Page 31 of The Inn Dilemma (Give a Bookish Girl a Biker)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nova

T he Holt admirers are out in full force tonight at Brokedown Tavern. Originally, I was supposed to ride here with Holt. But I asked if it’d be okay if I came with Reese and Maya since Maya was working late and Reese is apparently meeting a guy she’s been talking to online.

Reese said she’d drive so Maya and I could take the bikes home with the guys. I’ve asked Reese a dozen times if she was okay with it because the last thing I want is for her to feel uncomfortable—especially at a bar.

She’s sitting at a table with her date, and Maya and the rest of the crew stay at their booth.

Holt motions wildly with his head for me to come save him.

A tall, busty blonde has been eyeing him all night.

For some reason, my belly burns every time she scoots her stool closer to him.

Holt has been waiting for our root beers for a long time, and considering the bar is packed tonight, we don’t want to burden the waitresses any further for something as simple as that.

Even if it gives the blonde extra time to try and snag Holt’s interest .

The blonde ignores Holt’s clear disinterest as he faces away from her. His brow is scrunched in discomfort until he sees me sashaying my way toward him. Because, yes, I am laying it on thick to finally put this woman in her place.

“Hey, handsome,” I say as I reach him. I walk my fingers up his biceps to his shoulders, then circle both arms around his neck.

His Adam’s apple bobs, and his good eye dips to my lips. “Hey, beautiful.” His voice is thick and gruff. He tugs me forward with his attention fixed on my lips. “Kiss me.”

My eyes widen while my heart pounds wildly. “Are you crazy?” At the mere thought of kissing Holt, warmth pools in my core.

“No. Kiss me,” he practically begs. “It’s the only way to drive my disinterest home,” he finishes in a whisper.

“Holt, I—” But the next words die on my lips as I see the look on his face. “Fine.” I lean in and press my mouth against his.

At first, it feels awkward, unsure. But then I remember that this is fake.

We’re playing pretend. It’s all for show to push away the thirsty woman who has refused to leave him alone.

But when his large hand splays against my back and pulls me against his firm body, I ignore the warning bells going off in my head that tell me how very bad of an idea this is.

That I should not be kissing Holt Graves.

He’s my brother’s best friend. A war hero.

And I’m the prodigal daughter. But as he deepens the kiss, I put those alarms on silent and enjoy the feel of falling into the best kiss of my life.

Who knew Holt would be such a good kisser?

I probably should have expected it. Holt puts his full heart into everything he does… including this kiss.

But this kiss. Good gravy. My toes curl and my heart flutters as a low growl vibrates beneath my fingers.

That’s when I realize my hand has found its way to Holt’s chest. Holt’s very warm, very firm, very broad chest. He slides one hand into my hair and tilts my head back to deepen our very real kiss.

Without reservation, a low sound escapes from my lips.

One I’ve never made before. My cheeks heat, but there’s no point in being embarrassed because instead of chuckling as I’d expect, Holt drops both his hands to my hips and pulls me firmer against him.

My body is officially pinned between his thighs.

As my arms slide back up and tighten around his neck, I’m pressed completely against him, and my very world tilts on its axis.

Everything I believed about myself tumbles out of gravity into the black hole of oblivion.

My firm stance of staying on my dating sabbatical slowly shrivels up with each brush of his lips.

All the belief of never being truly cherished by a man is completely obliterated as Holt’s hands tenderly cup my face, then slowly, oh so slowly, he pulls back and rests his forehead against mine.

I’m too revved up to open my eyes, but when he whispers the nickname he gave me in that gravelly tone, I open them.

“SuperNova. My SuperNova.”

He gazes down at me as both of our chests rise and fall with exertion. Apparently, my body desired Holt’s lips more than oxygen for those few blissful moments because my lungs are screaming for air and I didn’t notice until now.

Holt’s dark gaze roves over my face. The look he wears is completely unreadable for a few moments before reality crashes around both of us. The blonde harrumphs and struts away. Once she’s out of sight, I jump back from his hold.

