309 Wildflower Falls Way Read online

  “How’s business been?” I ask.

  “Good. Busy.”

  “I’m not surprised. This place is really nice.”

  “Thanks.” As she takes a moment to look around, too, a wistfulness enters her eyes. “God, I wish my mom could see this place.”

  “She would be proud of you, Aspen. She’d be really, really proud of you.”

  Her eyes get a little misty but she blinks it away. “You’re a good friend.”

  Friend. God, does that word sting.

  I draw my eyes away again, and this time they land on her Special of the Day sign, which has Monte Cristo Sandwich written on it.

  “What’s on a Monte Cristo?” I ask.

  “You’ve never had one?” She smiles. “It’s a ham and cheese sandwich that’s dipped in egg and cooked like French toast. It’s heaven.”

  I groan. “Man, that sounds good.”

  “Come on. I’ll cook you one.” She stands up and gestures for me to follow.

  In the kitchen, I lean back against the counter while I watch her pull ingredients out of the fridge and start to assemble the sandwich. I’m immediately mesmerized by the way she so naturally moves around the kitchen. I know I should be keeping my attention on the food. But I just can’t.

  “Mustard okay?” she asks, glancing over her shoulder.

  “Sure,” I say, my lips moving automatically. The sandwich sizzles as it hits the hot skillet, delectable aromas filling the air.

  But she’s the only thing I’m truly hungry for.

  I try to stop myself, but my eyes trace over her hips. I know I’m torturing myself, letting it happen. But she’s irresistible. She’s utterly irresistible…

  She plates the sandwich, grabs a napkin, and gives me a broad smile as she holds it out to me.

  “Want to eat it here or at the table?” she asks.

  I can’t. Fuck, I just can’t. It’s too hard. I’m too damn smitten with her.

  “Aspen,” I rasp.

  Her brows dip in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

  Just tell her. It’s the only way through.

  “I’m sorry. I thought I could do this. But I can’t. It’s impossible for me to act like I only want to be your friend.”

  She doesn’t say anything. She just leans back against the counter. Away from me. That doesn’t exactly feel encouraging. But fuck it. I can’t stop now.

  “Do you just want to be friends, Aspen?” I ask. I need to know. Have to know.

  She’s still silent. She’s still just standing there, clutching that damn plate. My heart is beating a million times a minute, waiting for her to answer.

  “No,” she finally says, her voice quiet. “I have feelings for you, too.”

  Then comes the dagger.

  “But we can’t,” she says.

  “Give me one good reason.”

  She sets the plate down. “We each have one, remember? Neither of us date.”

  “So let’s start,” I say. “I know it’s scary. I’m fucking scared, too. But avoiding something because we’re scared of it…that’s no way to live. And it could be so good.”

  She works her bottom lip between her teeth. “You’re right. It could.”

  Our eyes stay locked. Another few seconds of silence pass, and then, slowly, we both smile at each other.

  I’ve never felt so fucking happy in my life.

  “So…what, we’re going to start going out on dates now?” she says.

  “Kind of feels like we already have, doesn’t it?”

  “I don’t think our previous hangouts count.”

  “You’re saying you don’t want Miles and Carter to tag along on our dates, then?”

  She laughs, then drops her eyes to the sandwich. “You better eat this before it gets cold.”

  She picks up the plate again and steps closer to me. I get a whiff of her shampoo and it smells like lavender. I take the plate from her, but I don’t pick up the sandwich.

  “What?” she says. “Not hungry anymore?”

  “No, I’m still hungry. I just really want to kiss you right now.”

  I can hear her breath catch.

  “Isn’t it breaking some kind of rule if we kiss before our first date?”

  “If there is a rule, I have no problem breaking it.”

  Rosiness blooms in her cheeks.

  “Neither do I,” she says softly.

  I set the plate aside and it clatters on the counter. She leans in toward me and I cup her chin in my hands. Her eyelids flutter close as I dip my mouth to meet hers. The moment our lips touch, heat bursts across my body. The little moan she lets out against my mouth goes straight to my cock.

