AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bristol rolls her eyes. “I have nothing to hide, but I don’t do dares, Mr. Owens.”
I can’t help but smirk and then enjoy every moment of playing with her. We chat about mild things, and she asks a lot of questions about Candy Cane Key as we play. It feels light in a way I’m not used to at all. I find that I don’t censor my answers to her, giving her honesty even though I should probably hold back.
When I win, she pouts and it’s adorable as fuck. She sighs like she’s doing me a favor, “Can’t let the hometown guy lose.”
I find my lips stretching into a smile which feels a little foreign on my face. She looks at me expectantly, but with all we’ve talked about and how we’ve opened up instead of being at each other’s throats, I find I don’t have a truth to ask her.
Well, except the one where I ask if she’d like to come back to my place with me.
“I’m going to save my truth for another day,” I chicken out and cover it with a smirk.
Bristol’s laugh makes my heart thump against the inside of my chest. She shakes her head at me, the admonishment clear, but she doesn’t call me out on my bullshit. Somehow, I want her to. I want to spend more time with her.
“I need to get going,” there’s something like regret in her voice and I’m not sure why.
I nod and watch her walk out while my eyes are glued to her plump ass. It’s only when she’s long gone and I’m heading to my place that I realize I didn’t confirm seeing her tomorrow to find a location for the photoshoot.
CHAPTER 4
HAYDEN
I try not to be annoyed at Bristol as I pace at the entrance of the marina. Again. For the second day in a row. Because she’s late.
Fucking again.
I keep glancing at my watch and then looking around the parking lot, expecting Bristol to pull in at any moment. She hasn’t and it’s been almost half an hour.
What the fuck is going on?
I thought we had a good time last night. At least, after we stopped snarking at each other, but even that was kind of fun.
A smile tugs at my lips as I remember her telling me about her brother. She had such a look of love and devotion on her face, it was difficult not to be trapped by it.
“Boone has always been a little too overprotective of me,” she said the words with a smile on her face and not a hint of accusation. “Now he’s married and I’m going to be an aunt.”
“How did he meet his wife?” I don’t know why I asked, but I just wanted to keep her talking.
She got this faraway look in her eyes as she stood from lining up her shot. “He’s a delivery driver for packages and his route got changed to include Melinda’s boutique. The first day of his new route, he took some inventory to her and that was that.”
I pulled my face slightly, disbelief filling my voice, “What do you mean ‘that was that’?”
She chuckled softly and shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “I mean just what I said. He saw her and it was all those cliché movie romance things. He just,” she paused, and sadness swept across her face along with longing, “knew.”
“He just knew?” I wasn’t sure why I couldn’t say something without only repeating her words, but I’m blaming shock. It sounded like a fairy tale, one I wasn’t familiar with, but tugged at something in me. “I don’t get it.”
Bristol laughed and pointed to my shocked expression. “I wish I could tell you I was just pulling your leg because your face is priceless right now, but I can’t. He saw her and fell in love. It took him some time to get her to trust him and believe his feelings were real, but he did. He wooed her with a single-minded focus.”
“That’s,” I started, but let my words trail off because I wasn’t even sure what to say.
“I know,” she sighed dreamily. “Trust me, I know. It sounds ridiculous and farfetched, but it’s true. When I first met Melinda, I was skeptical, but I had never seen two people more in love than them. I had never seen my brother look at a woman like she was the center of his universe. Then I met the rest of the family Melinda’s part of.”
“Her family?” My eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
Bristol made a humming sound. “One of her good friends and a former employee is part of this giant family by choice and so Melinda has been sucked into their ranks.” Her mouth twisted into a wry smile. “After hearing the stories of how the rest of the couples in the family met or started their relationships, it was a lot of the same love at first sight thing. They met their other half and just knew, even if the journey wasn’t easy. They’re all devoted to their partner and love them to the depths of their souls.” She sighs, “It’s both sweet and disgusting at the same time.”
I barked out a laugh, mesmerized by what the beautiful woman in front of me was saying. My stomach flipped and churned. As much as I had been pushing it away, especially when I first met Bristol at the marina, I felt a pull to her.
Yes, I wanted to deny it for a lot of reasons. Yes, I wanted to push her away because I’m not good at letting people get close.
