Riley's Reverend

by Kirsten Osbourne

  “Kiss me! Didn’t I already say that?”

  Blake stared down at her for a moment. They were completely alone atop the mountain, and he worried a bit, but he had to kiss her. He couldn’t deny his attraction to her. She was definitely a woman he wanted to know better. “Fine. But only one kiss and no tongue.”

  “I’ll take what I can get.” Riley took one step closer to him and put her palms flat against the front of his shirt. “Ready when you are!”

  Two

  Blake couldn’t help but grin at the young woman in front of him. Riley asked for what she wanted, and he couldn’t complain about that. He wanted to kiss her. Badly. But he had no idea if she’d even seen him as a man and not just a pastor. Maybe he should have put her rocks in his pocket so he would have the courage to kiss her. That could be interesting.

  Looking down into her brown eyes, he smiled and put his hands on her waist. It had been a long time since he’d kissed a girl. He’d spent college and seminary with one goal in mind, and he hadn’t allowed himself time for dating.

  Lowering his head slowly, he brushed his lips across hers, feeling as if she was igniting a flame within him. He drew her closer, trying to remember his morals even as he kissed her.

  When he broke the kiss, Riley stood staring at him, a look of deep shock on her face.

  “Did I do something wrong?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No.” All she could think about was how her sisters had told her they knew the men they had chosen to spend their lives with were right. They had each said that when a man kissed them and they’d never wanted him to stop, they knew it was time to stay with him forever. That’s exactly how it had felt when Blake kissed her. But he was a pastor. She was not pastor’s wife material. She didn’t know if she was any kind of wife material.

  “Do you want to tell me what that look is in your beautiful eyes?” he asked, frowning at her. He didn’t want her to look so confused or upset or whatever it was every time they kissed. And he wanted to kiss her often. Very often.

  She swallowed hard. With as honest as she’d been with him about wanting to kiss him, she still wasn’t sure she should tell him how she felt about the kiss, but she wouldn’t lie. “So all three of my sisters have gotten engaged in the past year. Really more like nine months. It’s been fast. And I asked all of them a single question when they got engaged.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I asked them how they knew the man was right for them, and they all answered the same way. ‘When a man kisses you and you never want him to stop, you know he’s the one.’ Blake, when you kissed me, I never wanted you to stop.” There, she’d said it. She wondered how he was going to react to the brutal honesty that was in her nature.

  He stared at her for a moment. “I was honestly thinking I shouldn’t ever let you go when I kissed you.”

  “Well, if you had the ability to think like that, I must not have done my job well.” She winked at him, glad he hadn’t run—or rolled—screaming down the mountain.

  “I have to be careful dating,” he said softly. “As the new single pastor in town, I need to always be above reproach, but I still want to date you. You’re okay with that?”

  She nodded, so glad she’d taken him the crystals that morning. “I’m very okay with that.”

  “So tomorrow is an errands day for you?” he asked.

  Riley wrinkled her nose. “Yup. Lots of errands.”

  “Would you have time to eat supper with me?” He knew they’d have to keep it public, but he was willing. Very willing.

  “I would. I’ll be done with errands and laundry by about four.”

  “So can I take you to supper in Post Falls? I was told there’s a great steak place there, and I really don’t want to invite gossip.”

  Riley laughed. “You have no idea how small this town is, do you? Yes, we’ll try to keep it quiet, but I’m sure the gossip has already started.”

  He sighed. “We’ll do our best, then, and let things go from there.”

  “Sounds good to me.” She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips against his once more. “I just had to see if kissing you was as wonderful as I remembered it was.” It was hard to believe just how strong the attraction was with this man. Never before had Riley felt anything even a little close to it.

  He smiled. “And?”

  “Oh, yeah.” She walked to her four-wheeler and started it. “Let’s get these back to the hotel.”

  He nodded, climbing on the machine he had used and starting it. Following her down the mountain brought him joy. He wondered if he should talk to the older pastor in town about dating a Quinn. Was there some reason he shouldn’t be doing it? He had no idea at all.

