Chapter 3

3

EMMA

I ’m grateful there’s a table at the back of Betty’s Bistro, so nobody can see how nervous I am. I’m also grateful that Aunt Tish and Uncle Boyle weren’t there when I quickly went home to change after work. Living with them has been okay so far, as long as we all keep a little distance. Aunt Tish is a bit like my pushy sisters, with all sorts of opinions on how other people should live.

I’m pretty sure Crow knows I’ve never really been on a date before. I’ve been to several events with groups of friends where everyone was trying to partner up, but I didn’t click with anyone.

With Crow, it was different. The second he looked into my eyes and touched my hair, something deep inside me awakened. There’s something wild about him. A magnetic force, pulling me closer.

“How long have you been in town?” Crow asks, after a smiling lady with a fifties pinup hairdo and wearing a tiger print dress hands us menus.

“Just three weeks. I lined up the job at the café before moving here to live with my aunt and uncle.”

“Where were you living before?”

His eyes are so deep I could get lost in them. “Chicago.” I can feel my nose wrinkling. “It was so busy. Too many people everywhere.”

He reaches out to trail his fingertips along my arm, making me notice how pale it looks against his tanned, inked skin. “Your heart needs wide open spaces. I bet you’re an artist, right?”

“Oh no.” My head shakes violently. “But I do appreciate art.”

He looks at me suspiciously, then changes the subject by pointing at the menu. “Everything I’ve ever eaten here is amazing. You must be ravenous from being on your feet all day.”

I’m relieved he mentioned that. My two older sisters always told me that women should order light food on dates, at least until things started to get serious. Being ladylike is important when looking for “a keeper”, according to them. Ugh . I swear my sisters are from the fifties. They’d love our server’s hair, for sure.

Ashley and Amber said they knew by the second date that their husbands – a dentist and a lawyer – were the men for them. But how can you possibly know that until you’ve spent real, meaningful time with a person?

Ugh.

I focus on the menu. “Which is better, the Rockabilly Burger or the Slow Jazz Pasta?”

“Hmm.” He ponders for a moment, then grins. “Do you like garlic?”

“Love it.”

“Get the pasta, then. It’s fantastic.” He leans closer, his lips drifting just at the edge of my cheekbone as he whispers, “And I really like garlic, although I bet it tastes even sweeter from your lips.”

Whoa. Who says something like that, just casually confident? Crow, apparently.

After we order dinner, accompanied by a “Blue Suede Fizz”…whatever that is…I look around. “Didn’t you say there was going to be music? There’s no stage.”

He chuckles, patting my knee. “You’ll see.”

We chat about Cedarville for a bit, and I learn that his family has been rooted here forever, although he went to art school in New York for a few years, then apprenticed in tattoo shops in Seattle and Austin.

He chose to come back to Wolfe Mountain after all that? Interesting. I’ve always felt drawn to this place, but didn’t know why until the lush scenery overtook me. I’ve wanted this to be my home ever since.

There’s a rumbling noise, gradually becoming louder. My head turns and I stare in disbelief. A flatbed truck rolls up right in front of the patio. A bunch of scruffy looking guys in black jump up, run some cables, then leap onto the makeshift stage.

“A mobile music truck?” I laugh.

“Yeah. They use it for holidays and town events, since they can drive it to any park. Betty got permission to use it every Tuesday over the summer.”

I sip my blue fizzy drink, which tastes like raspberry punch. “See, in a small town you can get that sorted with a phone call, and that’s that. In the city, it would take months of paperwork and permits.”

Crow leans back, casually draping his arm across the bench behind me. We’re not quite touching, but so close my heart is racing. “Yeah. There’s a lot of amazing things about a small town like this.” His expression clouds. “It does mean that everyone knows everyone’s business, of course. That can be…good, bad or…sideways.”

Uh oh. He’s definitely had some of the “sideways”, as he puts it.

The band starts playing, and I’m relieved they aren’t so loud we can’t talk anymore. It’s pretty average indie rock, but it’s bouncy and fun. Crow and I chat about music and enjoy our wonderful dinner as if we’re the only two people on the patio. I’m mesmerized by the way he looks at me so intently. By the way he moves so gracefully. By the way he finds every single possible excuse to touch me slightly.

It’s like he’s testing the waters, making sure that before he goes any further, he has the green light that I’m into him.

Wow, am I. I’ve never felt this way around anyone before. Electrified. Fired up. And if Crow tweaks my energy like this when we’re in public, I can’t wait to be alone with him to see what happens then.

He’s sneaky – paying the bill in the two minutes I’m in the restroom. “Did you want to stay for another drink,” he asks, “or should I walk you home?”

