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“Are you going to be okay talking to your girls?” I asked as we pushed through the door at Bo’s.
“I’m pretty sure they knew something happened between us, so I don’t figure this will come as much of a surprise.”
“If your feelings change on the matter, I’m only a phone call away.” We stopped in front of her car and before I lost my nerve, I blurted, “Will you come with me to family dinner tonight?”
She paused with her hand in midair where she had been reaching for the door handle. When she spun slowly to face me, she looked genuinely confused at my request. “Why would you want me there?”
It was my turn to be confused. Did she think this was all for show? Crowding her against the car, I twisted my finger into a lock of her hair before giving it a gentle tug.
“Baby or not, we would have ended up right here.” Closing the small gap between us, I spoke against her lips, “But we are having a baby, and I’d like for you to be there when I tell my parents.”
“Oh God,” she groaned. “They’re gonna hate me.”
“Not possible,” I breathed before sealing our lips together. I was through holding back. We’d done everything out of order up until now, yet I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not with her moaning into my mouth while my tongue tangled with hers. I was so lost in her it took a horn honking to break my trance. I’d wanted to wait until our first official date to kiss her, however, when I heard the hint of vulnerability in her voice, my plans of being a gentleman were blown to hell.
“Okay, I’ll go. But I will totally throw you under the bus to save myself if your mom is pissed.”
Laughing, I kissed the top of her head before turning her back toward her car and swatting her ass. “Deal, baby.”
Quinlan
JESUS, I HADN’Tbeen this nervous in…well, I don’t think I’d ever been this nervous. I should’ve known the second Alec and I appeared in public together; the rumors would spread like wildfire. Which, of course, they did. It was the curse of small-town living, only worse because I’d been in Mountain Grove my whole life. Everyone knew I’d never been in a serious relationship, and they were all foaming at the mouth to get their hands on every bit of information they could, no matter how small.
Damn vultures.
I paced back and forth on the sidewalk for a good five minutes before I decided to pull on my big girl panties and walk into To A Tea. Even though I didn’t work there on Sundays, when I opened the door to find a crowd of people waiting to be served, there was no hesitation on my part to jump behind the counter and lend a hand.
“Is it always this crazy on the weekends?’ I asked, ringing up the next customer while River made the orders.
“Never.”
“Then what the hell is going on? Are you having a sale I’m not aware of?”
“Just wait. You’ll see,” she chuckled.
Her cryptic response made sense when the next person sidled up to the counter.
“What can I get you, Mrs. Jenkins?”
“I’ll take a chai tea and an explanation, please?”
“Um, what?”
“What was wrong with my grandson?”
I dated Jordan Jenkins for all of three seconds in high school. He was the captain of the debate team and on our one and only date, we argued over every single thing, including how much of a tip to leave our waitress and whether or not we should walk to the movie theater. He said no, I said yes. Suffice it to say, he never asked me out again.
“Whoa. Hold on a second.” I looked around the shop and that’s when I noticed it was filled with almost every female town resident over the age of sixty-five, all of whom had their eyes fixed on me. The gossipmongers, otherwise known as the blue-haired brigade, had come out in full force. “Are you freaking kidding me with this crap?”
“Here’s your tea.” River bumped my hip as she set the cup on the counter.
“I’d like peppermint tea, Quinny.”
“You too, Miss Nancy?” She smiled but didn’t answer. Putting my hands on my hips, I raised my voice so all the Nosey-Nellies in the room didn’t have to turn up their hearing aids. “If you came here in search of information about my love life, you can scoot your behinds back out the front door and wait for Miss Pearl to write the headliner in theMountain Grove Gazettelike the rest of the town.”
A collective grumble ran through the crowd as all but Miss Nancy spun around and left without placing an order. “I’m happy for you, sweet girl,” she said with a wink, then grabbed her cup and hurried to catch up with her sidekicks.
“You could’ve played along until we had the sales at least,” River huffed.