  When they got back to the hotel, she hurried inside to return the keys, and when she got back outside, Blake was leaning against his car, watching her. He had his phone in his hand. “What’s your phone number?” he asked.

  She rattled it off to him, and immediately her phone pinged. She pulled it out and saw a text that simply said, “It’s Blake.” She knew that was her cue to add his number into her phone, which she did immediately.

  “Text me your address, so I can GPS it.”

  She laughed. “GPSing something in Quinn Valley? You’ll get over that soon.”

  He shrugged. “You’ve lived here your whole life. Give me a month or two.”

  “Sure. I can do that.” She watched as he walked to the driver’s side of his car. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Riley wished she could kiss him goodbye, but they really did need to be careful.

  “Around five, so we can make the drive.” He got into his car and drove away, leaving her watching him.

  Riley shook her head. Dating a pastor. It was not what she’d expected when she’d woken up that morning.

  Riley was woken early on Monday morning by a phone call. “Hello?” She was tired and groggy and didn’t want to have to deal with people. It was her day off!

  “Riley? What’s this I hear about you dating the new pastor?” Her mom’s voice came strongly over the line.

  “Hey, Mum. We just had lunch and rode four-wheelers yesterday. I was explaining why I think crystals and their power come from God.” Riley sat up in bed and wrapped her arms around her legs.

  “Oh, really? That would explain the lunch. What about the four-wheelers?”

  “I wanted to show him our town. No big deal.” Riley was deliberately being evasive. She wasn’t sure what Blake would want people to know, and she was going to respect his wishes.

  “Well, I want to know when and if it becomes a big deal. Ivy called me last night, and your grandmother called this morning. They were both very interested in why you were having lunch with him.”

  “Of course they were. Tell a phone. Tell a friend. Tell a Quinn.” Riley yawned. “What time is it?”

  “It’s six-thirty. I let you sleep later than I should have!”

  Riley rolled her eyes. “Okay. Whatever.”

  “See you tomorrow. Tell the pastor hi for me.” April Lynn hung up at that. She wasn’t about to let her youngest child get the last word in.

  Riley checked her emails and saw one from Bobling, her older brother. Bobling was in the Marines, and she missed him horribly. She’d been young when he’d left for service, and he was coming back soon.

  She read the email and smiled. He had a release date. He would be home on August first. She couldn’t wait to hug her big brother. Not sure if anyone else knew his release date, she immediately called Raina, who was waiting for him to come home to have her wedding.

  Raina sounded awake and alert, but she worked on Mondays. “Hullo?”

  “Bobling’s getting released August first!”

  “Are you sure? I haven’t heard anything.”

  “I just got an email, and I knew you were waiting to set the date, so I wanted you to know right away.”

  “Then I’m getting married on the tenth. That’ll give him time to get home and fitted into a suit.”

/>   “Perfect. Make sure you tell Roxie. She’s going to be huge by then.” Their older sister Roxie was pregnant with the first grandbaby. They’d just found out it was a little girl and couldn’t be happier.

  “I’m not going to make her stand up with me unless she just wants to. I think that would be hard,” Raina said. “I can’t believe in just a couple of months we can finally hug Bobling. I’m so ready for him to be home. I sure hope he likes Derek.”

  “How could anyone not like Derek? He’ll love him.” Riley yawned. “Okay, if I’m up, I’m going to shower and start my day.”

  “Wait!”

  “What?” Riley and her sister talked a couple of times a day on the phone as well as working together. She couldn’t imagine what the other woman would have to tell her that she didn’t already know.

  “I just want to know how your date with Pastor Hot Stuff went.”

  “It wasn’t a date.” Riley refused to say another word to her sister on the subject. The Quinn grapevine was absolutely ridiculous.

  “Fine. But you know I’m going to find out. You can’t leave your house without being spotted by someone who will report back to Mom or Grandma. You’re doomed.”

