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The line shuffled forward, and Wes tore four tickets off the set and handed them to the young kid operating the ride.
“How many?” the kid asked.
“Four!” Marissa said, jumping up and down.
“Three adults? You’ll need two cars—two in each. Make sure the lightest is on the inside,” he said, reaching past them for the next riders.
“I’m with Aunt Lia,” Marissa said, and Lia nodded.
Wes looked slightly panicked. “You don’t want to ride with me?”
“I can do that later. Have fun, you two!” she said, shooting them a grin as she and Lia ran off to get the light-blue car she’d been eyeing in line.
“We’ll meet you at the ride exit…” Wes called after them before turning to Sarah. “So, it’s you and me?”
Her heart was pounding out of her chest, and she hadn’t even gotten on the ride yet. “Or we could sneak out the exit. They’d never know.”
The gate clicked, locking them in, and Wes looked terrified. “I don’t think that’s an option. That one is still empty,” he said, nodding to a green car behind her.
Sarah followed him to the car, and he opened the small metal door for her to climb in first. “Lightest on the inside,” he said.
She was very aware of his gaze on her ass as she climbed into the seat, and her pulse was racing as he climbed in next to her and his large thigh touched hers in the cramped space. He closed the door, secured the latch, and pulled the safety bar down over their laps. It clicked in place, and Sarah gripped it tight, her mouth going dry as she forced a calming breath.
Across the way, Marissa leaned out of her car with Lia to wave at them. The smug little smile on her face suggested she’d planned this.
Next to her, Wes cleared his throat. “Um…is it just me or do you get the feeling we were set up?”
Oh, that little shit was totally playing matchmaker again.
Sarah wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea of time alone with Wes, but since their kiss…she wasn’t sure where they stood, and she’d prefer to be alone with him in a situation where it wasn’t a possibility that she might throw up in his lap.
“She may have had an agenda,” Sarah said awkwardly.
“She really likes you,” he said quietly.
Her heart was about to explode. “Marissa’s such a great kid.”
“She’s going to miss seeing you every day at the B&B,” he said, staring at his hands on the bar.
“It’s going to be weird for me, too. But I’m still there if she wants to visit when she gets back from camp,” she said. At least for a few extra days, until the reunion was over.
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure she will,” he said, his eyes meeting hers. “She’s gotten attached.”
Her heart echoed in her ears, and her breath caught and held in her chest. He was staring at her lips as though he wanted to kiss her, and there was no denying the longing in his voice. She swallowed hard and moved a little closer, letting him know that she wouldn’t refuse if he wanted to go for it.
A rough shake of the safety bar had her straightening as the kid glanced at them. “Thumbs-up?”
“Thumbs-up,” Wes croaked as she half-heartedly gave the sign.
“Fair warning. I may throw up,” Wes said as the kid went back to his post and gave the safety instructions.
“I may beat you to it,” she said as the ride started rotating slowly. If it stayed at this speed, she’d be fine. But within seconds, the car was being flung from one side to the other, circling around the other cars, just narrowly missing them as they passed, the repetitive carnival ride jingle echoing in her rattled brain. Sarah struggled to remain on her side of the seat, but the force had her sliding into Wes.
He didn’t seem to mind as he wrapped one arm around her.
They started to lift off the ground, and Sarah thought she might have a heart attack. She clutched the safety bar and pressed her feet into the floor as the scenery whizzed past outside the ride—one big blur of bright lights and people.
Wes’s hand covered hers, and she closed her eyes and buried her head into his shoulder as the ride continued to twist and turn and jut and twitch all around the platform. It was hard to appreciate the contact when she was so freaking terrified.
