Page 12

Chapter Twelve

Kit

Beau’s touch sets my nerves humming. I can barely focus on what he’s saying, but the emotion in his stare has all of me nearly melting.

Fear fills me at the thought of admitting how I felt, feel, about Beau. I wasn’t myself that night in Las Vegas, and any filter I had was gone.

Clearly, I still care about him—even I can acknowledge that to myself. But am I ready to dive in even more than I already have?

“I know why I married you,” he says gruffly, making my stomach flutter. “Even if it was spontaneous and insane. I don’t regret it.”

“What about the annulment?” I ask, swallowing hard. “You said you wanted an annulment—”

“No, I didn’t.” There’s an earnest gleam in his look that makes my stomach flip. “I only brought it up because you seemed so distraught.”

He didn’t? I could’ve sworn he did, but honestly that morning is a blur.

He lifts his hand to my face, and my breath hitches at the touch. I close my eyes and lean into his palm. I bask at how his thumb running over my cheek makes my body hum.

“You were so panicked after everything so I said what I thought you needed to hear. Not what I wanted to say.” His voice is soft but sure, and it’s doing all kinds of things to my insides. Not to mention the way his voice causes tingles to course through me. “At the time, I didn’t know we lived around the corner from each other, or I may have said something entirely different.”

“You living around the corner was a surprise!” I shake my head, thinking about my reaction.

“‘Are you stalking me?’” Beau razzes. “That was the worst thing anyone’s ever asked me.”

“Well, you did kind of stalk me that summer before college,” I giggle. His hand goes still, and I glance up. His eyes are filled with an intensity that sends shivers down my spine.

“I should’ve tried harder,” he whispers. “I was a fool to let you go.”

Heat pours through my body and fills my belly. My chin drops, and I look away. “No, you weren’t.” I push through a tight throat. “I was.”

Beau’s thumb gently lifts my chin, and my gaze slams into his. Countless emotions run through his eyes like a carousel. I can’t keep up with them. But I can sense them. My gaze drops to his lips, and I watch as they part.

“Kit,” he hoarsely breathes out my name. His voice sends a chill down to my toes. When he raises his other hand to cup my face, a sigh escapes me, and I sink into his touch.

The air simmers with electricity, and I wonder if he can hear my heart racing. I hear him sigh contentedly when I lift my hand and wrap it around his wrist. When I open my eyes, the air is sucked from my lungs.

The emotion staring back at me is pulling my body toward him like a magnet. The pull is overwhelming, but I’m not afraid. I want nothing more than to touch him.

Hesitantly, I move my hand from his wrist to his cheek. He sucks in a breath and I freeze. I’ve nearly melted into the seat when he turns his mouth toward my palm and kisses it.

“Beau?”

“Hmmm?” He hums against my palm. The vibration sends a tiny shiver through me. He chuckles. “Cold?”

“Oh, you!” I go to rip my hand away, but before it goes anywhere, his hand is on mine, pressing it against his cheek.

His eyes whip to mine, and I swear the world stops for a moment.

“I’m sorry. Teasing you is addictive.” His lopsided grin makes me blush uncontrollably. “Can I kiss you?”

A gasp escapes me. One he misreads.

I watch as the corner of his mouth falls, and before I know what I’m doing, my other hand is cupping his other cheek.

Kissing him.

He’s frozen beneath me, and I instantly regret what I did, but then he wraps his hand around the back of my head pulling me closer.

I breathe him in, and when he deepens the kiss, I nearly die.

A tapping noise on the window has us both jumping out of our skin.

“So it’s true!” Katy Blake screams excitedly. “You are together!”

“Ugh,” Beau groans, leaning his forehead against mine while he tries to catch his breath. “She always did have awful timing.”

“I need the tea, you two!” I slide my head over to glance out Beau’s window and find Katy’s big blue eyes staring back at me. The determination in her gaze is clear. She isn’t going anywhere.

I sheepishly smile and give her a small wave.

“Do you think if we pretend we don’t hear her, she’ll go away?” Beau asks, his eyes hopeful.

I chuckle. “Unlikely. Katy is like a dog with a bone. She’s not giving it up. Looks like we’ll just have to face the music.” I beam as he scrunches his face together and groans.