  I want her so bad it hurts.

  Our mouths open to each other. Her hands slide up my chest and her hips graze mine. This kiss…fuck, this kiss. It’s like weeks and weeks of kisses we’ve both wanted but haven’t allowed ourselves to indulge in until now.

  My hands slide up, my fingers threading through her hair. She presses harder against me, the heat of her body radiating against mine.

  And then there’s a goddamn knock on the front door of the cafe.

  “Shit,” Aspen murmurs, pulling away. Her lips are a little swollen, her cheeks bright pink. Reluctantly, I drop my hands from her.

  “Hold on,” she says, smoothing down her hair. “I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter Nine

  ASPEN

  That kiss. Holy crap, that kiss. I’d been trying so hard to resist my feelings for Wells, but when he confessed his feelings to me, I couldn’t hold mine back any longer either.

  My head is spinning and my heart is still racing as I walk out of the kitchen. As soon as I turn the corner, I see Savannah Windsor through the glass window of the cafe’s front door. Savannah and her brother run the Cedar Spring Lodge just up the road. Our paths don’t cross too often but she’s always friendly when I do bump into her.

  I unlock the door and open it.

  “Hi, Savannah,” I say.

  “Hey, Aspen,” she says. “I was driving by and noticed an unfamiliar truck out front. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay in here.”

  “Oh. Yeah. I, uh—” I shake my head. “A friend stopped by for a minute. That’s all.”

  Savannah glances at my hair, which I’m sure is messed up from Wells’s hands running through it. She seems to connect the dots, because her concern morphs into a knowing smile. “Ah. Gotcha.”

  “Thanks for stopping by,” I say, smoothing a hand over my hair.

  “Have a nice rest of your evening, Aspen,” she says, winking before turning around and going back to her car.

  When I return to the kitchen, Wells looks up at me sheepishly. God, the man is hot. I can finally think it without feeling resistance, and damn, does that feel freeing.

  “We get busted?” he asks.

  “Pretty much.”

  He reaches out to take my hand and gently pulls me toward him. “No more kisses then, huh?”

  “I think we just need to go someplace more private,” I say, smiling up at him.

  WE BARELY MAKE it into my apartment before Wells is pulling me into his arms again. We’re a mess of kisses as we stumble through the rooms. I’ve never experienced anything like this fervor, this uncontainable desire to have someone. But the thing is, this desire has been building up for weeks. Since I first saw him on the road, really, if I’m being completely honest with myself.

  All of this still scares me to some degree, but I can’t keep pretending to be satisfied with just being his friend—and it’s obvious that he can’t keep going on like that, either.

  We need each other, and we need each other now.

  I pull Wells into my bedroom. It’s dim in the room, though there’s still enough light to see each other. He gives me a slower, deeper kiss than all the rest, nearly taking my breath away, before we pull apart and he tugs my shirt up over my head. As he does, a little shiver of excitement runs up my spine.

  “You okay?�
�� he asks.

  I nod. “Yeah. I’m good. Really good. You?”

  “I’m fucking fantastic.”

  I grin and grab the hem of his t-shirt. I tug it up and he pulls it the rest of the way off. I draw in a breath as I get my first eyeful of his abs. Damn. The guy is ripped.

  “Guess you’re a fan of sit-ups, huh?”

  He laughs. “Now and then.”

  I reach around to unhook my bra and let it fall to the floor. Wells’s eyes dip to my breasts and a moan rumbles out of his chest. His reaction makes my inner thighs throb with warmth.

  “You’re so beautiful, Aspen.” His gaze is locked on my eyes again. “I’ve wanted to say that to you since the day we met. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  My heart hammers as he reaches out and runs a hand up my side. His caress is firm and sensual. I reach for his belt, undoing it hurriedly. He gets my pants undone, too. My breathing deepens as he pushes my panties down off my hips. I step out of them and pull him over to my bed.

  “Don’t judge me if I’m bad at this,” I say as I lay back on the covers. “It’s been a really long time for me.”

  He kisses my shoulder, my collarbone. “We can slow down if you want to.”

