Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Later that night, alone in the guest room, Sloane looked at her calendar and sighed.
She didn’t have a whole lot of paid time off left, and she was already planning on coming back to Sweetbriar Ridge in two weeks.
“I just don’t know how I’m going to afford it,” she murmured.
It wasn’t like she had to pay for a place to stay, and, if she asked, Hailey or Max or any of her cousins would pick her up from the airport and save her the cost of a rental car. The problem was getting time off from work.
If I even have a job to go back to.
Because…yeah, that was part of the reason she was here and not back in Florida.
After yet another meeting where her boss handed her the smallest account, she had finally voiced her frustrations.
Loudly.
With an audience.
Working for a company who specialized in social media management, Sloane was part of a team. Unfortunately, she was the one who always drew the short straw—metaphorically, anyway—and always ended up with the least important clients. She knew she was damn good at her job and just wished she could get the chance to prove that. The money was decent, and she handled a few accounts for friends on the side, but she was so damn tired of being overlooked! After she finally spoke up to her boss, he suggested she take a few days off to calm down.
It was such a condescending thing to offer, but she took it and ran.
Straight to her sister’s house.
Obviously, she wanted to see her new niece again because she was growing and changing daily, but she also needed time with Hailey because her sister always seemed to know what to say to make Sloane calm down and see things more clearly.
But those weren’t her only reasons.
Now that she had an actual reason for coming to Sweetbriar Ridge, she hoped to maybe find some time to go out and explore the town on her own and maybe find her kissing booth guy.
For the life of her, Sloane didn’t know why she hadn’t been more proactive in introducing herself to the handsome guy who she’d been kissing for three years now. But…what started out as a dare from a friend in high school somehow turned into a silly tradition.
Kiss the hot guy and then walk away.
A tradition that officially sucked now.
Why? Because she had a feeling that her nameless kisser was a decent guy. She didn’t know for sure, but Ashlynn would have mentioned if he wasn’t by now. If only she’d tell Sloane his name! It was funny at first—the whole secretive thing—but now? Now she wanted to know him.
Ashlynn’s words from yesterday played over and over in her mind.
“Because until you’re ready to admit that you’re genuinely interested and not playing around, it wouldn’t be fair. You get to pack up and head back to Florida; I’ve got to live here. And if he knew you were a Donovan, he’d be able to track you down in a heartbeat. Especially since Hailey lives here now.”
Even though it made sense, it didn’t make her feel any better.
Then there was the whole distance thing. Sloane wasn’t from Sweetbriar Ridge; she was from Fort Lauderdale. Not that it was another country or anything, but it was a fourteen-hour drive or required two flights. She had a life in Florida, a good life. Okay, maybe good was stretching it, but most of her family and friends were there and she had a cute apartment.
The sigh was out before she could stop it.
Her job currently sucked, her mother was making her crazy, and the walls in her apartment were paper thin. Most nights, she could hear her neighbor snoring.
“This is my life,” she murmured, resting her head in her hands. “Kissing guys and walking away, being aggravated by my mother, and listening to my neighbor snore. Good times.”
Although, right now, at this moment, things were good. She was sleeping in a very comfy bed in her sister’s guest room, she had spent a great day with her cousins and all their babies, and she didn’t have to set an alarm for tomorrow. So, all in all, it was a win.
Beside her, her cell phone beeped with an incoming text. Reaching for it, she saw it was Ashlynn. Intrigued since she’d just been thinking about her, she quickly tapped the screen, pulled up the message and read it.
Ash: Hey! Are you still up?
Sloane: Yup. Just lying in bed relaxing. What are you still doing up?
Ash: Lol! Silly girl. Noah’s a night owl.
Ash: Reid and I take turns with the last bottle of the night and tonight I’m it.
Sloane: So you’re typing and feeding him at the same time? I’m impressed!
Ash: Don’t be. Right now he has zero interest in his bottle. The adorable brat.
Ash: Nah, he’s just lying here all snuggled up fighting sleep.
Ash: I like moments like this where it’s quiet and just the two of us.
Aww…that was incredibly sweet, but it also begged the question:
Sloane: Then why are you texting me instead of enjoying it?
Ash: You’ve been on my mind ever since we left Hailey’s earlier.
Sloane: Really? Why?
Ash: It’s not really fair of me to keep this guy’s identity from you. You’re an adult and so is he. It shouldn’t matter who your family is. Whatever’s going to happen is between the two of you and no one else.
Sloane’s heart raced. This was it. She was finally going to find out who the kissing booth guy was!
“Okay,” she whispered as she sat up a little more in the bed. “Don’t sound too anxious.”
Sloane: I don’t mean to put you in the middle of this, Ash.
Ash: I think I put myself there three years ago when you came to that first festival. Lol!
Ash: And as fun as it’s been, the whole conversation earlier just really hit me hard.
