Six
JAX
The next book we read together is called If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia. By the time I finish it, I don’t think Lily picked this one by accident.
The story lives in the same neighborhood as First-Time Caller—a small-town setting, stubborn people fighting feelings neither of them knows what to do with. The kind of love story where everybody can see what’s happening except the two idiots living it.
If I were a betting man, I’d say that’s a little too on the nose to be a coincidence after the not-a-date at Miller’s and the all-day text conversations Lily and I have been having for the last two weeks.
Hell, I even swung by the library during the town’s summer readathon to bring her coffee—two hazelnut creamers, three Sweet’N Lows, as always. The way her eyes lit up after the first sip made every smart-ass comment from the guys at the garage worth it.
Tonight feels different.
We don’t set out the book club sign or any of the little notebooks that go unused every time we meet.
Lily doesn’t order a huge carafe of coffee from the café. Instead, she walks in carrying two cups and a box of oatmeal raisin cookies tucked under one arm because they’re my favorite.
Somewhere along the way, this stopped feeling like a book club and more like us making time for each other.
She takes the seat next to me, instead of across the table.
Usually, I’m not good at talking. Definitely not good at sharing my feelings. But Lily makes it easy. I spend half the meeting talking about how much I liked the story, especially how I never knew whether Michelle and Cliff were actually going to be brave enough to cross the line.
“In romance, you can pretty much assume they will,” Lily says with a laugh, propping her chin on her hand. “That’s the contract between author and reader. You get a happy ending.”
I smile at that.
Everyone getting a happy ending sounds nice, even if that’s not how real life works.
Maybe that’s why people read these books.
Lily looks beautiful tonight. She has another sundress on this week—pink with a small cherry pattern across the fabric.
As we talk, she pulls out the messy bun at the top of her head.
Her deep chestnut hair cascades over her shoulders in silky waves.
I wonder what they would feel like between my calloused fingers.
The box of cookies is almost empty by the time Lily snaps her copy of the book shut, jarring me from my thoughts.
Without thinking, I reach out and gently tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
My fingers just barely graze her cheek. She ever so slightly leans into the touch, warmth spreading in my chest at the contact.
For a minute, we are both frozen in the moment. Neither one of us moves, like if we shift too fast, we’ll break whatever quiet thing just settled between us.
Lily clears her throat first. “Okay,” she says, voice lighter than it usually is. “We should probably call the Bellewood Gazette. I actually finished the whole thing on time for once.”
“Miracles do happen,” I say, pushing my chair back.
She laughs softly, standing alongside me.
We tidy up even though we don’t really need to. No stacks of books to organize, no notebooks to put away. Just two empty cups, a few crumbs, and the kind of silence that feels full instead of awkward.
Outside, dusk has begun to settle in. The air is starting to have the early-fall feeling, where warm sun during the day gives way to crisp gusts of wind at night.
Lily steps out first, keys dangling from her fingers.
I follow, moving to the side so she can lock up.
“You parked far?” she asks, turning to face me.
“Same spot as always,” I quip, looking out across the parking lot to my truck, the lone vehicle parked at the library.
Lily follows my gaze, like she’s checking to make sure I’m not exaggerating. “Of course it is,” she says, shaking her head.
We start walking side by side across the lot, her shoulder occasionally brushing my arm. Every time it happens, a little jolt of electricity shoots up my spine.
When we get up next to my truck, I unlock it out of habit. The headlights blink once, cutting through the dim space. Lily stops beside the passenger side, tracing her fingers along the frame.
“It’s late, I can drive you home,” I say before I can overthink it. “Or I can walk with you. Whichever.”
She raises an eyebrow. “You offering because you’re worried about me, or because you don’t want this night to end?”
There’s a beat where I could lie. But, I don’t, even though it’s probably better for both of us if I do. Lily shouldn’t waste any more of her time on me than she already does, but I’m a selfish man, and I’ll take whatever she’s willing to give.
“Both,” I admit, leaning against the passenger door with my arms folded across my chest.
That has her beaming a smile up at me as I tower over her—a small, knowing quirk of her lips that’s dangerous to me in a way I don’t fully have words for.
“Okay,” she says. “But only if you promise not to play whatever sad garage playlist you make all your employees listen to day in and day out.”
“I don’t have a sad garage playlist.”
She just looks at me, biting the inside of her cheek.
“…I have a normal garage playlist,” I correct with a smirk, opening the passenger door and stepping aside.
She hums a laugh, patting my chest as she climbs into the passenger seat, and I shut the door a little harder than necessary just to reset my head.
Every time this woman touches me, I have to remind myself that she deserves better and I should keep my distance, but it’s getting harder to keep my hands to myself.
I walk around to the driver’s side, slide in, and shove the key into the ignition.
The engine rumbles to life, and When I See You Smile by Bad English starts blasting through the speakers.
Lily busts out laughing from the passenger seat.
My eyes slam shut, knowing damn well when I look at her, she’s going to double down on the sad garage playlist jab.
Slowly, I turn my gaze to hers and she is covering her mouth, trying to stifle her laugh.
“No… No, no, no,” she gasps for air, doubling over, holding her stomach while she laughs. “This is just too good!”
“Oh, come on,” I grumble, pitching forward to turn the music off. Lily’s hand shoots out, covering mine as it rests against the audio buttons. She swats my hand away, instead cranking it up louder than it was before.
