Page 50 of A Whim and a Prayer

With a low groan he couldn’t contain, Beck devoured her with his arms, no longer Frank Butler kissing Annie Oakley, but Beckett Campbell staking a claim on the girl that he loved, his mouth taking hers like he owned it. Teasing, tasting, nuzzling with a reverence that left no doubt as to how he felt while the crowd cheered and clapped to the rafters. Winnie gasped when he pulled away to nibble her lobe, his voice husky and low while his tongue teased her ear. “I’m in love with you, Winnie, and I want to be more than friends.”

Her second gasp allowed him entrance into a world that had haunted him far too long, a gentle exploration that merged his moan with hers as she went weak in his arms. Fire licked through him as his mouth mated with hers over and over, a tender bonding long after the curtain closed on one world to hopefully open anew in another.

The cast and crew were cheering when he finally tore his lips from hers, his eyes and hers glazed and chests heaving in ragged time together. Winnie wobbled and he steadied her with a firm hand, grinning outright at the sight of her lips still parted in shock—luscious and wet and warming his blood all over again.

“Curtain call,” someone whispered loudly, and Beck locked her to his side with an iron grip as she tried to wiggle free, not about to give her a chance to get away.

Not this time, kiddo.

The curtain rose to uproarious applause, a standing ovation that put another grin on his face and a deeper blush in Winnie’s cheeks. When cast and crew had taken their bows, the curtain lowered and he leaned close in a whisper. “See, they think we should be more than friends too.”

The applause continued, so the curtain reopened, allowing everyone another round of bows that continued through five foot-stomping curtain calls.

“Wow! Five curtain calls!” someone shouted, “that’s my lucky number!”

And Beck couldn’t help but hope and pray …

That it might be his too …

Chapter Thirty-Two

Winnie was numb inside.

Through all the curtain calls.

Through all the congrats from cast and crew.

Through all the praise, hugs, and pats on the back from family and friends.

And through the entire hour and a half of the after-party Mrs. C held in the cafeteria of The Home for Little Wanderers, complete with decorations, cake and ice cream, and music provided by several members of the band.

Oh, she smiled and laughed and partied along with everyone else, but inside she was dead.

Correction: Her hopes were dead.

But her body was very much alive, still humming from the heat of Beckett’s touch, from the fire of his kisses.

She’d wanted to go home with her parents, to feign a headache so she wouldn’t have to be alone with Beck in a car.

But she knew that wouldn’t be right. Wouldn’t be fair.

Not to Mrs. C.

Not to the cast and crew.

And not to Poppy Doe.

She smiled to cover a hard duck of her throat as she danced with Poppy.

And surely not fair to Beck.

Yes, she knew she had to talk to him, to put an end to this drastic change he wanted to make in their relationship, but she couldn’t. Not tonight. She was too weak and too willing to give in. For pity’s sake, her body was still buzzing from head to toe, heat still pooling in her stomach like a lake of fire, drowning her in want.

And that just couldn’t be. Ever. Because deep down inside she knew everything would change, just like always when she was attracted to a guy. All the thrills and chills and rush of feelings when a relationship was new would exhilarate her for a while, then slowly peter out, leaving her with nothing but an intense loathing for that same boy.

She fought off a shiver. And disgust with herself for even liking him. She’d dated dozens of boys and it was the same story every single time. The only one that had never happened with was Brayden McCarthy, so she could never risk that with Beck.

A chill rippled through her as Poppy pulled her to their table to play one last game of dots before the party ended, the thought of ever loathing Beck making her sick to her stomach. No, she could never chance it because Beck’s friendship was too important. He was too important, in her life and in her heart, so dating him was a gamble she simply could not take.