Twenty
W hen you said you were taking me out to dinner, Poppi’s wasn’t my first guess.”
“You have something against his ribs?”
“What! No! I will knock old ladies and babies out of the way to get some of his ribs.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot and looked down at her shoes. She’d dressed up for this. Granted, she wasn’t wearing a skirt or a dress, but still…
“Trust me.”
She wanted to. Desperately. But years of waiting for him not to come back jaded her Scott Brandonson trust meter.
“Honey barbecue still?”
Lauren nodded. Scott placed their order, getting hers exactly right.
He remembered.
All these years later he still remembered what she always ordered. Down to the more well-done than not fries and the lemonade with half the normal ice.
A small portion of jadedness fell off her Scott Brandonson trust meter.
“Here or to-go.” Poppi grouched from behind the counter.
“To go.”
Of course it was. Scott had been surprising her since he showed up at her house on Saturday with all the ingredients for Reubens and it didn’t look like he was going to stop now.
Scott grabbed their food and Lauren took their drinks when the order came up. On the way out, she couldn’t help herself and asked the question she seemed to be asking him a lot. “Where are we going?”
“Trust me.”
They got into his car, and he pulled out onto Main Street then circled around the island. He turned down a county road that led to another boat landing. The ramp at this landing so steep most boat owners avoided it. The only reason they didn’t use this landing in high school was because the homeowners living nearby always called the police.
“What is it with you and boat landings?” Lauren sipped the tart lemonade through the straw.
“I’m reliving my youth.” Scott backed the SUV right to the edge of the ramp, turned on the radio, popped the hatch, and looked over at Lauren. “With you.”
With those words, he hopped out of the car with their food. Which was a good thing, because if he had stayed, he would have seen Lauren close her eyes and grinning. It took everything she had before following Scott out of the car.
She found him setting up their dinner on a blanket spread out on the back of the car.
“You ate Poppi’s at the landing?”
“No. But I always wanted to.” He slid down to his feet and stood in front of Lauren. His hands wrapped around her waist, and he lifted her up onto the back. His hands remained on her waist longer than necessary, but she didn’t pull away, not even when his fingers moved up and down. Even though her shirt stopped his fingers from brushing against her skin, his touch still caused butterflies to dance around in her stomach. When he finally let go and dropped his arms to his sides, it was all Lauren could do not to grab his hands and put them back.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have the same self-control when it came to asking questions. “So, when do you think you’ll be leaving?”
Scott stared out across the dark lake. “I don’t know for sure.”
“Your dad was so organized. I’m surprised there’s a problem with his estate.”
Scott didn’t answer. Instead, he changed the subject. “So, Jake and Melody?”
“It was as though he knew the exact thing to say to completely distract her.
“You see it too!” Elizabeth and I have a bet to see how soon they’ll get together.
“What’s the bet?” Scott winked at her. “Maybe I’ll get in on it.”
“We had to change the terms after both of our dates came and went. I have the end of next month and Elizabeth has three more months.”
“How long has Melody been here?”
“She moved her almost two years ago.”
They finished their dinner in companionable silence. She ate her last fry and balled up the papers to stick in the bag. Once everything was cleaned up, she gathered up the cleaning wipes and tossed a few to Scott.
“Thanks.”
Lauren smiled at him. “Poppi’s is great, but the sauce is so sticky, you almost have to take a shower to get it all off you.”
As she tore into the wrapper and pulled out a wipe, she could have sworn Scott groaned. She must have been mistaken though, because when she looked up from cleaning her hands, wrists, and arms, he was doing the same.
Once clean. Or as clean as was possible, Scott opened the driver’s side door and turned on the radio. Music drifted out of the speakers in the back. After a few seconds, she recognized the song. It had been popular during Scott’s senior year in high school. Before she knew what was happening, Scott wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.
“Dance with me, Lauren.”
She smiled and nodded. There was no way she trusted her voice or brain to come up with a cogent sentence. Not when she was finally dancing with Scott. She was living out her teenage fantasies, but reality was so much better.
Scott held her against him, and they rocked from foot to foot as the song ended.
Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
His fingers brushed a few stray wisps of hair back from her face and she opened her eyes while tilting her head back to see him.
Scott bent down and pressed his lips against her forehead and memories of the first time he left Iron Creek resurfaced, but she pushed them down. She didn’t want to think about that. Or that he would eventually leave again.
He pulled his lips away and held her tight against his chest with his arms wrapped around her shoulders. Her face pressed against his neck, and she breathed in, adding the scent of his cologne to her memories. Scott’s breath floated over her neck and cheek, and she realized he lowered his head again.
She wanted to turn her face and kiss him. But she didn’t. He needed to kiss her first. She didn’t want to deal with another rejection from Scott Brandonson, even if it was more than a decade later. The ball was in Scott’s court, but she would catch it if and when he threw it to her.
His hand moved along her back, his strong fingers lightly brushing across her spine, almost tickling her through her cotton shirt, until they found the loose strands of her ponytail. They stood there together for several moments. His fingers combing through her hair, her body pressed against his, and his arm holding her close.
If this was all he could give Lauren, she would take it. The comfortable feeling of just being with someone, without any expectations, was the best thing about any relationship. For a moment she allowed herself a bit of happiness that none of her past relationships had the same level of easy comfort she found with Scott. If she had, she wouldn’t be standing with him right now.
His mouth found her ear and his teeth nipped her earlobe.
Scott threw the ball back to her.
He laughed softly into her ear, and she realized she was pressing her body against him.
He spent a few more moments teasing her ear before his lips found her neck.
She groaned softly. She couldn’t help it. Scott was causing all sorts of warm and welcoming feelings and she wanted everything he was giving her. Lauren wrapped her arms around his neck, hoping his lips would find hers.
He turned his face and brushed his whiskered cheek against hers until their lips met. His whiskers tickled her skin and her arms tightened around him as the kiss deepened. This was the toe-curling, butterflies wheeling about, earth shaking kiss she always imagined.
But better.
Before anything more happened, Scott pulled away, and she thought she saw a look of reluctance.
“Not here, Lauren.” His lips moved along her jaw in a line of gentle kisses.
He stepped away and led her back to the car, then opened the door for her. Before she realized what was happening, they were driving through town, and he was pulling the car into her driveway.
The last place she wanted to be.
Lauren got out of the car even though she didn’t want to, wondering the entire time what had happened? Scott wanted her. She knew he wanted her. But instead of taking her back to his hotel, he dropped her off at home.
He hopped from the car and walked her to the front door. Leaning down, he kissed her cheek.
Lauren wanted to invite him inside.
For more.
But thoughts of her dad lurking just beyond the front door watching the news put a hold on that idea and fast.
If he had asked her to go back to the hotel, she would have said yes in an instant.
But he didn’t.
He pressed his lips against her forehead then backed away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lauren.”
“Tomorrow.” She bobbed her head stupidly and fumbled with the doorknob before it finally turned. As soon as she closed the door, she peeked out the window at the side of the door and watched his slow stroll back to the SUV. Not content to see him safely in the car, she waited until he backed out of the driveway and drove away down the road.
She didn’t know who was the bigger jerk? Him for leaving her at her front door or her for thinking anything more than a kiss would happen.