She smiled and...wow.
He forced himself to settle back behind the steering wheel and started the truck. “So you’re not from around here,” he began. “Would you like to see the town first or are you up for just driving around aimlessly?”
“Hmm…I’ve seen this part of Sapphire Falls – the town square and the few blocks surrounding it. Is there much more to see?”
Will shrugged. “Not really. There are some beautiful country roads but just a lot of farmland.”
“Where were you going to drive to?”
“Honestly? I was heading to Lincoln.”
Her eyes went wide. “No!”
He nodded. “Sure was. So I’m guessing you’d probably rather not go that way.”
“You would be correct.”
Well now he was stumped. If they didn’t go to Lincoln and they didn’t drive around town…
“Can I ask you something?” Serena asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“Sure.”
“What did Mary mean before when she asked ‘Is she?’”
Damn. Not quite the conversation he wanted to have. He had no way of knowing if Serena would find it sweet or creepy that he’d been actively looking for her after each of the festivals.
Only one way to find out.
“Well…after the third time you showed up and…”
“Kissed and ran?”
He nodded. “I started asking everyone in town if they knew who you were.” He put the truck in drive and just figured they’d sort of go the aimless route for now. With a shrug he added, “I honestly thought someone would know who you were.”
Serena remained silent.
“And then after each festival, I’d start asking all over again. People started to think I was a little…off. Then it sort of became a joke. When it was announced a few days ago that there was going to be a Halloween festival for the first time, I was pretty psyched. Then my boss started making fun of me for it. Hell, Serena…I was already working out a plan so you couldn’t just walk away again.”
“I’m so sorry, Will. I really am. I guess I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
He could understand that. He really could. After all, they’d never exchanged more than a handful of words. How could she possibly know that he had gotten addicted to her kisses and wanted to get to know her more? He could barely believe it himself.
They drove along for a little bit and Will pointed out different farms and who owned them and even gave her a little background information on the couples of Sapphire Falls. When they drove out of the town limits, they came to a stop sign and as they sat there – at a crossroads – Will knew he needed to know one thing before they went any further. Otherwise it was always going to be there between them.
This may ruin everything. She may ask him to turn the truck around. Hell, he might decide to do that himself.
Without looking at her, he simply took a steadying breath and asked, “Why’d you do it?
Four
AS MUCH AS she didn’t want to keep harping on the subject, she knew Will deserved an answer - more of one than she gave him earlier.
“The first time I came to Sapphire Falls for a festival, I was kind of blown away. Everything was just so much…more!” she said, smiling at the memory. “I’ve been to the state fair and I’ve been to carnivals, but that festival was just amazing. All of the people were so friendly and it was all so festive. But I was just getting over a breakup and I was here with a friend and when we saw the kissing booth, she dared me to get in line and buy a kiss.”
“She dared you?”
Serena nodded. “I was shy and that wasn’t something I would normally do – I normally don’t feel comfortable kissing someone who is a complete stranger. And I tend to…I don’t know…I tend to wait a little bit even with the guys I date before things get physical.”
“So she was daring you to break out of your comfort zone,” he stated.
“Exactly. So I figured, why not? What did I have to lose?” She gave a small laugh. “I was in the line and I was second-guessing myself and my friend said to me, ‘Look at it like this, you’re going to kiss him and walk away. You’ll never see him again.’ And that made sense. I wasn’t looking to get into a relationship. I was just getting a brief kiss and moving on.”
“So what happened?”
“You happened,” Serena said, chuckling again. “She dragged me away from the booth and back to our car and…I couldn’t stop talking about it. You. The kiss.”
“You did mention that I kiss like a dream…”
“I’m going to regret saying that, aren’t I?” she teased. “But yeah, you do. And after listening to me talk about it and what I would have done if I had stayed at the festival, she said I needed to get over it and stop romanticizing it. That it was just a kiss.”
“But it wasn’t.”
Shaking her head, Serena agreed. “No. It wasn’t. So we kept coming back for the festivals and we’d sort of watch the booth for you and I think she figured if I kissed you enough times without it leading to anything, that I’d get over it.”
“But you didn’t.”
Again, she agreed. “I didn’t. I wanted to get to know you. I do want to get to know you.” She paused then shook her head. “I kind of feel like an idiot right now.”
“Why?”
“Seriously? That whole story does not flatter me or make me sound good in any way, shape or form. And to know that you were looking for me too? That just makes it even worse!”
Without taking his eyes off the road, Will reached over and took her hand in his and gently squeezed. “Okay, I’m not gonna lie – I did feel like an idiot too. I mean, it was mainly my own doing because I let everyone know about you kissing me and running off. I’m sort of like the village idiot where this whole thing is concerned because now the whole town’s watching.”
“I’m so sorry, Will. I…I guess I wasn’t…I mean, I know I wasn’t thinking about you. Only me. And I don’t know how I can make up for that.”
