by Emma Hart
“It’s too short,” I said firmly. I wasn’t going to back down. “Everyone will see what you ate for lunch if you bend over.”
“I won’t bend over.”
“Grandma, no.” I put my hands on my hips. “I’m not arguing with you. I’ve said you can’t wear it and that’s final.”
She sniffed. “You don’t see me for six months, and this is the way I’m treated. You young ’uns have no respect for your elders these days!”
“You wearing that dress would be disrespectful. Trust me on that.”
She frowned and narrowed her eyes at me. She jabbed a finger in my direction, her French-tipped nail flashing through the air. “No respect, I tell you! This dress is a masterpiece! Everyone should see it!” She turned with a flourish, flicking some of her shoulder-length white hair. “You’re ruining my life, Halley!”
The sound of her stomping up the stairs filled the air, and Abigail rolled her eyes.
“She’s been in that mood ever since she got here yesterday evening.” She turned on the hot tap to fill the sink. “She tried calling you eight times to see if you’d take her to get her hair done today, but you didn’t answer.”
“Oh. That explains the missed calls from the unknown number. Did she change it again?”
“Every time she breaks up with someone, and considering she only goes out with them once…”
My grandmother was hard work.
“Why didn’t you answer, anyway? She had theories about everything from you being sex trafficked to you breaking into the White House.”
“How would I get to the White House on short notice?”
“I don’t know. What were you doing? You always answer the phone.”
“Oh. Um, I was busy.”
“I guessed that. Doing what?” My stepmom turned and raised one eyebrow.
Damn it. That look always got me, and she knew it.
I cleared my throat. “I had a date.”
“You had a—oh! Were you with Preston? Mandy said she saw you two at the fair the other night after the booth closed and you had a raccoon with you. That’s how I knew she was telling the truth.” She smirked.
“Yeah. We went out.” I scratched the side of my neck. “He made Betty and everyone sandwiches, so we ended up getting pizza, too.”
“And the booth ends today?”
I nodded.
“What will you do after?”
“I’m honestly just trying to get through today. It feels weird kissing other people when I know I have strong feelings for him, you know?”
Both her eyebrows shot up. “Are you telling me that you’ll give up the kissing booth?”
I hesitated. I hadn’t actually thought about it since everything with Preston, but I’d always assumed that one day when I got into a serious relationship that I would.
Besides, there was always the chance I wouldn’t have a choice. The champion was the only contestant allowed to return, but when they got beaten, they couldn’t go back the next year. It was so there was always someone new in the booth.
It’d briefly crossed my mind that Preston would be the one to dethrone me, but I’d never imagined it would go like this.
“I guess so,” I replied after a long moment. “I mean, if anyone is going to beat me, it’ll be Preston anyway.”
“You’re probably right there.” She smiled warmly. “What are you doing today? Did I see Lauren at the fair yesterday?”
I nodded. “She came down with her boyfriend. We’re having dinner with Reagan and Ava tonight, before the announcement and the talent show.”
“I’ll see her there, then.” Abigail reached up and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Don’t you need to get to the booth? I’ll make sure your grandmother doesn’t show up looking like a Barbie doll.”
“Good luck with that,” I said dryly. “I’ll see you later.” I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and shouted, “See you later, Grandma!”
“See you later, sugar!” she hollered back.
The woman had lost her mind. I was pretty sure of that.
I took a deep breath and headed outside. It was overcast today, and I glanced up at the sky with a silent prayer that it wouldn’t rain. The talent show stage wasn’t covered, and I knew one of the acts played with fire.
Literal fire.
It was a bit extra for a small-town fair, but whatever tickled people’s pickles.
I made it to the kissing booth with only a few minutes to spare. I was hot and sticky when I slipped into the tent, and the first thing that hit me was the overwhelming scent of a meatball sub.
“Nice of you to join me.” Preston grinned at me from the edge of the stage where he was sitting. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.”
“Ugh, don’t. Abigail called me, and I had to run to my dad’s because my grandma is having some kind of late in life crisis.” I swung my purse off my shoulder and pulled off my glasses since they were all misted up. “She’s wearing clothing entirely inappropriate for her age. Anyone’s age, really.”
“Aunt Bethel tried to leave the house in a crop top according to my mom,” Preston replied. “So it’s either a coincidence or they’re cooking something up together.”
“Nothing with them is ever a coincidence. Don’t you remember two years ago when they sent half the town on a scavenger hunt, but the only thing we found was Bethel’s teeth?”
He shuddered. “That’s because that’s what she wanted. I still don’t know how they ended up in the men’s bathroom in Lucky’s, though.”
“I think she went into the wrong bathroom and took them out, then got distracted and left them behind.”
“That’s the most logical explanation. And the likely one.” He stood up and walked over to me, pulling me into his body.
It was a little strange to have his arms so casually around me, but I fit against his body just right. He was just tall enough that he could rest his chin on top of my head. I circled his waist with my arms and savored the feeling for several seconds.
