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“He dated; remember prom?”
“I do, and the disappointed little girl who wished she was his date. But you weren’t. You were off limits back then for many reasons.” Aunt Laura brushed Scarlet’s hair behind her shoulder. “Tell me something, all those nights you sat on the front porch watching for shooting stars, what did you wish for?”
Scarlet shrugged not wanting to think back to those years.
Aunt Laura raised a brow, but without another comment, she disappeared into the kitchen leaving her words to echo in Scarlet’s head.
The front porch wasn’t the only place she made wishes. How many times had she been under the stars at Duke’s side? He’d point out a swoosh of light with a tail and then look at her, but never did he grant her the one wish she truly wanted.
A kiss.
The hammering turned to sawing, and by the end of their conversation, Scarlet’s curiosity won and she marched down the steps to chastise whoever was making such a racket. She flipped on the light and flung the door open. “Do you know what time it is?”
Duke lifted a paint brush dripping with red paint onto a tarp.
She froze. Her gaze swept the area to decipher what he was doing and discovered a miniature version of Cherish Café.
He rose to his towering six-foot-two. His dark waves pushed to one side like some sexy workman from that old Coca-Cola commercial Aunt Laura insisted on showing her over and over again when she learned how to use the internet. “That’s twice in one day you’ve scolded me.” His smile quirked into an oh-so-sexy grin.
Her pulse bu-bumped at the speed of a reindeer on Christmas Eve. “You? I-I’m sorry. I mean…” Snowflakes melted on her heated face.
“I’m joking. I guess I was making too much noise. I’ll probably get a visit from Sheriff Lomack at any moment.
He dropped the paint brush into a bucket and joined her at the door. “You shouldn’t be out here without your coat.”
His hands rubbed her arms. She shivered. Not from the cold but from his touch. She backed away, retreating from him and empty promises. This wasn’t right.Fiancé. Life in Atlanta. Nothing for me here.
But no matter how hard she tried to focus on the right thing to do, her eyes betrayed her and looked to his lips. And all she wanted was to finally have that elusive kiss.
ChapterThree
Duke forgotabout his lost loan, his business, and all his goals in the time it took for Scarlet to take a breath. She bit her full bottom lip, drawing his attention to his one true desire in life.
He knew that look. He’d longed to see it ever since the night she told him she got into the University of Georgia on a full scholarship. He’d planned to tell her on Christmas Eve how he wanted to follow her anywhere, but he couldn’t follow her there. Not after he’d lost his baseball scholarship and all his dreams.
If he kissed her now, it could cause her to run. He knew her too well. She was in a relationship with another man. A man not worthy of her. A sobering thought that gave him strength to back away. “I should be going. I’ll come back in the morning to put a second coat on before your breakfast rush.”
She brushed past him, her arm grazing his. Even through his jacket, his hair stood at attention as if to pierce through his coat to touch her the way he longed to touch her since he first saw her this morning.
“Is this…” She shook her head. “You built this?”
He shrugged. “We always said we wanted our own free library where people could enjoy our favorite books. A place where we could swap our favorites without having to set up a secret meeting. I can take it down if you want.”
“Don’t you dare.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and looked at him. “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve seen since returning to Cherry Creek.”
With those few words, he stood a little taller, not feeling like such a failure after his loan meeting. “I’m glad you like it. I wanted to make it in a different shape, but if I didn’t follow zoning, they’d rip it down.”
Scarlet snapped her attention to him. “They better not.”
“There it is.”
She tilted her head, blinking and brushing snowflakes from her lashes. “What?”
“The fire in your eyes. You were such a force when we were kids. Fearless and bold and adventurous.”
She touched the scar at her temple. “Right. All that got me was a nickname.”
His insides twisted. “Wait, is that why you thought I called you scar?”
