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Shenodded, allowing him to hold open the door for her and then following him to his car, where he held open the door for her again.
“So, um.Whereexactly are we going?” she asked once she was buckled in and they’d pulled out of the inn’s parking lot.
Helet out a small laugh. “IguessIshould’ve given you more details.There’sa cider house and brewery on the outskirts of town calledThreeBrothersBrewing.It’srun byCole,Cameron, andEastonMiller.Someof my younger brothers went to high school with them.”
“Itmust be nice, having a big family like that,” she said, her head rolling as she looked out the window at the passing scenery.Itwas already full dark, but the moon was full and bright, leaving everything in delicate silvery shadows.
“Itis.Usually,” he said with a small smile. “Thebrewery provides all the beer and cider for the inn, and they have a new fall menu, soColeinvited me to come for a tasting.”
“Oh, so this isn’t like…an event?”
“No.It’lljust be us, andCole.”Hefrowned slightly. “Iprobably should’ve mentioned that.Ifyou’re not comfortable, we can go back—”
Shecut him off with a shake of her head. “No, no.It’sfine.Ifyou murder me,Iwon’t have to finish my book, so…”Shemade a show of weighing out two things in her hands. “Thereare worse things.”
“Isthat what brought you toGossamerFalls?Gettingaway to work on the book?”
Sheshrugged, and the movement made her thick sweater dress slip down her shoulder, exposing a slim section of smooth skin.Hecouldn’t help but notice that there wasn’t a bra strap visible, meaning she was either wearing a strapless one, or none at all.Sheadjusted it absentmindedly as she talked, and his blood heated in his veins. “Sortof.Iwas hoping that a change of scenery would jar something in me, spark some creativity, you know?Isaw an ad for it in aNewYorkStatetourist magazine and decided to take a chance.”
Heturned down a winding road enveloped by trees. “Andhow’s that going for you so far?”
“Notgreat.”
“Howcome?”
“BecauseeverythingIwrite is flat, emotionless crap.”Sheshifted in her seat, turning towards him. “Ihave an idea.Ihave an outline.Ihave character sketches.Butthe story has no spark.Atall.”
“What’sthe story?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road as he navigated through the dark.
“It’sa romance of sorts about vampires fated to find each other throughout different time periods.”
“Greatpremise,” he said, tilting his head as he listened.
Tohis surprise, she threw up her hands in what seemed like frustration. “That’swhat everyone says!Butevery timeIgo to put words to paper, what comes out is all wrong.”
“Someoneneeds to invent a machine that you hook directly into your brain, and it sucks the book out, fully formed, right onto the page.”
“Yes!” she said with a little laugh. “Mykingdom for a brain sucking thought depositor.”
“Wemight need to come up with a catchier name, though.”
“You’reright.Maybe…”Shepursed her lips, tapping her finger against them, and his chest filled with warmth.Thisfelt so easy.Sonatural.Therewas no stilted awkwardness, no pregnant silences. “Oh,Iknow!Whatabout theStorySucker?”
“Ilike it, but a product with ‘suck’ in the name might be a hard sell.”
“StoryBelcher,” she offered.Helaughed and shook his head.
“I’mnot sure if that’s better or worse,” he teased.
“Whatabout…theMindjaculator?”
Helaughed again, harder this time, and nodded. “Perfect.Abrain orgasm where ideas spurt out.”
Shehowled with laughter. “Imean, it is a romance.”Sheglanced at him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth and a bolt of heat raced through him.Fuck, she was cute.Cuteand sexy and funny.Shewas like sunshine bursting out from behind clouds on a rainy day, a bright, shiny rainbow of surprise. “Autumnmentioned that you used to write?”
Henodded, and then pulled the car into the brewery’s parking lot.Ashe jogged around the front of his car to open her door for her, he weighed how much to get into about his failed writing career.Ifshe was struggling with her book, she probably didn’t need to hear about his failures.Thenagain, it might feel nice to commiserate with another writer.
Heopened her door for her and then offered her his hand to help her out.Heknew he should probably drop it, but he didn’t want to.Sohe kept it, and she seemed perfectly content to stroll forward towards the brewery with her much smaller hand nestled in his.Heatslowly worked its way up his arm.
