Carpentry and Cocktails: A Heartfelt Small Town Romance (Green Valley Library Book 5)

by Smartypants Romance

  He had already taken care of me enough in the last few months for my defenses to lower, but the feel of his gentle hands running up my spine to sift through my hair and cup my cheeks as we kissed, combined with his hard body beneath me…

  It was the opposing nature of him, the dichotomy—soft inside, so sweet and kind, yet all hard, brutal strength on the outside—that drove me insane. Reckless want surged through my system. I needed him.

  “Willa, is this—are you okay?” I knew it…

  “Yes,” I whispered. “Don’t stop.” He groaned against my lips and I smiled against his. I allowed myself to sink into him, to feel the comfort and care he provided without even trying. Everett had been sneaking up on me for all these months, with his friendly eyes and constant smile. So, I let myself go and it made my heart soar.

  I was drowning in him, absolutely going under, and I was not about to wave my arms or kick my legs because I didn’t want to break the surface. This little world right here on his couch was where I wanted to be—surrounded by delicious spaghetti, Firefly, and held in the arms of the sweetest man I’d ever met—and I would stay here until I inevitably, unwittingly destroyed it. But for now, this fantasy was mine and I was going to keep it.

  His shoulders were hard as I ran my hands around his upper back to pull at his T-shirt. With a shift of his body, he rocked us forward so I could gain better purchase and yank it over his head. With a grin, he slipped his hands beneath my shirt’s hem and pulled up as I raised my arms to assist. “You are so fucking beautiful, Willa.” My irrational heart burst at the words as I reached between my breasts to unhook my bra and let it slip down my arms to drift backward to the floor.

  “So are you,” I murmured as my eyes roved over his sculpted chest and abs, the fine, sharp line of his bearded jaw, and his gorgeous honey brown eyes that warmed on mine as I spoke to him. All those times I had watched him outside while he worked flitted through my mind like the wings of a butterfly, scrambling my thoughts and ramping up my desire for him. Beneath my palms, goosebumps rose over his flesh and he shivered. I had never felt like this—wild, powerful, safe. I felt like he sensed my need for control and as such, he gave it up to me.

  I hovered over him on a precipice; if I jumped off, things would never be the same between us. But if I stayed on, I would live with the regret of missing out on something I knew would be beautiful. Every bone in my body screamed at me to take this chance, to lie back and let him have me. “Everett,” I begged seconds before his mouth slammed to mine in a kiss that defied everything else I had ever experienced and probably ever would. Pieces clicked into place, things that I didn’t know were missing were found, and I felt home for the first time since I’d returned to Green Valley. I gasped against his lips and pulled away.

  His eyes burned into mine, just like all those secret looks he had given me from time to time—heated, hooded, full of sex—only this time I didn’t look away. I let my secrets out and smiled at him, lifting my arms to wind around his neck as he yanked me closer with an arm banded around my hips.

  Succumbing to the gravitational pull of his kisses, his body, his wonderful heart, I relaxed, giving over the control I had relished only moments before. His arms tightened around me, enveloping me in warmth as I melted against him. While tracing my jaw with kisses, his fingertips dipped below the back of my jeans and I arched back as he held my waist. The feel of his lips—on my skin, down my neck, over my breasts—was intoxicating. It rocked me on my axis, leaving me disoriented and full of need. Then he sucked a nipple into his mouth, and I lost all control. The precipice was no more as I fell into Everett.

  “God, Willa…” he murmured against my breast. His breath over my skin caused goosebumps to rise in its path as he kissed and licked his way across my chest to the other nipple. “I want you so much. Can I? Are we…?”

  “Yes. Please, Everett. Yes.” Snap went the button on my jeans and whoosh went the zipper as his hand dove inside to touch me intimately. I writhed on his lap, pressing myself against his hard length as his fingers swirled tight circles against my burning skin. “I want you, too.” I gasped against the top of his bent head as I held him to my breasts, where his lips and the softness of his beard worked magic over my sensitized nipples.

