove in, helping themselves as they studied the menu.
Willow really didn’t want another salad, but anxiety rose in her stomach at the thought of eating anything else and she actually regretted Nutcracker season being so close. Under normal circumstances, hitting stage weight was a struggle. But being on vacation while having to trim down sucked hard. Typically, when she was watching calories, she avoided restaurants at all costs. They could really throw a wrench into the gears, because sometimes, even salads ended up being bad for you.
“You know,” Juliet said, as if she could read Willow’s thoughts. “The good thing about knowing the guy who owns the place is that he might be willing to help you find something that won’t ruin your diet.”
Willow smiled across the table at her friend. Juliet didn’t always agree with the harsh realities of eating with the stage in mind, but she did try to understand. “I’ll find something. No need to make a fuss.”
Ian’s eyes went wide “Diet? Tell me this is some kind of weight gain diet…”
Food was the one part of ballet she got tired of defending. “It’s just part of the job,” she said as she folded her menu and laid it on the table. “If I was a sumo wrestler, you’d be shoving food at me without thinking.” She smiled and tried not to look like she was scanning for Harry over Ian's shoulder while she totally scanned for Harry over Ian's shoulder.
Dinner passed in a stream of good conversation and laughter. Lots of laughter. It didn’t take an observational genius to see why Juliet had fallen so head over heels, crazy in love with Ian. He was sweet and funny and protective. He took care of her while managing to give her room to breathe and be her own person. If ever there was a perfect man for Juliet, he was the guy. He had Willow in stitches, describing the day they’d met at a rest stop outside Bliss.
“And I spent the rest of the night thinking about her,” he finished, after describing his trek onto
the beach to rescue Lulu.
“And then we ran into each other at Good Beginnings the next morning, which suited me just fine because I couldn’t get my mind off him, either.” Juliet took Ian’s hand and Willow’s mind turned to Harry for the millionth time that evening.
Where was he? Was he in the kitchen? An office? At home? She liked the thought of sharing the same space as him, but would love it if she could actually see him.
Damn, Willow, she thought. Get a grip.
How could she be so infatuated with a guy she had only just met? And yet, how could everything about him be everything she ever wanted? How could his lips taste so sweet and his body be so yummy? And all the sexy thoughts… How could he conjure up so many sexy thoughts in her head?
And then, suddenly, as if she summoned him with the sheer power of concentration, Harry was standing at her side. “When I saw the order for a salad with absolutely plain chicken come through, I knew it was you.” He smiled down at Willow. “Dressing on the side, of course.”
Willow flared her fingers and smiled up at him. “Of course.”
Harry crouched down so he wasn’t towering over her. “I could have whipped something up special for you, you know.”
“Julz and Ian said as much, but I didn’t want to put you out.”
“What’s the point of being a chef if you can’t spoil your friends with a good meal? Besides, I would feel better knowing I had taken care of your needs.”
Willow smiled and focused on her hands, a blush starting in her toes and flaring across her cheeks. She didn’t have a good answer for him. At least not one that made sense. She wanted to tell him how good it felt to know someone wanted to take care of her. That of all the people in the world who might say such a thing to her, he was the one she wanted to hear it from the most.
And then there was the physical reaction that came from being near him, the flip-flopping of her stomach, the surge of need pooling between her legs…
The desire to have his lips on hers, to taste him and to have him taste her in return.
To have her hands on him, to trace them over that gorgeous chest, skate them across his tight stomach, to kiss between that delightful V at his hip bones that pointed down toward other parts of his body she wanted to know more intimately.
Harry cleared his throat and Willow met his eyes, afraid her thoughts had flashed across her face like a neon sign. “How about you let me prepare a proper dinner tomorrow? You shoot me a text outlining your dietary restrictions, and I'll make you something delicious and nutritious.” He turned to Juliet. “I’m not just stealing your maid of honor for selfish reasons. I have some wedding stuff to discuss with her, if you don’t mind.” He returned his gaze to Willow and his smile widened. “Thoughts?”
How could she say anything but yes? “That sounds lovely.”
“Good.” Harry straightened. “I agree.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, and Willow’s breath stuttered in her chest as a shiver of delight rolled through her.
His touch felt so damn right.
It meant everything to her.
They exchanged goodbyes and Harry disappeared back to wherever he’d been.
“What. The hell. Was that?” Juliet stared open-mouthed and asked the question as if it was three separate sentences. She turned her attention to Ian who shook his head, a similar look of shock lighting up his face.
“What do you mean?” Willow glanced between her flummoxed friends.
“That…? Whatever the hell just happened between you two,” Juliet said, waving her finger back and forth from Willow to the kitchen.
“I still don’t understand.”
“That was the most intense conversation about dinner I’ve ever heard. Hands down.”
“Yep.” Ian nodded in agreement. “I’d say you were exaggerating if I hadn’t been here to experience it myself. That was some crazy sexual tension right there.”