Holt’s Adam’s apple bobs, and I can tell he’s trying to keep his gaze fixed on my eyes, but it keeps dipping to my lips as if he wants more of that…more of me. But that doesn’t make sense. We’re friends. Lifelong friends. Lifelong friends who just shared an absolutely incredible kiss.

Involuntarily, I lick my lips, savoring the taste of Holt’s root beer on my tongue, all while trying to ignore the erratic beat of my heart.

“Thank you.” It’s a breathy whisper out of Holt’s absolutely invigorating mouth.

Can a mouth be invigorating? Yes, it must be.

Because with how amazing I feel right now, I could go run a marathon.

Or swim across the Atlantic or some other absolutely ridiculous feat, because my goodness, Holt Graves can kiss.

“For what?” I ask.

His eyes search my face, then he grabs my hand and tugs me forward. His lips land demandingly on mine. I bend to his will without a conscious thought, needing more of this like I need my next breath. To my chagrin, it’s a quick kiss.

“Why me?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Why you what?”

I shake my head, not understanding. “Why me for any of this?” I wave my hands around, noticing Holt’s strong arms once again wrapped around me. My hands land clumsily on his shoulders. “I mean, you could have called any of these women over to play the part.”

He smiles, and it’s devastating. “Do you think I go around kissing random women? ”

“I don’t know what you do. I didn’t think you went around kissing friends either.”

His eyes darken, and a shiver races up my spine. “Oh, trust me, my SuperNova, there is only one friend I’ve wanted to kiss—” He cuts himself off and his eyes widen.

Warmth fills me. “Only one friend?” I tilt my head. “And who is this friend?”

Leaning forward, his voice barely audible, the warmth of his breath lingers as he says, “I don’t think you need to ask.”

I can’t tear my eyes away from his lips. The scar on the left side of his mouth only enhances my attraction.

As if he knows exactly where my mind has wandered, he says, “You’re the only person who didn’t flinch at my scars.”

“I think your scars are beautiful.” The words are out before I can debate if I should say them.

A flicker of surprise lights up his countenance. “You think I’m beautiful?”

“Don’t get cocky. I said your scars are beautiful.

You, well…” I want to say something playful or witty, but I can’t.

Because it’s then that I see beyond what the other women in town see when they look at Holt Graves.

Yes, he’s a good-looking guy—he always has been.

I mean, every girl in my class crushed on him through the years.

Yes, he’s a war hero, and the idea of being with a SEAL is what some of my favorite romance books are made of.

But Holt Graves is more than those things.

He’s self-sacrificing. Under his sometimes broody facade, he’s kind and would do anything to help a neighbor in need.

His dogs adore him, and rightly so, with how well he cares for them.

And the guys know he’d drop everything to be there for them if they needed him.

“I’m what?” he pushes.

“You’re Holt Graves. A war hero.”

He leans back on his stool with his arms still wrapped around me, both of his hands resting on the small of my back as he shakes his head. It feels far more natural than it should. “I’m no hero, Nova.”

“Always so humble,” I tease.

I can feel the other patrons’ eyes on us, but I don’t care. I barely notice.

“And you’re Nova Price. The woman who has always seen me for me. You’re the only person who’s looked at me and made me forget my scars. When you look at me, it’s as if you’re seeing me as I was and not the broken man I am now.”

Compassion washes over me. “You’re not a broken man, Holt. Far from it. You’re a hero. To those people you saved, to this country…to me.”

His eyes are on my mouth as his chest rises and falls hurriedly. “You weren’t supposed to be so good at that.”

My lips tingle at his praise.“At what?” I say, playing stupid.

“Kissing,” he replies simply before leaning down.

“I’m leaving,” Reese says behind me just before Holt’s lips can touch mine once more.

I turn in Holt’s arms, and I feel the need to go to war for my friend with the look in her eyes. All the excitement and hope that once filled her face has been replaced with a frown. She looks as if she’s on the verge of tears.

“What happened?” I ask.

Reese looks from me to the exit. “I need to go. You can stay.” She motions to Holt, whose arms are still wrapped firmly around me.