  Warm hands on my waist lifted me up as he stood to shift my body to lie on the couch and tug my jeans and undies down my leg to toss them somewhere behind him on the floor. I opened my arms to welcome him as he rose above me, placing a knee high between my legs as his other leg bent to kneel on the floor, elbows on either side of my shoulders, fingers sifting through my hair as he kissed me deeply, completely. He was so tall and covered with hard muscles, the planes and angles of which fascinated me as they flexed and released beneath my wandering hands and eager mouth. He chuckled and I knew I’d found a ticklish spot, so I lifted upward to kiss it. “Come up here, there’s room,” I murmured. His couch was huge, and I wanted him up here with me, against me, inside me. I reached for his belt buckle and pulled.

  He stood and I sat up to unbuckle that belt, licking my lips in blissed-out anticipation. But he had other ideas. His pants fell to the floor, but then he lifted me, wrapping his huge, beautiful arms around me like a groom carries a bride. The rooms in this old house passed by in a blur, our eyes only for each other as he swiftly carried me to his bed, peppering kisses over my lips, my cheeks, and the tip of my nose, cherishing me, keeping me close as he walked. Never, ever had I experienced anything like this. I was overwhelmed and lost in a way that left me feeling like I almost didn’t want to be found.

  Sinking to a knee on the mattress, he lowered me to lie beneath him. His body covering mine was all I could feel. Doubts, fears, insecurities, everything but him floated out of my mind as he consumed me. “Everett, Everett, Ev—please don’t stop…” my voice was unfamiliar, full of wanton, wild pleasure, the likes of which I had never felt.

  “My god, Willa. You feel so good,” he groaned against my lips. I felt him, huge and hard, pressed against the inside of my thigh. “Sweetheart, I can’t stop. Tell me you want me. Tell me you need me—tell me yes. Please, Willa. Let me inside.”

  “Yes, Ev. Yes, yes, yes,” I chanted as he slipped inside. He filled me so deep I imagined I would feel him inside of me forever, branded by him for the rest of my life.

  His forearm fit perfectly underneath my neck as he took me. Brushing the hair out of my eyes with his fingertips, he bent low but didn’t kiss me. Our eyes met and held, our lips touched briefly only to press together and drift apart with each thrust he drove into me. And his eyes… God, the way he looked at me? He saw my soul and he understood it. He smoothed my edges and made me soft again.

  But I couldn’t afford to be soft. My eyes drifted shut as I fought against his irresistible pull. It would be so easy to lose myself again. Too easy.

  “Willa…” he whispered. “Willa, Willa…” With each thrust, the gift of my name on his lips pushed me closer to the edge. I arched up, wrapping my legs around his waist to let him go deeper.

  With a pleasure-tortured moan, I pulled myself up off the bed and into his hard body, clinging to his shoulders and burying my face into the side of his neck, biting down to taste the salt of his skin. Little explosions rocked me to my core, shooting sparks of delicious sensation throughout my body, taking me higher than I’d ever been. I was afraid to let myself go, scared I’d never come down from this.

  “Give it to me,” he murmured in my ear, his breath ruffling my hair, his words driving me crazy, guiding me to the brink. “I feel it happening, Willa. Let it go.” His hand slipped between us to press against my clit. “I want to taste you here,” he growled in my ear as his fingers rubbed and tapped lightly against my skin.

  “Ohhh, god,” I groaned, and it was loud, out of control. I let go of his neck and my back hit the bed, arching up as my body worked toward release. He rose to his knees and plunged into me deeply, moving hard inside of me as his fingers kept up their delicate torture. His eyes blazed
into mine with a satisfied gleam as we came apart together. He collapsed forward to lie at my side and gathered me close, reaching down to grab his comforter to cover us.

  “Stay with me tonight. Don’t leave me.” His voice was soft against my neck, where his face rested, pressing sweet kisses against me after every word.

  “I’ll stay. I want to be with you,” I whispered with a kiss to the top of his head. His arms convulsed as he squeezed me tighter and we fell into sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  Willa

  “I’ll kill any man who looks at you twice. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m capable of, Willa.”

