Chapter 19
NINETEEN
WIL
My night was not going well.
Dad insisted that we all sit at a table together and give the impression of one big happy family.
This was not unlike any other Hometown League New Year’s Eve gala, but this year, Mimi and Bob and Howie were unable to travel after a blizzard dumped nearly a foot of snow in Wausau.
Seeing them has always been the highlight of this night—of any Hometown League function—but as a bonus for the gala, they typically never sit at Dad’s table, giving me an excuse to avoid him.
But tonight, in addition to Dad’s criticism about year-over-year revenue numbers, blah blah blah, and Chanelle’s insistence that the professional photographer take a family photo “before your boys get drunk like last year, Jeff,” Kelsey and Andre are fighting.
Apparently, the travel requirements for Andre’s new gig at the nonprofit are more than anticipated and Kelsey is still upset that he missed the ultrasound to find out the baby’s sex.
They announced their pregnancy—finally—at Thanksgiving. Chanelle fawned over her, Andre held her hair back while she threw up, Dad beamed at the prospect of his favorite child bearing a favorite child—a girl.
I had to get away from these people. When I saw Abbey dancing and laughing with Cesar, I had to be near her. That simple decision to spend time with her eased the tension in me, like an impossible knot finally coming loose.
She seemed surprised when I cut in, but Cesar, it should be noted, did not.
“Are you enjoying yourself tonight?” I ask. It sounds unnatural, awkward. She’s got her left hand on my shoulder, her right hand clasped in my left. We fit together perfectly, even in this formal position.
“Yes.” She looks over my shoulder at the band onstage. She won’t look me in the eye.
“A lot of the funding for the program is raised at this event,” I say, “along with the big music festival in July. It’s kind of a family tradition that we all announce the year’s lineup tonight right before midnight. You’re going to love the headliners. You could volunteer and be backstage.”
Her eyes finally meet mine and flash with interest. “Can you tell me the headliners now?”
“I could,” I say quietly. I want to make her laugh. “But then I’d have to kill you.”
“I can wait until midnight,” she says primly. “I haven’t seen you at our table tonight.”
“I’d much rather be at your table, but I’m here with my family.”
“Aren’t you afraid someone might see us dancing together?” she asks. “You wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”
“What idea is that?”
Her eyes widen and her eyebrows fly up in surprise. “Did you seriously just ask me that question? Do you not remember what you said to me the night you drove me home?”
“Hmm,” I murmur in response. I don’t want to think about what I said to her that night. Jeremy might be right. Lightning doesn’t strike twice, and Abbey Rhodes lights me up like no one else.
The day after Christmas, I sent her flowers.
I meant them as a thank you for a successful holiday season, but when the florist asked me what I wanted to say on the card, I balked.
A manager shouldn’t send his team captain an expensive bouquet as a thank you.
I never sent Aurora flowers, or any of my other TCs on my other rotations.
And besides, it wasn’t the real reason. I was thinking about my conversation with Jeremy on Christmas Eve when I ordered that bouquet, and the flowers that her dad buys for her mom, and I wanted to do that for Abbey.
In the end, though, I asked the florist to put only her name on the card, careful to make sure she spelled it correctly.
Abbey never mentioned the flowers to me, and I overheard Lavender telling Collin that they were from a secret admirer.
The band finishes “Some Enchanted Evening” and transitions seamlessly into “Dream a Little Dream.” I tuck Abbey in even closer. She rests her head on my shoulder and for a moment, everything is perfect.
You can get another job, but you can’t get another Abbey.
I drop her hand and instead wrap both arms around her waist and pull her close. Her arms go up around my neck and her eyes flutter shut. I feel the moment that she allows herself to soften in my embrace.
“Stars fading but I linger on, dear, still craving your kiss,” the Jessica Rabbit lookalike on stage sings, and I want to kiss Abbey so badly.
I’ve wanted to kiss her since that first night at The Golden, and again at Ruh-Roh when she was nearly trampled.
The night after the eval in the parking lot.
The night Dex fired Tyrell. The night her battery died, and I drove her home.
Every time I see her at the store, every single day.
I’ve wanted to kiss her even when I’d convinced myself that I don’t have feelings for her.
Still craving your kiss.
I’m going to do it. Tonight, I’m going to kiss Abbey Rhodes.
“You look gorgeous tonight,” I tell her. “That dress, your hair, those shoes. You’re perfect. Everything about you is perfect.” I lean in, slowly, so damn slowly, but then I stop just short of kissing those sweet lips.
Not here. Not in front of all these people. The first time I kiss her, I want it to be someplace private, just the two of us. I drop my arms and take two steps backward.
She freezes and frowns. “What’s wrong?”
