Chapter 6

6

TRACE

I t was the worst week possible to have a family emergency, but there were some things I couldn't control. One of those things was having to leave town to help my older sister when her fourteen-year-old son was missing.

But the three-day break from Rosewood Ridge had made one thing clear. This thing with Presley wasn't going away. If anything, my feelings for her had gotten stronger since the last time I saw her.

And that was why I was seated at a folding table in the main courtroom at the courthouse, waiting for her to show up. I could probably get in trouble for turning off the lights and lighting a candle, but I figured nobody would ever find out.

My buddy Walker was picking up my to-go order from the Rosewood Ridge Steakhouse. I would have picked it up myself, but I wasn't sure how long it would take Presley to get over here. As it turned out, that was a smart move since Rob had told me she was delayed by thirty minutes.

"Hello?"

I heard the female voice as I stared down at my phone, waiting for a return text from Walker about the food. I leaped up from my chair, scooting it backward with a crude scraping sound that made me wince.

Way to play it cool.

But now that I was on my feet, I wasn't sure what to do exactly. Maybe I should have bought flowers so I could at least have something to do with my hands.

"In here," I said, my heart going a mile a minute.

When she appeared in the doorway, I nearly fell back into my chair at what I saw. She wore a purple sundress that looked amazing on her, and her dark hair framed her face perfectly. In each hand was a plastic bag.

"Some guy stopped me in the parking lot." She held up both bags. "He said you ordered this."

"Walker." I nodded. "He was doing me a solid. We look out for each other, the guys up here."

Why was I telling her that? I hadn't seen her for four days and my first move was to try to talk up our town?

If I talked it up, she might want to move here. That's what my deal was. I could try to fight it, but it was becoming all too clear that I had to be with this woman.

If I couldn't convince her to move here, I'd go wherever she wanted me to. That was how drawn to her I was. Now that I'd found her, I couldn't let her walk out of my life.

"I've noticed that about this place," Presley said. "I've met so many great people, and the way everyone pitches in? It reminds me of the town where I grew up. Are we supposed to be here?"

The question came so suddenly, it took me a second to shift gears. I looked back over my shoulder and saw the scene I'd created. I'd set up a folding table with a white tablecloth and two folding chairs. On top of the table were two bottled waters and a candle, its flickering much more noticeable because it had gotten slightly darker in here since I first set all this up.

"I'm taking you on our first date," I said.

As I turned back to face her, I stepped toward her and reached out to take the bags. I wanted to grab her and pull her close to me, but first things first.

When the bags shifted from her hands to mine, I noticed a smile forming on her face. "We had dinner together at the bar that first night, remember?" she asked. "That counts as a date. And then you disappeared on me."

"Yeah, about that."

I turned and headed over to the table, setting down the bags and starting to remove foam containers. I'd ordered steakburgers for both of us, mostly because I knew they'd send us flimsy plastic utensils—not ideal for eating most of the things the Rosewood Ridge Steakhouse served.

"My nephew was missing," I said as I worked. "He snuck off to a neighbor's house to play video games. My sister has her hands full with him. I stuck around to help. She's on her own, and I felt bad leaving, but she knows the situation here."

That was only partly true. My town needed me, but I also had to get back here to square things away with Presley. If she left town without me having any way to get in touch with her again, I'd never forgive myself for not taking that business card she tried to hand out the first day we met.

"I'm so sorry," Presley said. "That sounds stressful. You must be an amazing uncle."

I smiled at the compliment as I walked around the table and pulled out the chair. "I do the best I can. I wish she'd move back home, but her youngest daughter's in one of the best schools in their area. I don't know if she'd get the same education here in Rosewood Ridge."

Not that there was anything wrong with our schools. They were perfectly fine, but my niece was in all kinds of extracurriculars that we didn't have here.

As Presley took the seat, I inhaled her scent. She smelled fruity. I wondered if it was her shampoo or some sort of perfume. Whatever the case, the thought that she'd taken pains to get ready for this made my pride swell.

"We could have just met at the restaurant," she said. "But this is the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me."

"That's surprising," I said, sliding into the seat across from her.

The truth was, I wasn't the most romantic guy in the world. I wanted her all to myself, and a restaurant wouldn't have given us that kind of privacy. The courthouse was shut down until they could order furniture and replace the boarded-up windows.