  Tommy

  I awoke to sweet kisses and a mug of Everett’s yummy coffee sitting on the night table next to the bed. “I have to go to work, sweetheart. Stay as long as you like. What’s mine is yours,” he had whispered before grinning at me and closing the bedroom door behind himself. Now I was up with the midafternoon sun shining through the windows, a cold mug of coffee, and a big empty house to explore. Involuntarily my face morphed into a huge smile and for the first time in years—maybe even in my entire life—I felt hope.

  After throwing the covers back I realized I had no clothes; they were somewhere on the living room floor. Delicious tingles ran through me as I recalled the night before. Everett had kept me close all night, his strong arms wrapped around me, never once letting go.

  Absentmindedly I reached for my cell phone to call Sabrina, giggling when I remembered it was downstairs in the back pocket of my jeans instead of landing somewhere in my bed after I fell asleep. With a reach to the ceiling, I stretched, glorying in the satiated feeling that spread throughout my body. Everett had a wide array of useful skills, and a huge dick that he knew how to use. I was dying to see what else he could do with it—maybe tonight? I spun around in a circle to take in his room—framed sci-fi movie prints decorated the walls while heavy wooden furniture dominated the space—and I let out another giggle when I noted that his king-sized bed had plain navy-blue sheets. Not Star Wars sheets?

  Who was I? Giggling and spinning like a girl. Happy, relaxed, and looking forward to my day. It was all because of Everett. My heart was a Jell-O pudding cup, and my brain was a puddle of lusty, love drunk goop. I couldn’t wait to see him later and I needed to get my phone so I could squee at Sabrina. I had never squee-ed in my life and I wanted to do it real bad right now. I found a folded pile of clean laundry stacked on a chair in the corner. I grabbed a T-shirt and slipped it over my head. “Comic-Con 2016,” it said. I made a mental note to bring it back; it was probably a collectible T-shirt.

  My feet flew down the stairs as my eyes searched for my jeans. After yanking out my phone I slipped on my undies and collapsed onto the couch while swiping to call Sabrina. I was a lucky girl that she forgave me for running away without a word all those years ago. Then again, she knew my life back then, and she had always understood me.

  “Hey, Willa.”

  “Sabrina! I slept with Everett, he’s—he’s everything I don’t deserve but I want him anyway,” I blurted.

  “Oh my god! And you deserve every good thing, including Everett if he’s the one for you. I knew this would happen!” She squealed into my ear, making me laugh.

  “Everett is nothing like Tommy,” I stated.

  “Of course not. Everett is a nice guy. Tommy was a—I feel like we can talk about this now, right?” Her voice was hesitant.

  “Sure, I guess so.” I was not sure I wanted to talk about Tommy, but clearly Sabrina needed to get it off her chest and maybe it was time I got it off mine too.

  “With Tommy, it was all about him. Does he love me? Does he want to be with me? You were always worried about where you stood, and he liked it like that. Tommy told you enough of what you needed to hear so he could keep you around. He was obsessed with you, not in love with you. Love doesn’t feel like a trap. Everett isn’t that kind of guy. Tommy wanted to own you, and I’m pretty sure Everett will just want to love you—you know, someday.”

  “I think you’re right. You know, Sabrina, the best times in my life were with you. Back then, I felt safe at your house, hanging out, talking to you and your sister. I’m starting to feel like that again, with Everett. He makes me feel like me and I don’t want to lose this. But I have made so many mistakes and I don’t want to make anymore.”

  “It was that way for me too, Willa, with you. Then life got real. You chose to run away with Tommy, and after you left and my sister died, I chose nothing. At least you made decisions to regret. You lived your life. If you’ve learned from what happened with Tommy, you won’t make the same mistakes now.”

  “I think I learned. I mean, I wanted to get away from my mother so bad that I accepted Tommy’s version of love like it was real, and then I fought to keep it even though it was worthless. It took me years to see what a manipulative liar he was. Everett isn’t like that. He’s a good man. He loves his family.”

  “He does. He’s an awesome uncle. Oh! If you marry him, we’ll be sisters in law!” she practically shrieked into the phone.