“Hmm. I work early.” It’s hard to breathe as his hand drops to my shoulder, caressing gently, then moving lower to my back. “But it’s a nice night for a walk. Maybe we could take the scenic route back to mine and you could show me more of the downtown?”

He grins while making a soft snort. “A grand tour of our blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bustling metropolis?”

I laugh. “I’ve seen it. But not with your running commentary.”

“Fair enough. Let’s go.”

On our way out of the bistro, Crow puts an arm around me in front of everyone. A few heads snap in our direction, and it’s hard to read their expressions. Curious? Sure. Maybe…disapproving? Hmm. Perhaps it’s that they’re unsure about one of their townspeople dating an outsider like me.

We meander slowly through and around the four-block radius that is downtown Cedarville. Crow alternates between keeping his arm around me and holding my hand while telling me funny stories about each business. There’s no doubt that he loves this town. There’s also no doubt that he’s seriously into me.

We pass a poster for this week’s “Family Fun Friday” event, and I ask, “Do you go to all of the town festivities? The summer social, that kind of thing?”

His head shakes, as his fingers gently squeeze mine. “Nah. That stuff is mostly for old-timers and people with little kids.”

“I guess your customers are mostly people in their twenties and thirties?”

“Yeah. I mean, some of them are having kids now, sure.”

We turn toward my house, then Crow ducks into the small park at the corner, finding a bench. Sitting close beside him, the entire sides of our legs touching, I realize there’s a very good chance he’s going to kiss me and that if he does so my heart might actually explode from my chest.

“It must be interesting,” I whisper, “to put your art on a person’s body forever.”

His eyes blaze. “Wow. You get it.”

“Do I?”

“Yeah.” His hand slowly lifts, his thumb brushing across my cheekbone as he cups my face. “Some art is ephemeral. One-time only. Dance, theater, live music. Chalk drawings. There for a second, then it’s gone.”

His smile is pure seduction as he stares into my eyes. “Then there’s traditional oil paintings, sculptures, things that are built to last.” As his thumb drags across my lip, I wonder if he can hear how off-kilter my heartbeat is. “And tattoos. A piece that becomes part of someone. They might hide it or show it off. They might crowd it with other pieces or cover it entirely. They’re going to live in my art, which we’ve designed together to represent…whatever they want it to mean.”

Reaching out, my fingertips trail across the bit of ink showing at the neckline of his t-shirt. Suddenly I feel ridiculously small next to his huge frame, which makes me want to snuggle even closer to him.

“Emma,” he breathes, leaning in. “You’re absolutely gorgeous. There’s a spark in your eyes that’s been driving me crazy from the first second I saw you.”

“A spark? Aren’t firefighters supposed to douse those with water?”

He grins, pulling my legs so that they’re up over his as our arms wind around each other. “You have my word that I’ll never put out your spark, beautiful girl.”

The sensation of his lips brushing briefly against mine makes me shiver. “Cold?” he whispers.

“No.”

“Am I out of line?”

He’s very thoughtful to double check. It puts me completely at ease – except for the fact my pulse is hammering in my ears, and I can barely breathe. “No. Not at all.”

The next kiss starts out slow, then we melt against each other. Our lips part as we breathe each other in. Then he chuckles softly. “Not enough garlic.”

I start to laugh, but he captures my mouth again, kissing me harder, deeper. His hands clutch at my back, pulling me to him as I grip the back of his shoulders. Choking back a moan, I actually feel like I’m on fire. His huge, hard body moves slowly, gauging my reactions as he pulls me against him. The way our mouths move together sends me spiraling into a dreamlike trance.

After several minutes of what has turned into a full make-out session, I feel like I’m dissolving into a puddle. Finally, Crow sits back. “Emma.” His breath is labored. “You really are a fire hazard.”

We both laugh, then I moan aloud as he kisses me again – hot and hard and intense. This time I’m the one to break it off, with a hand on his chest. “I…um…”

“I know, I know,” he murmurs. “Not here.” He looks around to check the nearby windows. “The neighbors, right?”

“Well…yeah. Sorry.”

He holds my hand as we walk to my aunt and uncle’s house. At the door, he gives me a slow, gentle peck on the cheek. “See you tomorrow, gorgeous.”

“Okay. Um, thanks for dinner.”

He lifts my hand to kiss the back of it, looking deeply into my eyes. “Thank you for the best date of my life, Emma. I feel this is just the beginning.”

Whoah. And wow. Does he mean for that to sound as intense as it does? I can’t breathe properly again until I’ve been inside and lying on my bed for several minutes.

Talk about a spark that could start a forest fire. My entire soul has been ignited.

I want so much more of him. In fact, I want everything.