Page 4 of Stripped Down at the Fair (Sweetheart County Fair #2)

DUSTIN

I heard the crunch of gravel beneath tires from where I stood on my back patio. It was so quiet out here in the middle of the woods, even the slightest noise seemed to carry for miles.

The gravel-crunching stopped, replaced by silence.

I closed the grill cover and headed around the outside of the cabin to greet my houseguest. As I rounded the corner, I spotted the car parked next to my much larger pickup.

Even though I was no car expert, I could tell at a glance that the small sedan was an older model.

I noticed a sizable dent in the front fender as I approached the driveway.

One thing was clear. She’d been struggling financially for a while. I was almost overwhelmed with the need to make sure she never had to worry about money again.

When the door opened, revealing another dent on the side along with some scratches, I spotted those familiar sneakers beneath the doorframe. Slowly, she stood, revealing her upper half.

I nearly tripped over my own feet as I took in her long blonde hair. It was the first time I’d seen it down, and it made her even more jaw-droppingly gorgeous—something I didn’t even think was possible.

“Hi,” she said. “So sorry I’m late. A woman wanted a caricature of her and her dog. She came up right as the fair was closing down. I told her I’d stay late. It was a gift for her husband.”

She closed the door, then looked back at her car with a strange expression. At first, I thought something might be wrong with it, but then she shifted her stare to me. She wore a grimace.

“I should have brought something,” she said. “Wine, beer, dessert…”

I shook my head. “I have all that.”

I’d stopped by the store for a bottle of wine.

I didn’t even know if she’d like it, but it felt like I should have some on hand.

I also grabbed some ice cream and an apple pie from the bakery.

Something told me this woman had been sacrificing good food for a while, and I fully intended to spoil her.

“You’ve done too much,” she said. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“Do you have your stuff?”

She looked at her car again and nodded. “Packed it all up. I didn’t tell the person I’m staying with. I want to make sure you don’t change your mind.”

“You can go ahead and text her now. Unless you think you’ll change your mind.”

Our eyes met, and my first thought was that maybe I was making a mistake.

Not because I didn’t want her to stay with me.

No, I wanted that more than I wanted my next breath.

My biggest concern was that having her stay with me would push me even deeper.

And it would be impossible to ever let her go… if she decided she wanted to leave.

What choice did I have? I’d never felt anything like this. I had to have her in my life. I couldn’t go another day knowing she was out there somewhere and I couldn’t be with her.

“Come on in,” I said. “The front door’s open. I need to run around and check on the steaks.”

It wasn’t necessary. They’d be fine for a few minutes. But she might want to unpack without me hovering around. So I turned and headed toward my backyard patio without even glancing back at her.

Cate. Her beautiful face stayed on my mind as I moved the steaks from the grill to a platter. She’d spelled her name out to me earlier as I tapped it into my phone. C-A-T-E. A unique spelling for a unique woman.

I’d included my name when I texted her the directions. I liked to picture her saving my number into her phone, including my name. Maybe she even smiled as she typed it. I’d live in that fantasy as long as I could.

I’d just turned off the grill when the patio door opened and she peeked outside and asked, “Need help out here?”

“I think I’ve got it.”

I closed the grill and powered it off, then started toward the door. But she was still standing there, looking around.

“Wow, this is nice,” she said. “It’s so private.”

“Yeah, no mountain view, but when I look out any of my windows, all I see is green. That’s the way I like it.”

“Me too.”

She nodded, then stepped back, pushing the door open wider.

As she did so, she disappeared into the house and I followed her inside.

She was standing just inside the door, looking around.

I waited on her to comment on the size of the interior of my cabin, but then I realized she’d already seen it when she breezed through to get to the back patio.

“I left my stuff by the front door,” she said. “I didn’t know… I mean, I could sleep on the couch.”

“I have a guest bedroom.”

Hadn’t I mentioned that already? Probably. She was no doubt trying to be polite.

“Of course, you could always sleep in my bed,” I said. “It’s a king. It’s so big, you’d never even come in contact with me.”

That was probably way too forward. But it helped that I wasn’t making eye contact with her as I said the words. I had my back to her as I strode toward the kitchen, steaks in hand. I set them on the stove, then opened the oven and pulled out the potatoes I’d tossed in.

It had been a long time since I’d cooked for anyone. Years, actually. But sometimes I made a steak and baked potato just for myself. I was glad I did. It kept my cooking skills sharp.

“I’ll just move my belongings to the guest bedroom,” she said. “Thank you so much for letting me stay with you.”

“It’s in there.”

I gestured toward the door on the other side of the dining room table.

My place wasn’t big, but it had two bedrooms. I kept a full bed in the guest room for when my mom visited.

It was rare, though. She was married to a guy with a good government pension.

They were all the way on the other side of the country, so I flew back and forth for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

By the time Cate emerged, I had the steaks and potatoes on the table. I was grabbing forks from the drawer, but when I turned to walk back to the table, I nearly tripped over my own feet again as my gaze landed on her. She was just so damn beautiful.

