13. Willa
Chapter 13
Willa
A gatha is puttering in the backyard when I emerge from my house the next morning. Reid stands beside her, bare-chested, the morning sun glinting off his golden muscles. And God bless America, the man is in his standard tiny running shorts, as well. Since I’ve decided I’m no longer going to hide from him—there’s truly no point—I take a good look at his legs.
Huh. It turns out that I might be a leg woman. It’s taken me till I’m twenty-nine, ladies and gentlemen, but I am here to tell you that legs are where it’s at. L-E-G-S legs.
Or maybe butts. Because his is perfectly rounded like a freaking apple or something, just begging for me to bite it.
I shake myself. What the hell is wrong with me? The man gives me a life-changing orgasm and suddenly, I turn into an objectification monster.
I shrug. You know what? I’m okay with it. The man is objectively fine. Better than fine. Drop-dead gorgeous. Adonis himself. A specimen worthy of study by the finest sculptors. What’s a girl to do but enjoy it?
As if on cue, Agatha and Reid turn to me. “Good morning, Willa,” Reid says, his smile so deep his dimples pop. I could swim in those things.
My cheeks heat immediately, and my knees threaten to go weak at the sight of him. So help me if I faint. I need to eat.
Then I see the tiny bandage on his upper right shoulder, and the post-orgasmic bliss I was in gets doused. We’re talking Niagara Falls levels of cold water here, and I swallow the shock of it back. I saw it yesterday, of course, but I was too busy being all lusty and such that it didn’t really sink in. It’s not much to look at now, but it’s two distinct reminders: One, he’s got a dangerous job. Two, said dangerous job is in Miami. He is not staying here.
This exact moment in time, however, is not when I get to have a crisis—existential, physical, or otherwise. So I pull myself together and toss a smile at them that would make Goldie proud. “Good morning, Reid. Good morning, Agatha.”
“Join us for some coffee?” Agatha asks.
I wiggle my keys in the air. “I’ve got brunch duty this morning, can’t.”
Reid jogs over to me, his eyes roaming my body appreciatively. “Hi,” he murmurs.
I squirm at the attention, despite my own ogling and full-on entry into the Objectification Hall of Fame. Between that and the reminder that he’s leaving, it’s hard to meet his eyes. “Hi.”
He chuckles softly. “Don’t make it weird, Willa.”
I cover my face with my hands and groan, the memory of what I did after what he did overtaking every other thought in my head. “Kinda hard not to when I apparently passed out after you, you know.” My voice drops on the last two words, as if my body is physically manifesting how embarrassed I was.
Am. How embarrassed I am . Ugh. Since meeting the man, I’ve banged my head, played a crap game of hide and seek, nearly passed out, and now we can add fell asleep after the most intense orgasm of her life to the list.
My awkwardness clearly knows no bounds.
Reid shifts closer and I catch his scent, and of course, it’s still amazing, even though it’s tinged with sweat from his run. “Hey,” he whispers, tipping my chin up and forcing me to meet his gaze. His finger is calloused, but his eyes are soft, the rings of deep forest green shining in the morning sun. “I loved every moment of it. Seeing you come undone, listening to the sounds you make when you’re about to come, watching the way you writhe with my mouth on your pussy. It was heaven.”
Oh my God. “Reid!” I hiss, burying my face in my hands again.
He laughs louder. “I absolutely adore flustering you, Willa Dean Dash.” He leans down to peck me on the cheek. “Now, let’s get me Midnight so you can go to work.”
Goldie knows something is up the second she sees me from her perch at the counter rolling silverware. “Willa Dean Dash!” she hisses, waving me over. “Did you…oh my gosh! You and Reid?—”
I clap a hand over her mouth and shush her. “Dad is literally feet away, and I don’t know where Mom is?—”
“Bathroom,” she mumbles behind my hand.
“And I don’t need either of them to know my business,” I finish, removing my hand and wiping it on my jeans.
Goldie grins. “But did you? Because you’re all…glowy.”
I swear my cheeks are going to be permanently red for as much as I’m blushing. “He, um...”
“Willa, get back here,” Dad calls.
Goldie’s eyes are bright with merriment as she shoos me into the kitchen.
Swinging through the door, I grab an apron and tie it around my waist, then wash my hands. I drop into the comforting pattern of prepping for the morning’s brunch crowd, cracking eggs and slicing tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and onions, and, of course, wiping away the stray tears that accompany the diced onions. I pull the first ten loaves of bread from the back, lining them against the wall for easy access, and listen to Dad complain about his knees.