He was silent for several minutes as they continued to drive.
“Will?”
“Hmm?”
“Say something.”
Luckily he didn’t go for humor this time. “Serena, you don’t have to make anything up to me. The truth of the matter is that I messed up too. Every time you walked away, I screwed up as I tried to go after you.” He paused. “And let’s be honest, I could have done more to convince you to hang out and give me a minute to come out of the booth. I’m not normally so clueless or such a klutz, but where you were concerned, I couldn’t seem to walk and chew gum at the same time.”
She laughed softly. “I think the tidal wave of candy hearts was my favorite.”
Beside her, Will laughed. “I think it was rather prophetic, myself. I don’t think the good people of Sapphire Falls saw it that way, though. I got a lot of shit from people for knocking over that display. People paid good money to have those personalized candies made.” He chuckled again. “That was the only mishap that cost me money.”
“No!” she said, unable to hide her mirth.
Will nodded. “I felt bad and paid to replace them – obviously not in time for Valentine’s Day, but a week later, everyone had their candy.”
“You’re a good man,” Serena said seriously. “I’m sorry I made you do that.”
“Two left feet made me do that,” he corrected and slid her a sexy grin. “That only seems to happen when you’re around. Why do you think that is?”
Serena’s heart beat madly in her chest. It was pointless to be coy. This may be the first time they’ve actually spoken to each other, but she felt that on so many other levels, they knew each other. Like, really knew each other. “I think because I make you just as nervous as you make me. And I don’t know how it’s possible.”
“I make you nervous too, huh?”
She nodded.
“Then I think we’re going to have to rectify that.”
; ****
Was it Will’s imagination or did Serena just make a sexy little sound at his statement? It was like a cross between a soft moan and a purr.
Damn.
He couldn’t focus on that right now. Right now he needed to figure out where the hell they were and where they could go so they could get out of the truck for a little while. Glancing at the clock he noted that they’d actually been driving for over an hour. How the hell did that happen?
“Are you hungry?”
Serena shook her head. “I had a couple of slices of pizza back at the convenience store.”
He spotted a restaurant across the intersection they were at. “I skipped lunch. Would you mind if we stopped so I can grab something?”
“Not at all! Oh my goodness, you should have said something sooner!”
“Not a big deal,” he said and drove over and parked. Within minutes they were seated inside and he ordered himself a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a soda before looking over at Serena. “Come on…just have a little something.” He was certain she was going to order a salad. That’s what women did. And then she’d pick at it and claim she wasn’t hungry…
“Let me get an order of nachos,” she said to the waitress with a smile. Then she glanced back at the menu. “Aaannddd…a milkshake. Chocolate. Thanks!”
He stared at her in wide-eyed wonder.
“What?” she asked after a minute.
He shook his head and laughed. “You. I…I kind of like that you keep surprising me.”
“You mean other than not jumping out of your truck after we kissed?”
Now he laughed even harder. “Well there was that…”
She smiled and laughed with him. “Okay, here’s something you need to know about me – I like food. All food. I’m not a stick figure and I’m never going to be a bikini model, and I’m okay with it.”
Was she kidding? “I think you’d look spectacular in a bikini…”
He loved watching her blush. “Stop…”
“I’m serious! Serena, I got serious neck-kink watching you walk away all those times and when I saw you this morning? Without a booth between us?” He paused and gave her a playfully lecherous grin. “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”
She shook her head even as she giggled. “Okay, seriously. Just stop.”
“Uh-uh. No way. I’ll just have to prove you wrong.”
Her green eyes went a little wide. “Oh really? And how are you going to do that?”
“You’ll just have to put on a bikini for me. Then we’ll see if you know what you’re talking about.”
“Will, I’m not putting on a bikini for you. Besides the fact that I don’t wear them…”
“Skinny dipping?” he asked hopefully, imagining her naked, moonlit body in the river.
Her hearty laugh and smile were infectious. “You’re killing me,” she teased. “No, I was saying that I don’t normally wear a bikini – I normally wear a fairly conservative one-piece…”
“Spoilsport.”
“And…” she added quickly, “I can’t even remember the last time I put one on. I don’t go swimming very often.”
He nodded. “We wouldn’t even have to go swimming! Just you and me – alone – and a bikini fashion show. You know, just to prove that you totally could model one.”
Serena shook her head again. “I’m not discussing this with you anymore, Will. Tell me something about you. I told you about how I’m not opposed to eating. Now it’s your turn.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he had no aversions to eating either, but he figured she was looking for something a little more solid that that. “Well…as you know, I’m a mechanic. And even though I do it for a living, I tend to work on cars as a hobby too.”
Maybe he was imagining things, but he noticed that Serena’s shoulders sagged just a bit. Rather than mention it, he went on. “Besides my truck, I do have two other cars that I own that I’m restoring in my spare time.” Unable to help himself, he talked about all the ways he had restored some of his older cars and what he was hoping to do with the Chevy that was sitting in his garage. Just talking about it gave him a thrill.