“All right, let’s do this. I only have a few hours to kick your ass.” I pulled away from him, grinning. “And I’m going to.”
He shook his head slowly, backing up. “Never in a million years. You’re going down, and you know it.”
I used two fingers and pointed them at my own eyes, then at him, in the universal sign for ‘I’m watching you.’ Then, I hopped up onto the stage and grabbed my lipstick from my purse.
Less than a minute later, I was ready for the final day.
“Hold on.”
The gaudy curtain between us moved to the side, and Preston stepped through.
“I forgot to tell you something.”
I frowned. “What?”
“This.” He grabbed my face with two hands and smacked a huge kiss against my lips.
It was so unexpected that not only did my heart jolt into a faster beat, but I was knocked off balance when he released me. He had a self-satisfied grin on his face that was so annoyingly sexy, desire fizzled through me for a brief second.
“I’m putting that on my tally!” I shouted through the curtain. “I’m already beating your ass!”
He laughed, the deep sound filling the entire tent, and I marked down the damn kiss on my board.
“Here.”
I turned. His arm was sticking on my side of the booth, and he was holding a one-dollar bill.
“Is that all I’m worth?”
“You never gave my fifty back the other day. I think fifty-one bucks is an adequate price for a kiss.”
Shit. He was right. I didn’t.
“It’s all for a good cause,” I trilled, taking the bill from him right as the curtains were opened. “Thank you for your generosity, sir.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Yep!”
***
Bethel Wright’s style was… eclectic.
Take today, for example. Today, her bright blue hair was pulled into two buns on the top of her head—think c
at-ear placement, not Princess Leia’s dinner plates over her ears—and she had a vibrant red scarf tied around her head. Her muumuu was a delightful shade of holy-shit-that’s-yellow, and the bright pink hibiscus flowers were borderline offensive.
And that was all before you considered the rainbow-hued marching band on each arm.
Her bangles.
She’d somehow hijacked our girls’ dinner, and so had my grandma. Who, thankfully, was not wearing the glittery number from this morning. Not that the vibrant purple fifties-style dress she was wearing now was much better, but at least I didn’t have to see her nipples every time I looked at her.
I’d take the wins where I could.
“What to eat, hmm?” Bethel scanned the menu.
“The whole damn thing, judging by the weight you’ve put on since last year,” Grandma retorted.
Ava choked on her water. Lauren leaned over and patted her back with a grimace on her face.
“Grandma,” I said sharply.
“Don’t Grandma me like that. Bethel knows she’s chunky now.”
Reagan looked around in horror before pinching the bridge of her nose.
“I can lose weight, Margaret. You can’t lose your bitchy attitude.” Bethel didn’t bat an eyelid.
“Aunt Bethel!” Reagan hissed.
“Are they always like this?” Lauren asked me quietly.
I nodded. “Anyway. Tell us about Mason. He was the guy you pretended to date, right?”
“Yep.” She grinned, her entire face lighting up. “My friends talked me into putting this stupid ad online when we’d been drinking, and Mason’s sister set it up. It was only supposed to be his high school reunion to piss off his ex, but then his sister told his mom it was real. I ended up having to do a couple more dates, but somewhere along the way, we kinda fell for each other, and yeah. Here we are.” She shrugged, but her smile still played on her lips.
Ava sighed. “That’s so romantic.”
“I fake-dated a guy once,” Grandma said. “But he was loaded, and all I had to do was suck his toes a few times, and he bought me whatever I wanted.”
I blinked at her. “You didn’t fake date anyone. We all know that was Grandpa. We’ve all heard the stories.”
Bethel nodded in regret. “He was the only man who was dumb enough to let this gold-digger suck his toes.”
Reagan cleared her through. “So. Preston. What’s going on?”
After quickly filling Lauren in on what happened before she arrived in town, I told them about our conversation last night and what he’d said.
“So he’s serious?” Ava asked, leaning forward. “You guys aren’t just going to bang a few times and break up?”
“Ava!” I squealed.
Lauren laughed.
Reagan smirked. “She’s pissed because she’s gonna owe me more money. Like she will tonight when your dad announces that Preston beat you.”
I rolled my eyes at them. “You two are ridiculous. I don’t know what’s going to happen with us. It feels like it’s too soon, but we have crushed on each other for a few years, so maybe it’s not. I don’t know.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Lauren said, putting down her menu. “Maybe just spending time together is all you need to do, like you did last night. If it’s meant to be, it’ll all work out.”
“She’s right,” Ava said with another sigh. “Even if I do have to give Reagan all my money.”
“Don’t make bets with me, then. I’ve told you that.” Reagan reached up and tied her purple curls into a low pony. “I just want to see if he actually threw our queen here off her throne.”
“So do I,” I replied. “I’ll also be glad when I no longer have to listen to him kissing other women.”
Ava grinned. “There’s the jealous streak I always knew was in there.”
“It’s not a jealous streak, it’s a…” I trailed off. I had no other answer for it.
“Possessive one.” Lauren winked at me.