“You need a vacation, Dad.” It’s the response I always give him when he starts to complain. I know better than to tell him to retire because that’s a no-go. He and Mom are still young, only in their sixties, and not yet ready to be finished with the diner. And I’m not ready for them to be finished, either. I love working beside them and my sister. Maybe most people would break out in hives at the idea of working so closely with their family, but I love it. I love getting to hear about the rest of their days outside the diner and listen to their quiet bickering over this and that. And other than Matty, Goldie is my best friend. I can’t imagine not having her in my daily orbit. There’s so much to love about them and this town.
Dad chooses this exact moment to ask how my night went, and Goldie pipes up, “Yeah, Willa, how’d last night go?”
I shoot her a death glare through the window. “Good. Had a nice day off.”
“Reid came over,” Goldie coos meaningfully.
“He did?” Mom reappears, her voice full of excitement.
Dad harrumphs.
I blush.
“He’s such a nice young man,” Mom says.
“Talented, too,” Goldie piles on.
I’m going to kill her later.
“So what did you do?” Mom pops her head into the window as I prep the lemons.
“Just hung out.” I pray I sound innocent.
Mom beams while Goldie waggles her eyebrows behind her back. “That’s wonderful, honey.”
“Yep,” Goldie adds. “ Wonderful .”
Matty appears midway through the shift, and I swing out of the kitchen to say hello .
“Goldie tells me Reid came over yesterday.” His eyes glitter mischievously. “You have a good time?”
I groan. I’m never going to hear the end of it from them. “Could you be a little quieter?” I ask, keeping my voice low as I pour him a cup of coffee and gesture at the two old men at the opposite end of the counter. “Tom and Jerry are right there.”
“We already know about your date with Officer Reid,” Jerry calls.
I nearly drop the coffee pot. Who knew the old geezer had such good hearing? “Oh,” I say weakly.
Goldie swings over and mercifully lowers her voice. “Quick, tell us what happened.”
I sigh. “He, um...”
Matty chuckles, and Goldie offers, “Went down on you?”
“Oh my God,” I mutter, again beyond embarrassed. “Not in front of Matty.”
Matty pats my hand. “Willa, you’ve seen me shoulder-deep in a cow, helping it give birth. Not like I’m unfamiliar with how this works.”
“Are you comparing a calf birth to hooking up, Matty?” Goldie says in mock outrage.
“Oh my God, will you two shut up,” I hiss as Jerry leans closer. I glare at him, and he leans back toward Tom. Lowering my voice, I relent. “Fine. He came over, we hung out all day, it was awesome. Then he, um?—”
“Ate you out,” Goldie supplies.
My entire body is on fire. I clear my throat. “And then I fell asleep.”
Goldie’s eyes bug out. “You...fell asleep ?”
Matty guffaws.
“I hate you both,” I mumble, spinning away.
“No, no, no, wait,” Goldie wheezes, grabbing my arm to keep me in place. “I need to understand how in the world this could have?— ”
“Willa!” Dad calls. “Break’s over.”
Saved by Dad. Before I can overthink it, I lean over the counter and lower my voice. I want to get this over with, and since it was my own mouth that got me into this mess, I need to get out of it. “It was the best orgasm of my life, he told me to relax, and the next thing I know I’m waking up at two in the morning. I swear it’s like the man drugged me.”
“He just orgasmed you,” Goldie proclaims. “Congratulations.”
“Maybe stay awake next time,” Matty offers helpfully. “Never know what could happen next.”
“We are never talking about this again.” Because what happened last night will never happen again. Cheeks burning, I turn around to head back to cook.
The next time I turn to the window, Matty studies me. “What?”
He smiles and shrugs. “I know you want to stay in Lucky. But maybe this is an opportunity you should really consider.”
I flatten my lips and shake my head. “Not happening.” I make sure to say that nice and loud. Then I turn away.
Goldie had insinuated the same thing earlier, as well. Everyone is so insistent on me leaving town, but no one understands that I love it here. And following a man to Miami? A cop, no less? Reid is amazing, without question, but no. I’ll never leave Lucky. Whatever last night was with Reid, it needs to end. No matter how, ahem, talented the man obviously is, and no matter how improbable it is that Reid was even interested in someone like me in the first place. A big-city cop and a small-town diner cook will never work, so why bother trying?