“This is iconic!” She shouts out over the music.
I shift the truck into gear, pulling out of the parking lot and turning onto the main road toward Lily’s apartment. Wind whirls through the cab, and I look over at the stunning woman in my passenger seat, hair whipping in the wind as she scream-sings the chorus alongside John Waite.
We slow to a stop at a red light. Lily is windblown as she looks my way with wild eyes, flushed cheeks, and strands of hair stuck to her glossy lips.
And she’s never looked better. I adjust my grip on the steering wheel with one hand, then reach across the console to brush her hair out of her face with the other.
As I tuck the hair behind her ear, she bites her lip and smiles at me, totally unguarded and free. The sight is a sledgehammer to the chest.
The drive to her apartment is far too short for my liking.
I hop out of the truck, circling to the passenger side. Lily rests her folded arms on the open window frame and tips her head onto them, peering at me through her dark lashes, looking entirely too comfortable in my truck.
Truth be told, it’s a sight a man could get used to.
A sight that I could get used to.
“Come on,” I mumble, popping open the door and holding it open for her to step out. She hops down, sliding over so I can close the door beside her.
She lingers there, and I keep my palm pressed to the frame, boxing her in between my body and the truck. Without even realizing it, I find myself leaning closer to her, leveling my eyes with her warm, golden gaze.
I don’t know how long we stay like this, staring at each other, neither one of us wanting to break the spell weaving between us. Her chest rises and falls a little quicker now. My eyes track the movement, and her skin pebbles with goosebumps.
I rake my lower lip between my teeth, warring against the selfish need to close the distance between us. Lily doesn’t deserve the whispers that would follow her if people started talking about us. The second people see her with me, they’ll start lumping her in with my mistakes.
“You gonna walk me to my door, or..?” she asks, giving me a shy, teasing smile. Bouncing up on her toes ever so slightly.
“Eventually.”
“Eventually?” Her lips part ever so slightly.
That’s all it takes for every coherent thought I’ve managed to hold onto tonight to slip through my fingers. To hell with this town and its rumors. The woman standing in front of me has been giving me every sign to kiss her for weeks, and I’m done denying what we both want.
I lean in closer, my nose brushing against hers.
“Tell me to stop,” I whisper, knowing if she asked me to, I would, even if it shredded my insides to pieces.
Her smile trembles as she catches her bottom lip between her teeth and shakes her head. I feel her fingers trail up my stomach, resting on my chest before curling into my T-shirt and pulling me down to her.
That’s all the permission I need.
Relief crashes through me so hard I nearly laugh.
“Thank fuck,” I growl, then my mouth finds hers.
Our first kiss is nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. It’s soft and a little careful, like we’re both learning something we’ve wanted to know for a long time.
Lily kisses me gently, her hand still twisted in the front of my shirt, giving me every chance to pull away.
Of course, I don’t. I couldn’t if I tried, she feels too good.
Her mouth curves against mine, and something inside my chest gives way.
The world narrows to the feel of her skin beneath my hands and the quiet sound she makes when I draw her closer.
Every mile of distance I’ve forced between us over the last few weeks disappears in a heartbeat.
The kiss deepens as careful gives way to hungry. One of my hands slides into her hair, and she melts against me with a sigh that threatens to end me.
I’ve spent weeks telling myself this was a bad idea.
One kiss from Lily is enough to make me forget every reason why. She tastes like coffee and oatmeal raisin cookies, and I decide on the spot that it might be my favorite thing in the world.
Another small sound slips from her mouth into mine, and I groan, pressing a thigh between her legs and tightening a hand at her hip, pulling her even closer to me. Lily starts rolling her hips against me, seeking friction and tangling her fingers into my hair as she finds it.
“Fuck…” I drawl against her neck, kissing and sucking as my length hardens rough against my jeans. Her little moans spur me on as she finds and keeps her rhythm.
Lily’s chest heaves, quick breaths giving way to panting pleas for more. She whispers my name and trembles against me as she uses me to find her release. I kiss her gently through it.
Somehow, she finds the strength to pull away first. We’re both breathing hard. I rest my forehead against hers for a second before she laughs softly. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” is all I manage, reaching down to adjust myself, trying to find a less painful position for my straining length.
She smiles, cheeks pink, and lips perfectly swollen from our kiss.
She slips out from beneath my arm. Before I can convince her to stay another minute, she’s backing away toward the apartment building.
I stand frozen, dumbfounded, watching her go and feeling like I left half my brain cells somewhere against the side of my truck.
She reaches the entrance and turns. “Hey, Jax!”
I blink. “What?”
“You were supposed to walk me to my door.” Her smile widens, and I stare at her in response. She points at me, then adds, “Looks like you owe me one.”
Lily winks and disappears inside.
I stand there for a full five seconds after the door closes—maybe ten. My hand comes up to my chest like I can physically catch my heart before it launches itself through my ribs.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, dragging a hand over the back of my neck. I stumble backward to the driver’s side of my truck, and climb back behind the wheel in a daze.
The engine turns over, and a second later, the speakers crackle to life.
I’ve got a picture of your house…
A laugh punches out of me before I can stop it.
Of course. Of fucking course, Heaven by Warrant fills the cab. For the first time in a long damn time, I don’t bother turning it down or hiding the smile pulling at my mouth.
I crank the volume instead.