Page 57 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

Starting with a first date.

As she approached the truck, I leaned over the center console for the door handle. Shit. I should have gotten out. But Willa didn’t seem to care. She just smiled and waved. “Hi.”

“You’re beautiful.”

She blushed and started to step up, but her dress was too tight.

“I can help.” I unbuckled my seat belt, but she stopped me with a hand.

“I’ve got it.” Smiling, she planted a hand on the door and the other in the seat, then hopped. Her hair bounced as she propelled herself into the seat, laughing as she landed. “Whoopsie.” One of her heels had slipped off in the process. She giggled again as she toed it back on and shut the door.

And I watched it all with a slack jaw. Did she have any idea how sexy that was? She was graceful and adorably clumsy all at the same time.

When she looked my way, I came unstuck, leaning over the console to kiss her cheek. “You’re beautiful.”

It was worth repeating.

“Thanks.” Her eyes ran up and down my torso. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

I grinned and leaned back in my seat, rebuckling and putting the truck in reverse. I wasn’t dressed as fancy as she was, but I’d found a darker pair of jeans without frayed hems and a solid-gray button-up shirt. I’d even tucked it in.

“I like your truck,” Willa said as we pulled onto the highway. “It’s very clean. Unlike my car, which is a disaster zone.”

“I’ll clean it for you. I take care of Hazel’s.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

I reached over and lifted her hand from her lap. “I’d like to. Clean vehicles are kind of my thing.”

“Then have at it. I hate cleaning my car.” She flattened her hand into mine, pressing our palms together.

She didn’t thread our fingers together. Instead, she let me hold her hand entirely. I could close mine all the way around hers, holding it tight, and if she wanted to slip free, I had to let her go first.

“How was the rest of your day?” she asked.

“Good. Productive. Cleaned the truck. Cleaned my boat. It was nice to get away from the bar for a change.”

“I bet. Charlie was sure happy to see you this morning.”

“I was happy to see her too. She’ll be back in school soon. I won’t get to see her as much.”

Willa sighed. “Yeah. I always get lonely when school starts in September and the camp closes for the winter.”

“You can come and keep me company. I get lonely at the bar too.”

She looked over and nodded. “I’d like that.”

Lark Cove quieted down substantially in the fall and winter. The bar got a rush of activity during hunting season and we’d see the occasional skier. But it was a different town when the weather turned cold.

“What do you do when there isn’t camp?” I asked.

“Go crazy.” She giggled. “It’s usually busy for a couple of weeks after the last set of campers leave. We have to winterize the buildings and I make sure that all the bills are paid. But after that, I don’t have a lot to do. I go in occasionally to check on things and do any office work, but it only takes five or six hours at most. I’ve been thinking about getting another job.”

“Yeah? Like where?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I can’t get a year-round job because I need my summers free, so that limits my options. I saw the gas station was looking for a part-time cashier.”

“No.” Fuck no. “You can’t work at the gas station.” The idea of her in a gas station, alone in the dead of night while working the graveyard shift, gave me anxiety pains.