“Oh,” she said, her voice slightly stilted. “That sounds interesting.” She wasn’t even really looking at him.
And then it hit him. “Not a car enthusiast, huh?”
She shook her head. “Sorry.”
“For what? It’s something that I enjoy, but I don’t force it on others,” he said lightly. “Or at least I try not to. Being that it’s my job, sometimes whether I want to talk about it or not, people come to me and talk about it.” He shrugged. “Goes with the job. But…I do enjoy going to car shows and before I saw you parked at the Stop, I was thinking of heading into Lincoln to look at motorcycles. I’ve never ridden one before and I thought it was something I’d like to try. What about you? Ever ridden one?”
“A motorcycle?” she asked incredulously. “Um…no.”
“Any interest in riding one?”
She shook her head.
They were saved from making any more conversation as their food arrived. They each thanked the waitress and dug in wordlessly. While Will enjoyed his food – the burger was one of the best he’d ever tasted – he could tell that things had taken a turn toward the negative after he talked about cars.
Which was a damn shame because they were his passion.
There was no way he’d force Serena to share his hobby – that would just be crazy. But he wanted her to see that there was more to him than just that interest. A lot more. Probably more than he let most people see. He’d just never found anyone that he felt comfortable enough with to be more than just Will the mechanic with.
Until now.
“I think I have a solution,” he said finally.
“A solution?”
“To that whole being nervous and rectifying thing we mentioned earlier.”
Serena looked at him warily. “O-kay…”
“Spend the weekend with me.”
Five
THREE HOURS LATER Serena still wasn’t sure what she was thinking.
She’d said yes.
It seemed like it was a good idea – after all, she wanted to get to know Will and she blocked off the entire weekend so that she could find him. It just so happened that she found him sooner than she thought!
His house was an older Craftsman-style bungalow – two bedrooms, one bathroom – that he’d been doing some renovations on. The kitchen was all new as was the bathroom but the rest of the house was showing some signs of its age. Still, it was a whole lot nicer and homier than her apartment back in Lincoln.
“I put your bag in the guest room,” Will said as he walked back into the living room where Serena was sitting on the sofa.
“Thanks.” Why was she suddenly feeling so nervous? Oh, because you’re spending the night in a stranger’s house, she reminded herself.
Will sat down beside her and looked as ill-at-ease as she did. Finally he looked at her with a lopsided grin and said, “This is a little awkward, right?”
She nearly sagged with relief. “Yes!” she agreed. “I thought it was just me, but…”
“I was a little impulsive, I’ll admit. But…I don’t know, it just seemed like a good way for us to get to know each other. I mean…it’s been three years and…”
“And we’ve only said a few words and kissed…”
“A lot…”
Then they both laughed and when Serena met Will’s gaze, she relaxed. “I’d like to get to know more about you other than your kissing skills.”
“Which are dreamy…”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but laugh. Since their stilted conversation at the restaurant, she actually learned more about him and, other than his car hobby, they had a lot in common. They had similar tastes in food, books and movies. They listened to the same style of music and neither of them had traveled beyond the great state of Nebraska.
“Maybe I should
have stuck to my original plan to get a room at the Rise and Shine,” she said after a minute.
“If that would make you more comfortable, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Huh. She had expected him to try to talk her out of it. Color her surprised. “I knew I was going to stay in town overnight,” she began, as if she needed to explain herself. “I had no idea that I’d find you and meet you so soon. Every time I thought about coming here I figured I’d at least find out your name but I never thought I’d actually get to talk to you.”
He looked at her curiously. “Why not?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seemed like…I’m certainly no detective and in my mind I figured I’d just be driving around aimlessly in hopes of seeing you from a distance.”
That had him smiling again. “And did you think about what you’d do if you did see me?”
Oh, Lord. There was no way she could admit to the things she thought about in that scenario. In every one of them, they did very little talking and a whole lot of kissing. And then touching. And then…well…
Serena’s cheeks felt heated and she knew she was blushing.
“If your thoughts are anything like mine were, I’d say we just found one more thing we have in common,” Will said, his voice deep and gruff and serious.
Without even realizing it, Serena found herself leaning closer to Will. He drew her in with nothing more than the sound of his voice. Well, that and the fact that he smelled so damn good and looked even better than she’d remembered and fantasized about.
And that’s when she knew she was in trouble.
Not the bad kind of trouble, but the kind of trouble that turned your world upside down in ways you’d never imagined.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Will said softly, his gaze locked on her lips.
“Like what?” she whispered, still moving slowly toward him.
“Like you’re thinking about having me kiss you again.”
She swallowed hard, her gaze now narrowing on his lips. “But I am thinking about that.”
A low growl was Will’s only response.
Sapphire Falls: Going To Be Yours (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 3