She’d kicked off her shoes at the door, probably to be polite, and her pink-painted toenails and dainty little feet made me wonder if I had a foot fetish. That sort of thing had never gotten to me before, so I assumed it was more about my attraction to Cate than anything else.

“I’m just glad to have company,” I said. “Gets kind of lonely up here.”

Why had I told her that? My pride should have kicked in at some point before the words were out of my mouth. But I found that I wanted to open up to her. For the first time in my life, I wanted to share everything.

I gestured toward the seat across from me without saying a word. She had to sit first. I’d wait here until she did. Luckily, she didn’t delay long, but by then, I realized I’d forgotten to grab drinks.

If she didn’t like the type of white wine I’d bought, she didn’t show it. She just gave me a big smile and thanked me as I filled up the tumbler. Then she took a dainty sip before setting it down.

“I’ve never owned wine glasses,” I said. “I guess that makes me a less-than-ideal host.”

“It’s perfect. In college, I had a friend who insisted on having the right type of wine glass everywhere we went.” She rolled her eyes. “She dragged me to a wine tasting, but I was so out of my element. I like the sweeter stuff.” She lifted the tumbler. “Like this.”

I didn’t even know it was sweet. It had a decorative bottle that looked like something she’d like, but I knew absolutely nothing about wine.

I’d barely sat down when I realized I’d forgotten the steak knives and had to get up again. I was going to need a couple more swigs of beer before I could relax. I was working so hard to impress her, but it felt like I was just making a mess of things.

“This looks so good,” she said, picking up her fork.

She reached out to take the knife from me. My focus was on protecting her from the blade. That meant I didn’t realize until too late that our hands were going to touch.

I nearly dropped the knife at the electricity that shot through me—starting at my fingertips and going straight to a place that had been on high alert since I first saw her this morning.

Her eyes met mine, and she let out a gasp. Yes, she’d felt it too. What did that mean? It meant I was spending the night under the same roof as a woman I wanted. A woman who wanted me back.

“Thanks,” she said, quickly lowering her gaze to her plate. It was almost a nervous move, like she was shy.

“Do I make you nervous?” I asked.

I couldn’t believe how bold I was being. But again, I just felt comfortable being open with her. That didn’t mean she was comfortable being open with me, though. I had to keep that in mind.

“You do,” she said. “I guess I’m just not all that used to being around guys like you.”

I pretended I was more interested in slicing my steak than the conversation. “Guys like me?”

“You know, all muscles and good looks. You can have any woman you want.”

“And you can have any man you want,” I said with a shrug.

Now she was slicing. Her knife hovered just above the fatty part she was removing.

“That hasn’t proven to be true,” she said.

How was that possible? Any man with eyes would see her obvious beauty. Maybe she’d been a late bloomer. Or someone had done a number on her. Maybe wherever she was from, guys liked super skinny women and had no appreciation for eye-popping curves.

“Well, the men in your life need to get their eyes checked,” I said. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

She was fully looking at me now, her head raised and her eyes wide. She believed me. That was one thing I took from her expression. She definitely believed me. I, meanwhile, was fighting an almost overwhelming urge to shove my chair back, stand, and walk around to where she sat.

“You think so?” she asked.

“I really think so.”

How was it possible she didn’t know how beautiful she was? I didn’t get it.

She smiled and looked down at her plate again. “Nobody’s ever looked at me like that.”

“Well, that’s a damn shame.”

“It is?”

I nodded. “Some man should have been giving you serious attention.”

Not that she needed a man’s attention. It was just a damn shame, as I’d said.

“The men you’ve dated must all be complete idiots. You’ve had guys fall in love with you, right?”

She set down her fork, lifted her napkin from her lap, and daintily wiped her mouth. Only when she’d returned the scrap of white paper to her lap and taken several seconds to straighten it did she lift her head and meet my stare straight on.

“I’ve never really dated,” she said. “Not anything that led to more than a second date, anyway. I had friends who fixed me up. We’d double-date or go out in groups, but it never worked out. Either I wasn’t into him or he wasn’t into me. I guess I’m too picky for my own good.”

“You should be picky.”

But my mind was spinning. She just said she hadn’t dated anyone. Not really. I had to know.

“You have experience though,” I said.

I didn’t know how else to put it without coming across as crude. But I couldn’t go without asking.

“No,” she said. “I’ve never been with a man. Some disappointing kisses is as far as I’ve gotten.”

Disappointing kisses. That was an even bigger shame than men not appreciating her. She deserved so much more.

“I can do something about that,” I said. “Tonight. If you want.”

That last part wasn’t said in the same deep, lusty tone as the first part. I wouldn’t help her with her first real kiss unless she was ready. And it would take everything in me not to go beyond kissing her once my lips touched hers…

“I don’t have protection,” she said. “I’m not on birth control or anything. I guess I should be…”

She dropped her fork with a clang and sat back, taking a deep breath. She was nervous. But more importantly, she’d gone beyond what I was even thinking. She was going straight to losing her virginity tonight, not just kissing.

No way was I going to argue with her. Whatever my girl wanted, my girl got.

I couldn’t finish my dinner fast enough.