  “Bye, Raina.” Riley hit the end key on her phone, wondering why the entire Quinn family was obsessed with her love life.

  She showered and had a bowl of cereal, making a list of all her errands while she ate. When she finished, she walked to her car. It was early for doing errands in Quinn Valley, but she needed to go to Lewiston, and she could get that done first. Shopping was sometimes a necessity.

  Blake found himself distracted most of the day. He couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful Riley Quinn. Shortly after lunch, Pastor Dahl asked him a question, and he completely missed it. When he realized the older man was staring at him, he said, “Pardon?”

  “I just said your head has been in the clouds all day. You must be thinking of the Quinn girl.”

  Blake’s eyes widened in surprise. “The Quinn girl?”

  “Yeah, you know. Riley. I saw the two of you together yesterday. She’s a good egg, that one.”

  Blake was relieved to hear the pastor speak highly of Riley. “So you don’t have a problem if I date her?”

  Pastor Dahl shook his head. “Why would that bother me?”

  Blake shrugged. “I just wasn’t sure if there was a rule about dating women in the congregation.”

  “Since there are just two of us, I think we make our own rules.”

  “We’re trying to keep it quiet that we’re dating, but I’m not sure how well it’s working. Riley said we could try, but with as small of a town as it is, everyone would know anyway.”

  “She’s right. This town is a hotbed for gossip, and you’re the new single pastor. And Riley is the pretty princess of the founding family. You two will be under everyone’s scrutiny.” Pastor Dahl shook his head. “Keeping it quiet is all well and good . . . but it won’t work for long.”

  “Obviously not.” Blake shrugged. “Well, I’m taking her to dinner in Post Falls tonight. I was hoping leaving Quinn Valley would make things easier.”

  “Of course it will. But it still won’t be perfect.”

  “Nothing is perfect. I’ve known that for a long time.” Blake got to his feet and walked to the mini fridge there in his office, pulling out a bottle of water for each of them. “It’ll work or it won’t. Just so it doesn’t hurt the church, I’m all good with it.”

  “Thank you.” Blake felt relieved that the discussion was out of the way. Now he was free to date without guilt. He still didn’t want it advertised, though, because if they ended up not suiting each other, it would be harder for both of them if everyone knew about it.

  Once Riley was finished with her errands and her laundry, she texted Blake to give him her address. If he had any kind of sense of direction at all, he wouldn’t need to use GPS long.

  As soon as she sent her address, he responded. Pick you up at five.

  Sounds good. It was already a little after four, and she looked down at herself in her oldest clothes. What else would she wear for laundry day? She hurried to change into a new dress she’d purchased in Lewiston on a whim earlier that day and slapped some makeup on. Thankfully it wasn’t really summer yet, and she knew the night air would get down to the thirties. She grabbed a sweater that looked good with her dress and slipped shoes on. She was ready. She hoped.

  Never had she been nervous about a date before, but she had also never liked anyone as much as she liked Blake. Well, that wasn’t right. She wasn’t sure that she liked him. She was attracted to him, and so far, he seemed nice, but what if he ended up being a total jerk? It was possible.

  He knocked on her door at five on the dot, and she opened it wide. She draped her sweater over her arm and picked up her purse. Her father had taught her from a very young age that it was always best to carry at least a hundred dollars with her on a date. If she ended up with a jerk, she’d be able to extricate herself from the situation.

  She followed him out to his car, a little Honda Accord. She smiled when she saw it. “You’re going to want four-wheel drive come winter.”

  “I’m sure. This is what I have right now, though. I’ll work my way up to four-wheel drive.” He opened her door for her and closed it, which embarrassed her a little. No one had ever done that for her before.

  On the road on the way there, she asked him some questions about himself. “So you grew up in Missouri. Where?”

  “Joplin. Middle of the Ozarks.”

  “So did you say you have a sister??” she asked. He knew she had a ton of cousins. She should know something about him.

