Page 48 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

Willa made cleaning the bar more fun than it had ever been. A lot of bars had swampers, people who would come in during the early morning hours to scrub the place down. But Thea and I had always done the cleaning ourselves to save money.

Every night, we’d deep clean some part of the place. Once a month, the two of us would meet early on a Sunday morning and scour away built-up grime. It was a way we could afford to give Hazel a bigger cut each month.

Tonight, besides all the regular cleaning, I had to wash the windows. It normally took me over an hour to clean each night, but with Willa’s help, we left after thirty minutes, both of us smelling like bleach and ammonia.

I led her out the back, locking the back door behind us. After tossing the last bag of trash in the Dumpster, I escorted her around the side of the building.

“Thanks for the help.”

“No problem. It was kind of fun to see what you do after the crowd leaves.”

“Sorry to keep you up so late. Are you going to be too woogidy tomorrow morning?”

She giggled as I used her word. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’re welcome to join me every night,” I told her. “I’ll make you all the pizza you can eat for the chance to have your company.”

She just smiled as we turned down the street that would lead us both home. It wasn’t a flat-out no, so I’d take it.

We walked half a block quietly. Since her house was on the way to mine, it wasn’t out of my way to escort her home. I lived two blocks up from her place, and after leaving her notes all week, I knew it took four minutes to get from my front door to hers.

“So, what was that idea you had for Charlie?” she asked.

“What?”

“You asked me to stay at the bar to talk about an idea you had for Charlie. What was it?”

Shit. “The truth? There wasn’t anything. I was just desperate to get you to stay and I used her name as bait.”

“Sneaky. I’ll have to remember that in the future.” She looked up, her blue eyes sparkling under the dim moonlight. “Though I would have probably stayed anyway.”

“Good to know.” Progress. I was making progress. Finally.

I wasn’t sure if it was the cheesy notes or the visits to camp that had done the trick—maybe both—but I was glad she was giving me an inch. Not that it had been a hardship to spend time around her.

In truth, I liked visiting Willa and her camp. Those kids were always so excited and full of life. Watching them gave me more energy than my morning ten cups of coffee. And I liked writing her those notes too. Somehow, scribbling on a square, yellow piece of paper had become a highlight of my day.

We walked the rest of the way to her street in silence and slowed at the corner. There was an overgrown shrub crowding the sidewalk, forcing my body right beside hers. The gentlemanly thing to do would have been to let her go first, but I didn’t want to lose her at my side. So I stayed close and when we rounded the corner, my arm brushed against the bare skin of hers.

It was an electric touch, sparking a flame under my skin. It made my heart pound and her breath catch.

Willa tripped on a seam in the sidewalk, but before she could fall, I grabbed her hand, steadying her with my grip.

“You good?” I asked.

She nodded, righting her feet as her delicate fingers stayed locked in my grasp.

We stayed side by side, neither of us stepping forward or breaking apart, even after she regained her balance. We just stood there as the night went still. The crickets chirping, the stars sparkling, the leaves rustling—it all disappeared until there was nothing left but Willa’s hand holding mine.

I hadn’t held a woman’s hand in . . . well, ever. Was that right? Had I really never held a woman’s hand before?

I hadn’t expected it to be so intimate, maybe even more so than a kiss.

It made me dizzy and steady all at the same time, like the feeling I got after being on a boat for too long. Even when I got back to land, I would still sway with the waves.

“Is this okay?” I asked, squeezing her fingers. I didn’t want to let them go but I would if she was uncomfortable.

“Um, yeah. It’s okay,” she whispered.