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As much asChet wanted to deny it, answering “No” was not an option.
“It’s not how it sounded.” It was lame, even to his own ears.
She said nothing. Just looked at him.
“Meg, look. I can explain.”
“What did Eva mean by a running plan? How did Rachel help you? Based on how fast they left, there’s some truth to it.”
Chet put up his hands. “Okay. There is, it’s not a big deal. I wanted to spend time with you, so I asked Rachel to put us together.”
“You didn’t think to mention this?” Meg shook her head in disbelief. “I even joked about you using the fundraiser as a way to make a move on me. That you had some agenda behind it all. And I was right!”
“There was no agenda, Meg. I really did want to get to know you.”
“You come into the diner. You see me around town. You could have just asked me out.”
“Would you have said yes?” Chet’s head was spinning. “I have come into the diner, and I have tried to talk to you. You’re not exactly the easiest person to approach.”
The second the words left his mouth; he knew he’d messed up. She took a step back and her cheeks got red.
“So this is my fault? I made you lie.”
“Of course not.” He felt like he had gone down a fireman’s pole without grabbing hold. “Look, Meg. Remember how I said I didn’t look you up online? I didn’t want to read someone else’s version of you. I wanted to knowyou.”
He saw her spine soften a bit.
He took a breath. He was in deep, might as well go for it. “Whenever I saw you running in the mornings, you seemed so…relaxed. I thought maybe if we ran together, you’d be willing to talk to me.” He shrugged. “Maybe even want to get to know me a little, too.”
He felt like an eighth grader with his first crush but forced himself to keep going. “I swear, from minute one, my motives were pure. I simply wanted to run with you, so when the fundraiser came up, I asked Rachel if she would pair us together.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “As confident as you may think I am, there are things that intimidate me, too. Maybe that’s why I needed Dottie’s help to ask you out.”
Her eyes softened and he allowed himself to hope, just a little.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. “I mean, once things got…the way they did between us.”
“I don’t know. I figured by then it didn’t really matter. I didn’t think that how we got talking was nearly as important as the fact that we were talking. You let your guard down enough for me to see you and you trusted me.”
Cautiously, he took a step toward her. When she didn’t retreat, he reached for her hands. He released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding when she let him. “I betrayed that trust by not telling you what I did, but I swear to you, Meg, everything else, in every second we’ve spent together has been true.”
She blinked, her eyes shining as she fought back tears.
“I never want to hurt you. Ever.”
A noise crackled through the air. Chet looked down at the two-way portable radio clipped to his belt.
It nearly killed him but he took a step away from Meg to answer the call.
As he listened, his spirits sank. This was the worst timing, but that was part of the job.
“I have to go,” he said. “There’s a big fire on the outskirts of town, and we are all being called in.”
“You have to go now?”
The look in her eyes gutted him. He couldn’t stand leaving with things shaky between them. He took a deep breath. She was either going to punch him or kiss him back. He didn’t care. It was worth the risk. With one hand behind her head and the other on her back, he pulled her close and claimed her mouth with his.
So far, the kisses between them had been slow and soft. They’d taken their time. This one was all heat and urgency. The emotions that had gone between them collided in a way that if Chet’s eyes had been open, he’d have sworn he’d see fireworks.