Ash: No offense, but I got the feeling you weren’t thrilled with the way Hailey talked about you in front of us.
Sloane: She was only telling the truth. I’m a flake. I don’t take anything seriously.
Ash’s response was a long line of angry face emojis.
Ash: I didn’t say anything at the time, and then I came home and didn’t want to tell Reid about it either.
Sloane: Thanks. I don’t need everyone knowing how messed up I am. Lol!
Ash: You’re not messed up. You’re growing up. Big difference.
Tears stung her eyes as she read that because sometimes it didn’t feel like anyone else got that.
Sloane: Thank you for saying that.
Ash: It’s the truth.
Ash: And I would totally call you right now, but quiet is really important when you’re trying to get a baby to go to sleep.
Sloane: I’m sure.
Right now, she desperately wanted to just ask for a name, but she didn’t want to be rude.
Ash didn’t reply and there were no dancing dots, so maybe she was putting Noah down to sleep. Meanwhile, Sloane’s mind began to swirl a bit with possibilities. She wanted to meet her mystery kisser because…well…the man had some serious kissing skills. But more than that, she just wanted to know him.
A name.
An occupation.
Something. Anything!
Phone in hand, she willed her cousin to come back to the conversation.
Five minutes went by, followed by another five, and Sloane figured they were done.
Muttering a curse, she put the phone down and got up to stretch. It was almost midnight, so she should get some sleep—which was probably what Ashlynn was doing. Padding to the guest bathroom, she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and went through her usual nighttime routine before crawling back into bed.
And finding a missed text.
“Dammit!” Scrambling to get under the blankets, she frantically began swiping her phone screen to see what Ash had to say.
Ash: Are you really going to come back for the festival? It’s going to be much smaller than the usual ones.
Sloane: I’m trying to figure out a way to make it work.
Sloane: Now that Hailey’s here and Layla’s here, I hate being so far away.
Sloane: I wish I lived closer.
Ash: There’s a solution to that, you know.
Ash: HINT! HINT!
For a moment, Sloane didn’t get what she was saying, but when she did, she smiled.
Sloane: You mean move here?
Ash: BINGO!
Sloane: My mother would freak out!
Ash: She has three sons, their wives, and a grandchild. Trust me, she’ll be fine.
Would she? Sloane wondered.
Sloane: Let’s just tuck that away for another time, okay?
Ash: Understood.
Ash: And where did we land on the smaller festival—yay or nay?
Sloane: I know you all said there was going to be a kissing booth…
Sloane: Which—let’s be honest—is kind of wild in this day and age.
Sloane: They’re almost non-existent at other festivals.
Ash: The group of guys is getting smaller because they’re all getting married.
That made her sit back up again. Was her guy one of them? Had she missed her chance?
Sloane: Okay, then…maybe he’s not even going to be there. I mean…what are the odds?
Ash: LOL! Please, Will’s like a permanent fixture at the kissing booth! And I have a feeling that for the last couple of years, it’s been because of you!
Will! He had a name! Sloane had to be careful not to acknowledge her cousin’s slip of the tongue.
Sloane: Somehow I doubt that. The booth always has a long line, and I can’t imagine any red-blooded American male not wanting to have the opportunity to kiss every girl in a thirty-mile radius.
Ash: Okay, you may have a point there.
Sloane: Of course I do. Anyway, it’s on my calendar, so I’ll see if I can get the time off again.
Ash: But you’re going to do it, right? You’re going to come and kiss him again?
Oh yeah , Sloane thought. Even if it means quitting my job.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that, but she was going to call it Plan B.
Staring at the screen, she knew Ashlynn was waiting for a response. So, she went with honesty.
Sloane: I’m going to do everything I can to be back here!
Ash: YAY!!
Ash: Okay, I need to get some sleep. Little man might be down for the night, but he’s an early riser. Love you!
Sloane: Love you too!
Rolling onto her side, she put her phone on the charger before falling back against the pillows.
Will.
It was a fairly common name and probably impossible to just look up anywhere on social media. Yawning, she told herself tomorrow—or today, since it was so late—was another day. She’d have to start her sleuthing in the morning.
It wasn’t often that Will had a Saturday off and when he did, he made the most of it by doing what he loved—working on his own cars or going out for long drives.
His family often teased him about having motor oil flowing through his veins, but he didn’t take any offense to it. It was probably true. From the first time his father showed him how to change a tire when he was twelve, Will was hooked on cars. He loved taking them apart, putting them back together and listening to them run. When Devin Maxwell opened Sweetbriar Ridge Auto Care, it was like a dream come true.
Maybe I need bigger dreams , he thought to himself.
But it had been true. A chance to work on cars in his beloved hometown? Perfection.
The weather was clear and a bit on the warm side, but at least there was a breeze. Will stood out in his front yard and stretched, considering the possibilities for the day. He had a ’58 Chevy in his detached garage that he’d been tinkering with for well over a month now. It had been a mess when he found it. A guy in Richmond—who’d been holding on to it and neglecting it for far too long—finally decided to sell it online, and Will jumped at the chance.
