Page 9 of Lucky Haven

The least I can do is be discreet about it.

One minute, she mouths, then her silky ponytail slides over her shoulder as she glances at her co-worker, and my cock immediately forgets that it just had some relief in the shower. Oh, how I want to wrap my fist in those dark red strands.

But I can’t.

I never will, because six years ago, Haven Bingham disappeared. Nobody knew where she went.

Nobody except me.

I got a letter in jail, a sweet outpouring of regret and confusion. An apology of sorts, although she hadn’t done me wrong. Not personally. But she felt connected to the choices made by her uncle, and she couldn’t be a part of his community anymore.

And she had a secret—she’d been accepted into university.

I might never see you again, but I want you to know that I’ll never forget that you stood up for someone in trouble. I’m sorry that got twisted.

Her belief in me got me through my time behind bars.

It dragged me back to Dragonfly Creek, inspired me to hold my fucking head up high and get a job at the garage in town, too.

And I know exactly how fucking hard it must be for her now. Six months is nothing. Every single day she’s gotta be bumping into people who see her for the first time and give her a cold shoulder based on nothing more than gossip.

It would be so, so much worse if she were my girl on top of that. I don’t want that for her.

Without saying a word, she collects her purse and leads me outside into the late afternoon sun. Main Street is reasonably busy at this hour with people stopping to run errands on their way home from work or coming into town for dinner at The Friendly Table.

It’s not as obvious as a kiss, but there will be eyeballs inside the restaurant who notice Pastor Bingham’s niece walking with the ex-soldier he helped put in jail.

Still, she doesn’t hesitate to fall into step beside me. And she doesn’t shy away from the topic of what happened earlier, either. “I want to apologize for earlier.”

I cut her off. “That’s not necessary.”

“Yes, it is,” she repeats. “You were right. I didn’t think through what the consequences of…”

“Kissing me?”

“Yes.” A surprised little smile tugs at her mouth. “I didn’t think through the consequences of… kissing you.”

“I talked to Riley. She won’t say anything. And Jeb definitely isn’t going to say anything.” I scowl at the thought of him. “And if anyone else saw, we’d probably have heard about it by now.” That’s the way the gossip mill works in a small town. “News spreads like wildfire and since none of my brothers called me this afternoon, I think you’ll be all right.”

Haven frowns.

“I probably shouldn’t even be walking you home,” I add.

“Then why are you?”

Now it’s my turn to frown. “I don’t know. I said I would. And I figured we should talk.”

“That’s a good idea. And I owe you dinner.”

“I won’t hold you to that.”

“I don’t mind.” Her voice goes small, uncertain. “Unless you’ve got other plans.”

“No,” I answer hastily. “I have no plans tonight.”

And if I did, I would cancel them.

When she climbs the porch to the converted house where she rents the main floor, she spins around. “Are you sure⁠—”