I tried not to smile. That wasn’t a line I was going to use, because both Reagan and Ava would constantly remind me of it. Instead, I left it at that and used the well-timed distraction from the waitress to put an end to the conversation.
I hadn’t had a chance to think about what I wanted to do all day. I knew deep down that I was probably ready to end the kissing booth and pass it on to someone else anyway.
The problem was, in none of the scenarios I’d imagined did Preston exist.
I’d insisted for so long that he and I would never happen. I’d been adamant about it to the fact I was probably over-denying it at points, and I think I’d been trying to convince myself.
Now, it was happening.
It was possible. The guy I’d crushed on for years liked me back, and there was something beyond just attraction now. I felt it in the quiet moments when we were together.
Like last night when we sat on the porch swing.
His arm was around me, and I’d just… sighed inside. It felt right and it felt real, and it felt like it was something special.
It didn’t hurt that I felt his kisses everywhere.
And I mean absolutely everywhere.
Now, I just had to figure out what to do about it all and how quickly I wanted to take things.
Still, I had a feeling that everything would be all right in the end.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - HALLEY
I Told You So
“Get a load of those abs!” Grandma hooted and hollered as the ripped and shirtless fire-eating guy danced across the stage.
I winced every single time he moved with those fiery sticks.
The stage was wooden.
I had no idea who thought it was a good idea to send that guy up there.
“Hubba hubba!” Bethel fanned herself with a bright orange hand fan, waving it like she was some heroine straight out of a Jane Austen novel.
“They’re getting a little carried away, aren’t they?” Preston whispered in my ear.
I nodded. We were sitting just off to the side of the judge’s table—although biased spectators were probably true for two-thirds of the panel, after the hot fire guy—waiting to be called up with Dad and find out who won.
“When are we up there? I need to know when I can get out of here. Lindsay has accidentally bumped into me three times already,” Preston muttered.
I snorted. “One more act, then he’ll call us up and announce how much we raised, then who won.”
“You know I’m taking your crown.”
I rolled my eyes. “If you take it, you take it, don’t you? That’s part of the fun. And honestly, I’d be glad to not do it next year.”
“Do you have to defend the crown?”
“No. You can choose to not do it, but if I lose, I can’t do it next year anyway. It’s in the rules.”
“You know if I win, I won’t defend it, right?” He met my eyes. “I only did this as a favor to your dad—and I wanted to beat you. I haven’t taken any pleasure in kissing all these people this week. I’m not sure my lips will ever recover.”
“They won’t.” I tugged mine to one side. “But I don’t think I’ll come back, either.” I cast my gaze over the stage where three young girls were performing a cheer routine. “I think it’s time to let someone else take over. Maybe it needs an overhaul to allow more people to compete. I think people would love it.”
“You’re probably right. Plus, you’ll be too busy kissing me to kiss anyone else.” He winked at me.
“You’re super confident about that, aren’t you?”
“You know it.” The grin on his face was so playful I had no option but to smile right back at him.
Dad stood and motioned for us to follow him. We waited at the side until he was on the stage with the mic in his hand. “Hello, everyone! Thank you for coming to the Creek Falls Fair Talent Contest! I hope you’ve enjoyed your evening so far, and never fear; there are plenty more entertaining acts to come. Until then, we are taking a short break to announce t
he results of our annual Kissing Booth contest.
“For those of you who don’t know, we have a kissing booth each year, and all proceeds go to charity. Two people compete against each other for the chance to be the champion. I’d like to introduce our competitors this year: Halley Dawson, the reigning, defending champion, and her challenger, Preston Wright!”
Slightly dramatic there, Dad.
Applause rang out, and we both approached the stage with a smile and waved at everyone. Preston stood on the other side of my dad.
“Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge this year. I’m thrilled to announce that the total raised to revamp the playground in the park is one thousand, two hundred and seventeen dollars!”
My eyes went wide.
Holy crap. We’d never raised that amount of money before, and even though it usually went to charity, the playground really did need redoing. It would be amazing for the kids in town.
“Yes, wonderful!” Dad said. “And now, for the contest winner…”
I shared a look with Preston. I knew exactly what my dad was about to say, and I had to hide my smile.
“The new kissing booth champion is… Preston!”
I laughed, turning toward him and clapping. He looked genuinely shocked, as if he’d thought I’d won, but I wasn’t surprised at all. I think I’d known from the second I found out he was my competition that he was going to win.
He was new and shiny, and half the women in town wanted to marry him, so…
Dad handed Preston the microphone and shoved him into the middle of the stage. He joined me, off to the side, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
“You get a year off then, Halley,” Dad said into my ear.
Laughing, I said, “I think it’s time to pass it on to someone else anyway. I think I’d still like to be involved with the booth—I think it would do well if it was overhauled for next year.”
He nodded. “I agree. Now, let’s see what Preston has to say.”
Preston looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but up on that stage, talking in front of everyone else. Still, he took a step forward and cleared his throat.
