Chapter 14
Penelope
Summer leans back, smirking knowingly as Cas slips to the bar near his brothers. I want to roll my eyes, but my stomach’s already doing somersaults. He tips his hat ever so slightly in my direction, that signature grin tugging at his lips. It’s impossible not to stare.
“So…” Summer says slyly, making me jump. She laughs, dipping a fry in ketchup. “You and Sheriff Tall, Dark, and Handsome dating already?”
I almost choke on my beer. “What? No!”
Summer raises a brow, her grin pure mischief. “The way he looked at you just now? Girl, if looks could strip a dress…”
“Summer!” I laugh, my cheeks are on fire.
She just grins knowingly. “He’s smitten. You’d have to be blind not to see it.” She nods toward Cas, still watching me across the room. The heat of his gaze lingers like a touch.
Why do I feel so completely exposed?
I take a shaky sip of beer, trying not to think about the way his voice sounded when he called me Sunset, like it was ours alone. “I don’t know,” I admit softly.
“You’re scared,” Summer says, her teasing fading to something gentler.
“Can you blame me?” I laugh, though it comes out half-nervous, half-defensive.
“No, I get it,” she nods, taking another fry. “But then again… how much are you going to let Mark steal from you?”
Her words hit hard. Mark stole so much, my safety, my trust, my sense of control, my photography. My life.
I shake my head, voice low. “I don’t want him to have this power over me anymore. But I’ve known Cas for just three weeks… what will people say? Isn’t that too soon?”
Summer’s hand finds mine across the table.
“Penny… love doesn’t have a time stamp. Just because you’ve known someone a short time doesn’t mean it can’t be right.
” She gives me a small, knowing smile. “Trust me, I know. Kevin and I were high school sweethearts, knew each other since kindergarten, and look where that got us.”
Summer’s expression softens, thoughtful. “Knowing someone for twenty years doesn’t make them right for you.”
I squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
She shrugs, offering a faint smile. “I’m sorry you had a bastard ex too. But he’s already stolen so much from you, Penny. Don’t let him take this away from you too.”
Hope and fear both stir in my chest. “What if he ends up being a mistake?”
“What if he doesn’t?” Summer smiles softly. “People talk, I’ve learned that much at the coffee shop. But Cas is a good man. Everyone respects him. Give him a chance. If it doesn’t work out, at least you tried… and you took your power back.”
I nod slowly. Summer leans back, a mischievous grin tugging at her lips. “It’s time to live, Penny.”
Before I can say anything, a country song kicks up and Summer squeals. “That’s my song! Come on!”
She grabs my hand, pulling me onto the dance floor before I can protest. Everyone’s line dancing, boots stomping in rhythm. I stumble through the first few steps, but Summer’s patient, exaggerating her stomps and claps until I’m laughing too hard to care.
I feel light, weightless.
Men whistle and cheer as we dance. One leans in to tell me I have the prettiest smile in the room; another asks for my number. I shake them off politely, but I can feel Cas’s gaze across the floor, hot, steady, unblinking. My pulse races, every nerve in my body is aware of him.
Then the music slows. The lights dim slightly. A deeper, sensual tune fills the air, the kind that wraps around you and doesn’t let go.
Cas moves through the crowd with the quiet confidence of a predator, every step measured, every glance deliberate. He reaches me without ever breaking eye contact, and my chest tightens.
“Can I have this dance, Sunset?”
I nod, at a loss for words. He slides a hand around my waist, pulling me gently but firmly against him.
“This one’s ours,” he murmurs, low and commanding.
The opening lines of She’s My Kind of Rain spill through the speakers.
My breath catches. I’ve heard this song a few times before, Grace listens to it in her room, and I fell in love with it too.
His chest is solid against mine, warmth radiating off him like wildfire.
His hand grips my hip, firm but careful, sending shivers up my spine.
Cas starts to sing along.
The words vibrate against my skin, his lips close enough that I can taste the whiskey on his breath. His voice, rough, beautiful, low, makes my heart stutter. My body trembles in ways I can’t hide.
“You’re blushing again, Sunset,” he whispers, eyes locked on mine. “Makes me wonder what else I can do to put that color on your cheeks.”
I gasp softly, pulse hammering, body betraying me. But I can’t look away from him. He’s everywhere, his voice, his touch, his scent.
We sway slow and steady, the song wrapping around us like a secret promise. I feel safe and wanted. I never want this moment to end.
When the song fades, he brushes his lips against my cheek before stepping back.
“Didn’t want to steal you away from Summer on your Thursday fun and beers,” he says, a teasing lilt in his voice.
I laugh, and he leans in again, his breath warm against my ear.
“But when this song came on, I couldn’t fight the need to hold you in my arms tonight.”
Then he steps back, hat tipping slightly. “See you later, Sunset.”
That dimpled grin, God, that grin makes my heart skip a beat.
It takes me a while to notice the upbeat song that’s started playing. Cas sits back at the bar, beer in hand, eyes fixed on me with that knowing smirk that makes me flush all over again.
When I finally slide back into the booth beside Summer, she smiles wide. “I did something.”
“What?” I ask, suspicious.
She waves her phone like it’s magic, then taps a few keys. My phone buzzes.
I open it… and my heart jumps. It’s a picture of Cas and me dancing, his hand on my waist, the other holding mine, our eyes locked.
“Gotta love smartphones,” she laughs.
I stare at the picture, breath catching. “Thanks,” I whisper, closing my phone quickly.
“That’s what BFFs are for,” she winks. “Now you can stare at him whenever you want.”
I can’t help smiling back.
Hours later, after the laughter faded and the music slowed, the crisp night air carries the scent of woodsmoke and autumn leaves as Summer drops me off at the B my pulse hammers in my throat.
Then, just like that, his tone shifts. Steady. Certain.
“Go out with me.”
My breath catches. “Cas…”
“An official date,” he says, his eyes locked on mine. “Just you and me. Let me show you what it’s like to be cared for the way you deserve.”
I should hesitate. I should say no. Every rational part of me screams that it’s too soon. But then there are his eyes, dark and unwavering, full of quiet promise. And suddenly, every wall I built feels too heavy to hold up.
“Yes,” I whisper, barely recognizing my own voice.
My fingers clutch the strap of my bag to keep them from shaking.
His grin is slow, devastating. It starts at the corner of his mouth and spreads until those dimples appear, stealing the air from my lungs.
“Pick you up Saturday night, seven?”
I nod, unable to speak, my lips dry, my heart pounding like it’s caught in a thunderstorm.
Cas steps closer, the warmth of him bleeding into the cool night air.
His scent, wood, pine, something unmistakably him, wraps around me like a secret.
He leans in, close enough that my breath catches, his breath fans my lips but he doesn’t kiss me.
The tension stretches thin between us, humming, alive.
“Goodnight, Sunset,” he whispers, the words brushing against my skin like a promise. Then he steps back, giving me space to breathe again, but his gaze lingers, steady, protective, burning in all the ways that make my heart ache.
I slip inside the B&B, leaning against the door once it clicks shut. Outside, I can still feel him there, like warmth in the cold, like a promise left behind in the quiet.