"I would think you'd have guys lined up around the block," I said.

She laughed. "Yeah, right."

But I wasn't laughing or smiling. I was dead serious.

"There weren't many guys in my hometown," she said as she unscrewed the cap on her bottled water. "Growing up with the same people from kindergarten to twelfth grade, you kind of start to think of each other as family. Then I grew up and moved to Nashville, but my job had me working with people who were either married with kids or my parents' age. Now, I meet all kinds of people, but not many guys want to date a twenty-three-year-old virgin."

I nearly choked on the bite of french fry I'd just taken. I had to chew, swallow, and uncap my drink, and by then she'd already taken a bite of her burger, as though what she'd said had been no big deal.

"Mmm," she said as she returned the burger to the container. She pointed to it and nodded, then gave me a thumbs-up.

But food was the last thing on my mind right now. "Did you say you're a virgin?"

By then, she'd swallowed and reached for her water again. She gave a nod.

"It becomes like…" She looked off to the side thoughtfully. "What is it they call that? An albatross? It's like an albatross."

I didn't know what that meant, and my confused look seemed to get that across all too well.

She laughed. "I don't know what an albatross is either. It's a term I've heard all my life. I picture it like this big weight I carry everywhere with me. Maybe an albatross is a really heavy animal."

"A bird?" I asked. "Sounds like a bird."

All I was taking from this part of the discussion was that I liked the banter between us. I had a feeling conversations between us would always be this fun and interesting. Even the hard stuff in life would be easier if we could tackle it together.

Crap. Since when did I start thinking like that? At any other time in my life, if a woman had told me she was a virgin, I would have run. No woman had ever told me that.

"I've only had two serious relationships in my life," I said. "One in high school, the other in my twenties. I thought I was going to marry that one."

I didn't want to talk about past relationships with her, but it felt like I should get this out. It was important to discuss it.

"We dated for seven years," I said.

Presley sucked in a breath and stared at me, eyes wide. I knew exactly what she was thinking. Seven years was a long time. I definitely reeked of commitment phobia. In fact, she was the one who should be running at my words.

"Looking back, I realize things weren't right between us," I said. "I didn't feel this."

I looked pointedly at her as I said that last word. I wanted to make it clear that I was talking about her and this undeniable attraction between us. It couldn't be one-sided. It had to be mutual. If not, it was probably best I know now.

"I know, right?" she asked. "I thought it was just me. This is different."

I nodded. "I don't want to scare you off, but?—"

"I want you to fuck me."

Those words interrupted whatever I was about to say. I wouldn't have been able to remember my train of thought if my life depended on it. All I heard was the "F" word coming out of her mouth and the fact that she wanted me to do that to her.

"I have protection in my tote bag," she said. "Condoms."

I set down what remained of my burger and stared at her. "You have condoms?"

"I stopped by the drugstore to get them."

She gestured toward the back of her chair, where she'd hung her tote bag. That damn tote bag. She took it everywhere with her. I hadn't even noticed she had it tonight, and I'd been the one who pulled the chair back for her.

"It just added a few extra minutes to getting ready to meet you." She shrugged. "Nobody in this town knows me, so it's easier for me to buy them than you."

She'd be surprised, but I didn't say that out loud. There was only one place to buy condoms in this town, and it was the grocery store where we'd shopped the other day. She was already linked to me in town gossip, I was sure. Now they could add buying condoms to the list of things to say about her.

"I figured since you were luring me to this big, empty building, you had plans to, you know…"

"I had plans to talk you into coming back to my place if everything went well," I said. And that was the God's-honest truth.

"We can do it in your bed anytime," she said. "How often will we get the chance to dirty up a government building? Why don't you eat, and I'll find us a location."

"I can scout a good location," I said, fully prepared to push my chair back.

She shook her head. "No, trust me. Finish your meal and then come find me."

My dick was getting hard just having this conversation. I wasn't sure how I'd finish my meal. But if she wanted me to sit here a few more minutes, I'd do it. In fact, I'd sit here for hours if making love to her was at the end of my wait.

My girl wasn't just a virgin. She was naughty. And it was a combination that made me wonder what I'd ever done to deserve having this angel in my life.