  “I actually have a twin sister, who still lives near Mom. She’s a teacher in a child care center. She loves it.”

  “Sounds good. Just the two of you?”

  “Yes, just two. Our dad was a firefighter, and our mother was a stay-at-home mom. Worked out well.” He shrugged. “And from what I hear of the Quinns, every offspring has five children. So you have brothers and sisters? Or just one or the other?”

  Riley smiled. “I’m the fifth. The only boy, Bobling, is the oldest, and I found out today he’s getting out of the Marines on August first, so my sister Raina is having her wedding on the tenth. She’s sure that will give him enough time to get home and settle in.”

  Blake laughed. “Sure it will. So you have three sisters?”

  She nodded. “We all have R names. Robert, Roxane, Renae, Raina, and Riley.”

  “That’s a whole lot of Rs. So your brother’s name is Robert, and he goes by Bobling? A Marine puts up with that nickname?”

  “Well, he goes by his middle name, Jake, in the Marines, but he’ll be Bobling again when he gets home. I’m sure of it.”

  “Bobling. Who came up with that?”

  “Well, he’s named after our father, who is Bob, and he’s a little Bob. Or he was a little Bob. So people started calling him Bobling, as if he was a baby duck or something. I’ve always found the name endearing.”

  “I have a feeling Jake feels differently.” He couldn’t make himself call a Marine by the ridiculous nickname.

  “Maybe. I was young when he went off to join the Marines. We’ve not had a lot of deep discussions.”

  Blake shrugged. “If he’s Jake when he gets home, our names will rhyme. If he’s Bobling, then . . . well . . . I feel bad for him.”

  “It’s his choice, I guess.”

  Blake pulled into the restaurant parking lot and killed the engine. He walked around and opened her door for her, leaning down to kiss her once she was on her feet. “I didn’t feel comfortable doing that in Quinn Valley, but I did talk to Pastor Dahl about you today, and he’s fine if I’m dating you. I almost feel like he wants me married so the nonsense with women stopping by the church all the time will stop.”

  She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Well, you’re certainly the hottest pastor our church has ever known. You can’t really blame them.”

  Onc
e they were at their table, they looked at the menu. Riley had only been there a few times because her family believed strongly in supporting local Quinn Valley establishments whenever possible.

  She chose something as inexpensive as she could, not knowing what his financial situation was. She just had a feeling that pastors didn’t make a ton of money. Not unless they ran a mega church or something.

  While they were waiting for their meal, they continued talking, trying to get to know one another better.

  “Burger or pizza?” she asked.

  “Taco,” he responded.

  Riley laughed. “Me too! Have you been to Ciran’s taco truck?”

  “Not yet. I’ve seen it parked in town.”

  “Ciran is my brother-in-law, and he makes the best tacos. He even has doggie tacos for the pets of his customers. Truly, you should check it out, and make sure you get sopapillas for dessert.”

  “Maybe we could get tacos together. Do you have a lunch break tomorrow?”

  “Of course. I usually take from one to two off for lunch, and I almost always end up at that silly taco truck.”

  “Meet me there for lunch tomorrow, then,” he said with a smile. “I’m not as worried as I was.”

  She smiled. “I’d like that a lot.”

  Three

  After the meal, they left the restaurant hand-in-hand and returned to his car. Once they were seated, Blake turned to Riley. “I’m going to kiss you at your door tonight. Do you mind?”

  She laughed. “I thought I made it clear yesterday that I want to kiss you forever. That means I never mind if you kiss me.”

  “I won’t go in, because I don’t want people to talk more than they already will, but I need that kiss.”

  “Living on kisses. I could see that being a country music song. I’ll have to tell Ivy!”

  “Your cousin who waited on us on Sunday? Why would you tell her?”

  Riley looked at him for a moment in surprise, but he was new to the area. “Ivy’s something of a local country music legend. She plays at the pub a lot, and she’s really good. And I don’t just say that because I’m her cousin. I’d be more likely to say she was awful as her cousin.”