  “No,” I say before letting out a little moan. His lips are so warm on my skin. “The last thing I want you to do is stop.”

  He kisses me on the lips, then moves away for a second to grab a condom. I watch with a racing heart as he tears it open and rolls it onto his thick, hard cock. This is it. Everything is about to change. Once we sleep together, there will be no undoing it.

  There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now than here with him.

  I spread my legs and he moves between them, his muscles bulging as he positions himself above me. Dizzy with lust, I push my hips up and he reaches down; a second later I feel the fat head of his cock pressing against my soaked slit.

  As he enters me, I cry out with pleasure.

  Breathing heavily, he slides deeper into me, his thickness stretching me.

  “Fuck,” Wells groans. “You feel so good.”

  He pulls out a few inches and then thrusts into me again. In. Out. In. Out. I can barely breathe, it feels so incredibly blissful.

  Wells lowers his mouth to one of my pebbled nipples, sucking on it as he fucks me, eliciting higher moans from my lips.

  “Harder,” I gasp.

  He gives me exactly what I want. What we both want. His strong hips thrust harder. His cock drives into me deeper. We’re both panting, both moaning, both so caught up in the intense pleasure of it all. We kiss desperately, and he pumps in and out of me faster, his breath becoming ragged as he nears his orgasm.

  I, too, am so close. I dig my fingers into his sculpted back, my thighs sweaty and quivering.

  “Oh my god,” I cry out. I bury my face into his shoulder and let out a sob against his hot skin as I come. My pussy tightens around his cock and he lets out an animalistic growl as he drives deeply into me.

  His heartbeat slams against mine as he comes.

  He stays inside me for another minute, our bodies radiating as we kiss, before he pulls out.

  “Holy shit,” he sighs, rolling onto his back beside me.

  I blink up at the ceiling, still catching my breath. Did that really just happen? It was so good, it felt unreal.

  Please don’t let this be a dream…

  I look over at him. Nope. This is all real. Very real.

  Wells looks over and meets my eyes. “That was…” He shakes his head, suddenly speechless, and we both laugh.

  “I know,” I say. “My thoughts exactly.”

  He pulls me into his arms and kisses my forehead. It’s so nice, being held by him.

  “Do you want to stay tonight?” I ask. “Fair warning, I get up pretty early.”

  “How early are we talking about?”

  “Five. Five thirty if I’m pushing it.”

  He groans.

  “I won’t be offended if you don’t want to stay.”

  “No way. I’m staying.” He gives me a look. “Besides, we need to make sure that incredible sex wasn’t just a fluke.”

  “Mmm. I think you’re right. I’m going to need some more energy before we go for round two, though…”

  “Shit. I never ate the sandwich you made for me.”

  I smile. “It’s okay, Wells. I can make you another one.”

  “What do you think? Should we run back to the cafe?”

  “No. I’ll fix something here.” I start to get out of bed, but he pulls me back.

  “Not yet, beautiful,” he says, kissing me. “Not yet.”

  I FALL ASLEEP that night tucked into Wells’s arms, the night peacefully washing over us. The hours go by too quickly, though, and before I know it, my alarm is piercing through our sleep.

  Wells groans as I reach out and turn off the alarm.

  “Too early,” he mutters.

  “Rise and shine, mister,” I say, yawning as I sit up.

  “Nope,” he grumbles, and pulls me to him, tucking me back into place. Our bodies press together and when his hard-on throbs against my hip, my own sex aches for him.

  “I guess I can stay in bed a little longer,” I murmur.

  Twenty minutes and two orgasms later, I feel like I’m glowing from head to toe. As we catch our breath, I trace my fingertips over the ink on Wells’s arm. “Tell me about your tattoos. I’ve been curious about them.”

  “I got my first one the day I turned eighteen. I felt so rebellious.” He points to a lightning bolt on his wrist and laughs. Then he points out a paw print a few inches away from it. “This one’s for a dog I had when I was a kid.”

  “Aw. I love that.” Curiously, I tap a small spiderweb on his forearm. “What about this one?”