Juliet widened her eyes. “And I thought we were bad.”
“Exactly. I’m calling it like I see it, here.” He took a long drink of wine. “And what I think I’m seeing is that my little brother has finally met his match.”
Chapter Sixteen
Harry
The moment the order for the salad with plain chicken and dressing on the side came in, Harry knew Willow was in the restaurant. He knew Ian and Juliet planned to bring her in sometime that night and had been eagerly waiting all evening to know they’d arrived. When her order came in, he snuck out of the kitchen and watched her at the table, laughing and joking with her friend and his brother.
Even sitting, she moved with grace, her thin arms gesturing in broad yet controlled movements, her smile lighting up the table and spreading to the people around her like wildfire. Harry loved his job. He was really, really good at his job. But that night, he wished he could say to hell with being the owner, pull up a chair at their table, and spend the rest of the night with her, enjoying the easy comfort of her presence.
After Willow left the restaurant, the rest of the evening passed by at a snail’s pace. Like, so slowly he started to doubt the restaurant would ever close. Distracted by thoughts of her, Harry finally gave up trying to be a good boss and closed the door to his office and typed Willow Tamran American City Ballet into a Google search. The volume of newspaper articles and YouTube videos that came back surprised him. Juliet had mentioned that Willow was good at what she did, but nothing in her demeanor hinted that she was such a big deal.
He read article after article about her, praising her dancing as well as her ability to bring nuance to the characters she played. One critic even went so far as to call her performance in a ballet last year “the only good thing in an evening ripe with disappointment.” Intrigued, he found clips of the performance on YouTube and lost the rest of the evening watching her dance.
He didn’t understand ballet.
He’d never once considered going to see a ballet, and yet every time Willow moved, he couldn’t help but watch. She captivated him with a single look over her shoulder. Wowed him with her powerful leaps and vibrant turns.
How could one person be so strong and so delicate at the same time? In one clip, he could see the sweat beading on her forehead and yet, she moved with certainty, never once showing the fatigue she had to be fighting. In another, the audience roared as she spun through a vicious series of turns on one leg. As he scrolled through the comments, the number of people singling her out as amazing humbled him, even though it came as no surprise. Even someone as clueless about her world as he was could see she was gifted.
Like, really fucking gifted.
And yet she was so real in person. So unassuming. Spending time with her was just like anyone else. Well…not like that at all. Harry had never been so turned on by a woman’s body and mind in all his life. But, judging by the comments on the videos and all the praise in the newspaper articles, Willow Tamran was basically a star in the ballet world and she never once came off that way. Knowing what she could do, discovering how talented and revered she was in her field, and knowing how sweet and down to earth she stayed despite it all intrigued him all the more.
As if he didn’t have reason enough to be fascinated with her.
He closed down the restaurant with his mind mostly on her, already planning the meal he wanted to make for her the next evening. Surely, he could make a dish that honored her nutritional guidelines without resorting to feeding her plain iceberg lettuce and unseasoned chicken.
Good food was good for the soul. Harry knew that better than anyone.
By the time he made it home, his mind had wandered to less wholesome thoughts about Willow. He remembered the way her legs looked in her shorts. How her sexy breasts filled out her sports bra. And he remembered how the feel of her lips against his had simultaneously calmed him and sent blood racing toward his dick. He showered and imagined she was with him, that it was her fingers running down his body, grasping his hard on…
He shuddered as he took himself into his h
ands, leaning against the wall, stroking his length as the water beat against his back.
He imagined Willow’s mouth on him.
Those big blue eyes looking up at him.
The way it would feel to sheath himself so deep inside her that she screamed.
He grunted as he came in the shower, her face and name blazing through his mind.
* * *
Later that night, Harry lay awake in bed, his thoughts still completely wrapped around Willow. He finally gave in and picked up his phone to tap out a quick text.
Me: You awake?
He waited anxiously for her response, both hopeful she’d reply and fearful he’d woken her. A minute passed and, as he rolled over to put his phone back on his bedside table, it buzzed in his hand.
Willow: Yep. Can’t sleep.
Harry was glad to be alone in the dark because the smile that stretched across his face was too wide, too goofy, and too excited.
Me: Me neither. My mind’s on fire. What’s got you up?
He hoped he was the reason she was awake in the same way she was the reason he was up and knew he was completely selfish for feeling that way.
Willow: Too quiet. :)
That’s what I get for being selfish, he thought, but then several more texts came in on its heels.
Willow: Plus, if I’m honest, I can’t stop thinking about you.
Don’t want to stop thinking about you.
What is it about you?
A rush of adrenaline flooded his system. If there’d been any chance of him falling asleep, it flew out the window when he read her words.
Me: I could say the same thing about you.
Willow: Well, why don’t you?
Harry thought for a moment about what he really wanted to say, cursing autocorrect as his fingers flew across the screen.