He lifts his face and stares me straight in the eyes before firmly placing his lips on mine one last time. His lips curve up, making my cheeks lift higher.

“Fine.” He blows a breath, slowly letting his hands fall from my face. “Let’s go eat.”

“Try not to make having dinner with me sound so awful.” His pained expression is amusing, and I bite my lip.

“Well, when the alternative is kissing you…it is.” The wink he sends my way makes me beam. Just then his stomach chooses to growl.

“Apparently your stomach doesn’t agree,” I manage to choke out between giggles.

“Yeah, well. It doesn’t have the same craving the rest of me does.” He waggles his eyebrows, and heat creeps up my cheeks. But the gleam in his eyes has me rethinking my stance on dinner. Just then, another knock on the window reminds me why we stopped kissing in the first place.

“We’re coming!” Beau growls at Katy.

Watching him get out of the car, my cheeks pull up. My cheeks hurt. I’m reminded that it’s been a very long time since I’ve felt this happy about anything.

Beau does an expert job of not answering Katy’s questions, but he does it in a way that even leaves me believing like he gave her information when he actually didn’t.

When she turns to leave, her scrunched up face has me staring at Beau in amazement.

“That was masterful!” He laces his fingers with mine and smiles down at me. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“Masterful? Hmmm…I like hearing you say that about me.” He leans in and kisses my nose. I wrap my other arm around his and move closer to him. The urge to be near him is startling. “What did I do?”

“Lead the conversation in a way that left Katy speechless.” I shake my head, and Beau grins. “Poor Katy didn’t stand a chance against you. It was an impressive sight to behold.”

“Thank you,” he says, as we start walking toward The Glowing Fork.

“But seriously, where did you learn that technique?” Beau has always been good on his feet; I should know since I was usually on the other end of his witty comebacks.

“College.” He takes a deep breath, and the hand interlaced with mine flexes. “When I was on the football team, they taught us how to deal with the press.”

“That’s right! You played in college—”

“Were you stalking me?” he teases me, nudging my hip, and I giggle.

“I may have listened a bit more intently if I heard your name mentioned.” I grin. “But Genevieve was the one who followed your college career. How is it that you ended up playing rugby?”

“That’s a great topic of conversation for dinner,” he says as he grabs the handle and pulls open the door to The Glowing Fork.

Beau holds the door open for me, and I walk over the threshold. Gideon Wren is standing behind the hostess station with a wry grin that widens when he sees Beau walk in behind me.

“Hello, you two,” he says, his eyes twinkling. Then picks up a menu and whispers, “Or should I say Mr. and Mrs.?”

I chuckle nervously, but Beau responds without hesitation. “‘You two’ is perfect for now. How are you, Gideon?”

“Excited to have the most talked about couple here at my restaurant tonight! I have the best table for you.” He points to the table in the center of the room and I nearly roll my eyes and groan.

It’s always so much fun being in a fishbowl. In a small town. Where gossip is queen.

The only saving grace is that The Glowing Fork has a unique environment.

One of the things about living in a town called Starhaven is that many businesses have fun with the star part. My business, ‘Starlight Vet Haven’, a coffee shop named ‘Bean Me Up’ (I love that one), and then The Glowing Fork.

Though stars have nothing to do with the name, the interior is decorated like a starry night. When you walk through the door, you feel like you’re in an open field under a clear night sky.

Gideon and his wife, Aurora, are huge stargazers. I remember when they moved to Starhaven and opened the restaurant with a stargazing theme. You needed a reservation weeks in advance.

So sitting in the middle of the room for everyone to watch isn’t so bad, especially since it’s dark.

The only lights in the room come from the lamps on the tables. The rest is all blacklight and UV tape. Gideon grabs two menus.

“Follow me.”

When we step into the dining area, the constellations on Gideon’s blue shirt start to glow immediately. On the floor, the UV strips lead us through the pathway of tables.

“Here we are.”

Beau pulls out the chair for me, and I shyly smile, feeling self-conscious, knowing my teeth are probably a lovely shade of blue. I also can’t help but notice how quiet the room has gotten.

Scanning the room, I find everyone is staring at us. I swallow hard. As if my nerves weren’t on edge already, now we have an audience.