  “Ah. That’s the one I wish I didn’t have. An old girlfriend and I got them done together.”

  “Oh.” I feel a twinge of jealousy, but when I look into Wells’s eyes, all I see is faint bitterness, not wistfulness or nostalgia.

  “So she’s the one who broke your heart, huh?”

  He responds with a tepid laugh. “Yeah. Whatever.”

  I rub my foot against his. I don’t want to remind him of the past. Especially not after the wonderful night—and morning—we just had. “I’m glad you’re giving me a chance.”

  “I’m glad you’re giving me a chance,” he says, warmth coming back into his eyes.

  “Did you get all your tattoos done here? In Cherry Falls, I mean?”

  “Yep. Cherry Bomb Tattoo Parlor. You should go there with me sometime. Get a little one.”

  “And what would you suggest I get?”

  “Easy. My name in the middle of a heart, of course.”

  I laugh and give him a playful push. He gives me an alluring, warning look, and the next thing I know, we’re kissing again. But out of the corner of my eye, I catch the red digits on my bedside alarm.

  “Shit,” I say, seeing how late it’s gotten. I scramble out of bed, getting dressed. “I have to go.”

  “Take the day off,” Wells says, trying to pull me back into bed. “Come on. You own the cafe, Aspen. You can do whatever you want.”

  “What, so I should put up a sign saying, Sorry, closed today, I’m having mind-blowing sex with Wells all day?”

  “Yes,” he says, grinning. “Exactly.”

  Chapter Ten

  WELLS

  “Well, you guys are pretty damn adorable together,” says Miles, grabbing the ketchup and squirting a big dollop onto his plate of fries.

  Carter nabs a fry from Miles’s plate and pops it into his mouth. “Yeah. It’s great to see you finally stop pretending like you aren’t into each other.”

  I look over at Aspen and she gives me an adorable smile, then looks back at my friends. “Thanks, guys. And I promise I won’t be one of those girls who suddenly forbids her man from hanging out with his friends. I know how important you two are to him.”

  “Oh,
we are, are we?” snorts Carter. He throws a fry at me. “How come you never tell us?”

  I laugh, grab the fry, chuck it back at him. “Assumed you already knew, dude.”

  It’s the first time the four of us have all hung out together since Aspen and I made things official. And I gotta say…it feels right. This feels like how it’s supposed to be—me, my girl, my two best buds.

  It took a while to get here, but now we’re here, and that’s what matters.

  I put my arm around Aspen, resting it on the back of the booth we’re sitting in and letting my arm touch the back of her shoulders. To my surprise, I can feel her shoulders stiffen in response.

  While Carter and Miles fight over how many fries are appropriate to steal from someone’s plate, I lean toward Aspen and say, “You okay?”

  She gives me a questioning look. “Yeah. Why?”

  “It’s just…do you not want me to put my arm here?”

  “No, it’s fine.”

  Except clearly, from the look on her face, it’s not.

  Okay. That’s…confusing. But whatever. I draw my arm back and join in on the argument going on between Carter and Miles. And for the rest of the meal, I act like everything’s good.

  But I can’t stop thinking about how she stiffened up when I put my arm around her.

  After we finish eating and part ways with the guys, I bring up the subject while we’re walking to my truck.

  “So…do you not want me putting my arm around you in public, or what?”

  The corners of her mouth turn down. “I’m sorry I reacted like that. I feel bad. I’m just not the affectionate type.”

  “Are you having second thoughts about the other night?”

  “No,” she says quickly. “Not at all. That’s not—I’m really happy we’re together, Wells. I am. I’m just not the type to hold hands or that kind of stuff.”

  “Right. Gotcha.”

  “Hey,” she says, nudging my arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it mattered to you that much. I guess I could try to get used to it…”

  “That’s not what I’m asking,” I say. “I don’t want you to change, or do anything you aren’t comfortable doing. I just want to make sure there isn’t something else going on. I get it if you’re not into PDA and whatever. But the way I felt your body tense up…it felt like something was wrong.”