“Come with me.” I can’t wait any longer.
I want her.
I take her hand and tug her across the dance floor. We slip out a side door into a narrow hallway, and the door closes behind us with a snick and clunk.
“Where are we going?” she asks, breathless.
“You’ll see.”
“That’s not an answer.” She wrenches her hand from mine. “Tell me or—”
I stop. I rewind my actions from the last few minutes. I’ve acted like a fucking caveman. “I’m sorry. Shit. Are you—are you afraid?”
“Of course not, unless you’re planning to murder me back here and hide my body in—I don’t know, some dusty old storage cupboard that no one uses or—”
“Can I kiss you?” I blurt out.
She blinks in surprise and nods.
In a split second, my hands are on her upper arms and I’m walking her back against the wall and then my mouth is on hers, hungry, hard, my tongue slipping and sipping between her lips.
I’d only meant to kiss her softly and sweetly, like I almost did on the dance floor, but I can’t help myself.
I need her. It’s lighting me up, this kiss, and I want to live here now and bask in this brilliance.
She lights me up.
My life has been dark for so long, since even before my parents’ divorce, but Abbey Rhodes lights me up.
I pull away even though I never want to pull away. I need to hear her say yes. “Are you sure this is okay?”
“God, yes,” she murmurs.
“Thank fuck.”
I wrap my arms around her waist as she puts hers around my neck again.
She steps up on her tiptoes and pulls me closer.
Her fingers tangle with the curls at my neck.
I deepen the kiss but still, it’s not enough, and I put my hands under her ass to lift her.
She scrambles to wrap her legs around me, but this damn dress is in the way, and she squirms against me, and I groan.
I set her down, bunch up her skirt, and tug it up until there’s enough give, and then I lift her again.
This time, she’s able to tuck her legs around my back.
She presses into me where I’m hard, and I grind against her, and she moans.
Yes. Finally.
She gasps as I bite her bottom lip then move to her neck, sucking, licking, biting but it’s not long before I need her lips again.
Her tongue finds mine, stroking and exploring, and I feel this kiss everywhere and I know that she does, too, by her quiet moans and mews.
I move a hand under her skirt, against her hot, soft skin, and she whimpers into my mouth.
She moves her core against me again, and I growl, and god, if we’re this wound up already, what’s going to happen when I move my hand from the back of her thigh slowly, slowly, closer to—
A loud bang and a crash somewhere behind us startle her. She plants her feet on the floor and leans against the wall, breathing heavily. Her skirt swirls back down like a curtain. Her eyes widen and lock with mine as I clear my throat and grin.
“What—what—” she stammers. “You kissed me.”
“I don’t think I was the only one involved.”
“Wil—I—you said—”
“Yes?”
“Why did you kiss me?”
“I couldn’t wait until midnight.” I lean close and inhale her sunshine scent, so bright and fresh in the cold and dark of this long winter. “I wanted to kiss you, but I didn’t want to wait until midnight. It’s New Year’s Eve, remember?”
She balks and pulls away from me. “That’s why you kissed me? Because it’s New Year’s Eve and you needed to find someone to kiss at midnight?”
“Well, that’s not the only reason.”
“Enlighten me.”
“My pleasure,” I say and lean in for another soft kiss that quickly shifts from sweet to hot hot hot.
She pushes me away, panting, and waggles a finger back and forth between us. “I thought you said that this couldn’t happen.”
I grab the finger and pepper it with tiny kisses, then move my lips down to her palm. Her breath hitches. “Oh, it’s happening.”
I drop her hand and lean in again, moving my lips down her jaw to her neck. I sweep her hair behind her shoulder for better access. I draw my hand lightly down her side and settle it on her rib cage. She gasps, and I love the sounds she makes at even the lightest, most innocent touch.
There’s nothing innocent about this, though. I want her. So badly.
“Come home with me tonight.” I nip at her earlobe. “Please.”
“What about your family?”
“They’re not invited.”
“The countdown?” she presses.
“I don’t care about the countdown,” I say and groan. “Come home with me. Please. Let me show you how much this is happening.”
She smooths down the front of her dress. “Don’t do something stupid that might jeopardize your future with the company. You should be with your family for the announcement.”
She’s right. I know she’s right. I wouldn’t put it past Dad to retaliate in some way if I embarrassed him tonight and didn’t show up on that stage. “Damn it. You’re right.”
She cups her ear. “I’m sorry, what was that? Did you say that I’m right?” She smirks.
“I’d like to kiss that smirk right off of you,” I say and smirk right back.
“I’m going to hold you to that. Now go find your family, and I’ll meet you at coat check after the countdown.”
Midnight can’t come soon enough.