It takes everything in me to step away from him. Immediately, my body misses the warmth he provides.

“Let’s go,” I say.

When I turn to tell Holt goodbye, the look on his face has all the happiness I felt only moments ago draining out of me. His expression is full of regret.

My heart slowly implodes, and my voice is thick when I say, “I need to go with her.”

I can’t read him when Holt looks up at me. It’s as if his face has turned to stone.

“Bye,” I say in a small voice.

The bartender sets our two root beers on the bar. Holt picks them up.

“I’ll see you around.” He stands with both drinks and heads to the table with our friends.

I can’t even look at them, too afraid of the expressions I’ll find on their faces.

The moment we are in Reese’s car, I file my own emotions in the back of my head to focus on later. Reese needs to come first right now, so I ask, “What happened?”

“The guy turned out to be a grade-A jerk. Apparently, something in my bio made him think we’d end up at his place at the end of the date.”

I scrunch my nose. “Eww, I’m sorry. That stinks.”

Reese blows out a slow breath and shrugs, merging onto the highway. “It is what it is. I shouldn’t be surprised. He is a man, after all.”

“Not all men are like that.”

She gives me a sympathetic smile and wiggles her eyebrows. “That’s all I want to say on the subject of my date. However…” She trails off and practically giggles. “What I am far more interested in is what happened with you and Holt.”

“Umm, no. We will not be discussing that.”

As the streetlights highlight her face, I notice the side-eye she gives me. “I’ll give you until we get to your house to process everything.”

Reese fulfills her promise to let me process. But once we’re in my kitchen and I’m pouring us sweet tea, she spins on me.

“What exactly happened there with Holt?” Her words are clipped and to the point.

I stare at her, feeling like a fish as my mouth opens and closes, unable to form a coherent thought about what just occurred. I set the glasses on the marble countertop.

She crosses her arms and leans a hip against the island opposite of me.

After a moment of careful thought, I answer, “Holt was trying to push away that bold blonde and asked me to kiss him to throw her off for good.”

“That was not a spontaneous kiss. That was a kiss that was calculated and planned. He looked like a man who’s been starving in the desert and you were the water and food he’d been deprived of. And you, well, you matched his intensity.”

The look on Holt’s face surfaces. The regret in his expression, the way he didn’t even look at me when I told him goodbye.

A heaviness fills my chest. This is what I’ve been trying to avoid.

Since coming home, I’ve ignored this growing bond between me and Holt…

because of what just happened. He will realize that I have way too much baggage and that I’m not worth the effort of working through it.

Without warning, I release a very ugly sob. I thought crying was supposed to help release these painful emotions. But these tears burn as they stream down my cheeks, only reminding me of how weak I am. How much I don’t deserve Holt.

“Oh, Nova. Don’t…don’t let this get you down. It will be okay.”

“I’ve fought my feelings for him for weeks. Five minutes is all it took for my defenses to be obliterated, and his instant regret was obvious.”

“Regret?” Reese pushes away from the island. “That was not regret. Confusion, maybe, but not regret. It’s clear that he’s–”

“Don’t say it.” I hold up a hand.

Reese crosses her arms over her chest. “Will you let me finish?” She raises a brow and purses her lips.

Hanging my head, I release a defeated sigh, and say, “No. Because what you’re about to say just isn’t true. He was caught up in the moment. Nothing more.”

Reese rolls her eyes. “Don’t be so cliche. It’s clear he wants more with you. That was just the perfect excuse to do what he’s wanted to.”

His words come back to haunt me. "Oh trust me, my SuperNova, there is only one friend I ’ ve wanted to kiss.” Could Reese be right?

The mere thought of facing Holt again to pursue the answer to that question causes my stomach to churn. How can I look at him without thinking about what it’d be like to kiss him again? How can I look at him again without seeing the hope of a future with him?

“Fine. Just give me tonight to gather myself and I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“Pinky promise me.” She holds out her pinky like we did when we were kids.

I wrap my pinky around hers. “I promise.”