It was a labor of love and yet…he wasn’t quite feeling it today. No, today he felt like getting out for a bit. There wasn’t anything going on in town and he didn’t have a particular destination in mind; all he knew was that the road was calling him.
He stepped back into his small house—a Craftsman-style bungalow—and grabbed a bottle of water and his keys. Locking up the house, he went out to his beloved Dodge Ram pickup. Will looked at it and smiled while others looked at him like he was crazy. It was a little beat up and showing its age, but it was Will’s baby. He bought it when he was eighteen and it was already ten years old then. But with the constant work he did on it, it still ran like he’d just taken it off the showroom floor.
Within minutes, he was approaching the heart of Sweetbriar Ridge and even though that meant driving far slower than he wanted, he was curious to see what was going on—if anything. Realistically, he knew it was far too soon to see anyone setting up anything for the Meet in the Streets festival, but as he drove down the main street, he couldn’t help that his heartbeat kicked up a notch at the thought of seeing his sexy kisser.
“But the booth won’t be here. It’ll be over on the school grounds,” he murmured to himself.
Shaking his head, he chuckled. He sure as hell wished he had gotten her name. He was running out of cute ways to describe her.
Sexy, beautiful, great kisser, his every fantasy come to life…yeah, he’d used them all. A real name would be nice.
He waved to some familiar faces who were walking down the street, including Reid Baylor, who motioned for him to stop, so Will pulled over, rolled down his window, and watched Reid’s approach. “What’s up?”
“Hey! I was talking to Devin the other day about a 1968 Camaro that a buddy of mine at the firehouse owns and it needs a crap ton of work. Did he mention it to you?” Reid asked.
“The one he’s transporting here from Vegas? Yeah, sure. How come?”
“Are you up for a job like that?”
Will laughed in disbelief. “Seriously? You have to ask? I’d love to get my hands on it. But I don’t know why he’s bringing it all the way here to get work done. Why not get the work done first and then transport it here? I’m sure they have plenty of qualified mechanics in Vegas, especially with all the Formula 1 races happening there now. Why pay the shipping cost to get it here?”
Reid shrugged. “He doesn’t know any of them personally, and I know you and Devin aren’t going to rob him blind or talk him into unnecessary repairs.”
“Fair enough.”
“I know you guys are busy at the shop and it’s not like he’s in a real rush with this car, but…I want—no, I need —to make sure that you’re committed to doing it.”
Will looked at him oddly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Reid looked around uncomfortably before blurting out, “Because word around town is that you’re already starting this year’s kissing booth campaign to find your elusive kiss-and-run chick.” He laughed. “Is that why you were driving so slowly down the street? Mapping out a strategy so she can’t get away this time?”
Damn. “First of all, I wasn’t driving slowly. That was Margie Ferguson in front of me, and she always drives ten miles under the speed limit.”
“And why were you looking around as you drove?” he asked with a smirk.
“Because Margie was going so slow that I needed to have something to do! Sheesh!”
“And this has nothing to do with you scoping out the area where Meet in the Streets is going to be?”
For the love of it…
“Reid, this is the main road in this damn town and in order to get out of town, you have to drive through it,” Will answered sarcastically. “Are we done now?”
“I don’t know…,” Reid said. “Still seems a little suspicious.”
Will considered flipping him off but decided to be the bigger person. “It will have my full attention. Trust me. Send me the specs and what you think needs to be done and we’ll talk about a timeline. I can work on it after-hours, no problem. I’ve got plenty of free time.”
“Until the festival,” Reid murmured.
“Bite me,” Will huffed, hating how he took the bait. “Anyway, so…yeah. Let me know about it whenever you get the chance.”
“Sure thing. And thanks, Will.”
“No problem, Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got some driving to do,” Will said.
“Around the block to find the quickest route from here to the school grounds?” Reid teased.
And with a one-finger salute, Will pulled away.
Maybe he’d go to Richmond and check out the classic car dealership where he often went for inspiration. Or maybe he’d go and check out the Harley Davidson place and look at motorcycles. That was one mode of transportation he’d always wanted to try but never had. Or maybe…
He was driving by Books & Beans when he saw a car he didn’t recognize. Being an enthusiast and the fact that he worked for the town’s one and only mechanic, Will knew every car in town. But this little blue hybrid Honda wasn’t from around here, of that he was certain.
He slowed down and noticed a woman standing beside it. She had on some sort of baseball hat and sunglasses and…nope. She didn’t look familiar to him. It was possible that he didn’t know everyone in Sweetbriar Ridge, but…he had a feeling he’d seen this woman before.
He watched her in his rearview mirror for a minute and saw her take off her hat and shake out her hair and…
Holy shit!
It was his mystery woman!