  “Wow. I can’t even imagine that right now,” I lied. The split second he picked me up to carry me up the stairs it was all I’d been thinking about—but admitting it out loud was another story. Even though the thought of marriage was still a little bit scary, happy shivers ran through me whenever I thought of it with Everett. Shaking my head to clear it, I tried to get control over my out-of-control, racing thoughts. Jumping to conclusions, reacting too quickly, and not thinking were all the things that led up to this moment. Even though this moment was awesome, most of the stuff leading up to it was not.

  “I wish we could go to lunch or that I could come over to talk to you more, but I have to get to the library for my shift,” she complained.

  “It’s okay, we’ll talk soon. There’s plenty of time.”

  “Yes, we’ll make plans. Bye, Willa.”

  With the sudden urge to see Everett, I slipped into my jeans to head to my place for a shower and a change of clothes. The decision to head to his shop had me feeling—euphoric. Was this what falling in love should feel like? Safe and warm, like a hug or slipping into a hot bath? Rather than constantly feeling nervous and worried about what you should say? Could this be real? Oh, how I wanted this to be real.

  I darted down Everett’s kitchen stairs. My keys were somewhere in my apartment, wherever they’d landed after I threw them—along with my shoes—during my bid for best dramatic actress after having a bitchy-mother-induced temper tantrum. The backdoor to the basement was unlocked and I couldn’t remember if I had locked the front door. Hopefully I wouldn’t enter to find a bunch of hobos had taken up residence in my living room. With an anticipatory smile, I threw the door open and stepped inside. I rushed through my shower and getting-ready routine and with joy in my heart I slipped Everett’s T-shirt back over my head.

  After finding my keys and phone I opened the front door only to dash backward and slam it shut, locking it with panicked haste.

  White roses. Bruised and battered, scattered all over my porch and down the stairs. My head darted rapidly from side to side taking in my empty apartment as I stood frozen against the door.

  He couldn’t have been here. Tommy was in prison. He’d always given me white roses to make up for some cruel thing he had said to upset me or for something he had done to someone else while “defending me”—a.k.a. pissing all over his property.

  Everett would not have thrown roses against the door like this…

  My chest heaved with labored breaths as thoughts shot through my mind like a spray of bullets being fired, tearing me up inside. Was he out? And why didn’t I know?

  In my hand, my cell phone vibrated and started ringing. At the same moment someone banged on the door. “Willa, it’s Wyatt! Open up!” he called.

  I spun around to open the door. “Tommy.” I gasped as panic filled my heart.

  “He’s out. I just got the information. The roses? He was here.”
His worried eyes darted around the area as he gestured for me to let him inside.

  “How?” I whispered and stepped back for Wyatt to enter. Cold dread filled my veins. And the only thought to enter my mind was run. “How is that possible? He had two more years left on his sentence.”

  “Good behavior.” Wyatt snorted. “But he’s on parole, if he tries to mess with you we’ll arrest him.”

  “I have to get out of here.” I ran to my bedroom and started stuffing my clothes into a duffel bag.

  “No, you can’t leave. You just got back home.” His footsteps pounded across the floor as he followed me. “Willa, stop. Will you look at me?”

  “Tell Sabrina goodbye for me, Wyatt. Please.” I tossed the words over my shoulder as I frantically packed anything I could find.

  “I will not tell her that. Stop it, Willa.” With a gentle hand on my arm, he turned me. Tears burned in my eyes at the concern etched on his face.

  “You were there when I needed you and I’ll never forget it.” A sob lodged in my throat as I choked on the words.

  “Stop talking crazy, you aren’t going anywhere—”

  “For two years you were my only friend. The only constant thing in my life. You saved me, Wyatt. Talking with you every day on the phone kept me from losing myself completely after—you’re the brother I never knew I wanted.” His soft eyes were sympathetic on me and I couldn’t take it. He was weakening my resolve to leave. And I had to leave. I may not completely know what I wanted from my life, but I knew what I didn’t want. I spent two years driving all over the country in peaceful silence. It taught me that would rather be alone than with someone like Tommy. I refused to subject anyone else to his horrible ways, especially someone sweet like Everett.