Page 86 of Small Town, Big Storm

My heart thumps again, but by the time I gather my wits and try to think of something to say, he’s nodding at the door.“Put in the code, baby.I won’t look.”

Danger, danger.

Slipping and sliding down a treacherous slope.

“It’s Holly’s birthday,” I murmur.“Zero-Four-Three-Zero.April thirtieth.”

Warmth and pain battling in his eyes.“I won’t miss another one.”

I touch his jaw, and for better or worse, I feel that promise in my soul, know it’s not that I’m slipping and sliding down the slope.

I’m already at the bottom of it.

“I know,” I whisper.

He leans in and it’s close,soclose I can feel his breath on my lips.

It would be easy to touch my mouth to his.

Soeasy.

But he straightens before I can work up the nerve, then plugs in the code, opens the door, and ushers me upstairs.

I feel his gaze burning into my back the entire way.

And when I turn to face him, he’s right there, so close I can see the scar crisscrossing his temple, the streaks of molten gold in his eyes as his stares locks with mine.

Pulse speeding, fingers shaking, softness between my legs growing, I lean closer.

But he just cups my jaw, brushes his thumb over my bottom lip.

“Another time, sweetheart,” he murmurs.

A kiss to my forehead.

A nudge on my side toward the door.

“Get some rest.I’ll lock up on my way out.”

Then, before I can convince him to stay, convince him to change his mind, he’s pounding down the steps, disappearing from the stairwell.

The door shuts with a soft squeak.

And all I’m left with is the faint scent of his cologne, longing rippling through my insides…

And that fucking hundred-dollar bill in my pocket.

Twenty-Three

Storm

I lookat the closed door of Sully’s and try to figure out why the hell I’m nervous.

Maybe it’s the salads from Molly’s in the cooler I stashed at the beach.Or the carton of rocky road ice cream from Scoops sitting beside them.

Maybe it’s the eyes I can feel watching me as I linger outside the door, trying to work up the courage to knock.

Or maybe it’s the fact that while this is far from my first date…I have the feeling it’s going to be the most important one of my life.