I kissed his chiseled abs and giggled against his hot skin. “My smart-ass mouth has several uses.”
“Understatment of the fucking century.”
Chapter Seventeen
Colton
“Colton. Sweetie, wake up, we’re here,” Tia called softly from the driver’s side, whilst tickling my earlobe.
I smacked her hand away and grunted. “I told you to take the long way. There’s no way that was a forty-five minute drive.”
“Actually it was an hour drive. I stopped to get gas.”
I groaned again, rubbed a hand over my face and climbed out of Tia’s tiny, red car. “I need coffee.”
She walked around to my side and tilted her head up at me. “What you need is a good night’s sleep, Ranger. All these late nights are gonna kill you.”
I smiled playfully and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close to me. “I can’t help being such a love machine. Besides, I don’t hear you complaining when we’re in bed.”
“I never complain. It’s you that keeps bitching about being tired. I’m just trying to get you to shut up.” She attempted to hide a smile as she said it.
I chuckled at her whipping tongue and held her tighter. “How the hell am I supposed to sleep when I have a girl like you in bed with me? You’ll be the death of me, Tia. A slow, naughty, satisfying death.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed me away. “Shut up, Casanova. Come on, you’re paying for the coffee.”
We stopped into Bell’s Bakery for coffee and a pastry. Tia gushed at the cinnamon rolls as we sat on a bench in the town square park, eating our breakfast. She relaxed back into me, and I wrapped my arm around her.
Sitting here in my town with this gorgeous woman was surreal in the best possible way. It had been two weeks since we had started seeing each other, and everyday I waited for Tia to call it off. But she didn’t.
We both dodged the topic of her returning to New York, but as the days went by, so did our timeframe. Things were going too good and neither one of us wanted to ruin it. Everytime the idea crept back into my mind, so did my memory of Kim, and how it felt watching her leave me for a bigger and brighter life.
Tia turned back to me, blinding me from whatever I was thinking. “Are you ready for your surprise?”
I narrowed my eyes on her. “What surprise? I thought we came into town for breakfast.”
Tia stood up, holding out her hand to me. She flashed me a mischievous smile on those lush, maroon lips. “It was all lies. Come on. People are waiting.”
“What people?”
Tia covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. She dragged me through the square past the market stalls, towards the town hall. At the foot of the steps, she beamed up at me excitedly and raced up to the large doors, yanking them open.
The hall was packed. Kids, teenagers, and teachers gathered around tables working hard on what looked like a giant art class. “What is this?”
“Good morning.” Mayor Valerie Anderson walked up to us with a huge welcoming grin. “Tia, I’ve already received over seventy RSVPs. Can you believe it?” Her phone began ringing, pulling her attention away. “Excuse me, you two. I have to take this.”
I watched her disappear to the other side of the hall and turned to Tia, completely baffled as to what the hell was happening here. “What’s going on?”
She turned to me, glowing with excitement. “This is for the fundraiser. You gave me the idea actually. All the kids from the school know how important the park is, and the teachers know you well enough that as soon as I said you needed help, they jumped at the chance. It’s an art auction. All the kids will create pieces, and they will be auctioned off at the fundraiser. If there’s one thing rich people love, it’s original and new art. Even if it is done by kids.”
I glanced around the room again, taking in the whole sight. Everyone was hard at work, painting, drawing, sculpting. Sure it looked like a school art room, but Tia was right. No one was heartless enough to not bid on a kid’s work. And with the proceeds going to a good cause, it was a win all around. “This is incredible. I didn’t think you would pull something like this off so soon.”
Tia elbowed me in the side. “Hey. Don’t you dare go doubting me, buddy. I said I could do it. You know me. I’m highly organized and never bite off more than I can chew”
“I don’t know what to say.” I looked down at her in awe. She was incredible. She’d put herself out there and worked all this for me .
“Don’t say anything. You’ve done enough for me already, and I wanted to do something for you.”
Even with all the people in the hall, I could only see her. Tia was like no one I’d ever met before. She was generous and sweet. Part of me wanted to wrap her up and take care of her forever, but that wasn’t who she was. As delicate as she seemed at times, she was still a dynamite of a woman. Brave, cocky, determined.
And there it was.
I could feel it. The fall. I was falling for her. And in that moment, I was more than happy to plunge into the bottomless pit of despair just to have a few weeks with this woman. I’d take the inevitable pain if the ride was this sweet. “You’re amazing.”
She grinned and stood up on her tiptoes before kissing me on the lips. “You’re gonna make me blush, Ranger.”
Just then, reality smashed back in when I heard Shay call my name from across the hall. I looked over to see her running up, red paint smeared on her cheek. “Get a room guys. There’s kids around here.”
“How’s the painting going, Shay?” Tia asked.
My little sister scrunched up her nose and led her over to a quiet workstation at the back of the hall, away from the little kids. “It’s small, Miss Lopez. I just didn’t have time to do a bigger piece with all the work at the summer camp.”
Tia put her hand on her shoulder. “Don’t push yourself. I know you wanted to contribute, but there’s nothing worse than putting art out there that you’re not proud of.”
“I guess.” She motioned to a small canvas on the table. “I should have it finished by the end of the day. What do you think?”
I looked over the small painting. It was a landscape of the Rabbit Hut, with deep colored tones and fine intricate pen work, scrolled over the paint. It was Shay’s signature style and it seemed to suit every painting she did. For the Rabbit Hut, it was perfect.
“It’s my house,” Tia squealed with joy. Warmth ran across my skin when she referred to it as ’her house’ . The place had already become a kind of home to her.
Shay put her hand on her hip, examining her work with a sly smile. “Yep. I like the idea of some rich guy hanging up a painting of a whorehouse in his guest bathroom, thinking it’s just a quaint little cabin in the woods.”
Tia giggled at my sister’s sneaky sense of humor.
“Best not to tell Mom and Dad that,” I warned her.
“I can’t make any promises, Colt. You know how much I love Mom’s freak out face.”
“Tia!” Valerie called over the crowd. “It’s Maddie on the phone about the catering.”
“Coming,” she replied before turning back to Shay. “It’s a beautiful piece. I love it and I can’t wait to see it finished.” She put her hand on my arm and smiled up at me. “I won’t be long. I just need to take this call.”
“That’s all right.” I watched as she darted off into the crowd. Lucky for me, most of them were knee high, so I could still keep my eyes on Tia. Her hips swayed across the hall with her long, dark hair dancing down her back. Even from here, I was completely smitten by her.
Shay crept up to my side, looking over to where my eyes were pinned. “So. You and Miss Lopez, huh?” I turned to her, spotting a teasing smirk. “Care to share how that happened without me noticing until now.”
I nunged her with my elbow playfully. “Well I don’t post my whole life updates on social media, like you do.”
“So, you two are dating now? That’s very... original for you,” she scoffed
.
I snapped my head towards her. “Hey, I date . All the time.”
“No, Colt. You hook up. You find a girl, take her out, bone her and then you lose her number. I’ve never seen you actually date a girl repeatedly. That is what you’re doing here, right? Or are you planning on losing Miss Lopez’s number as soon as you step outside?”
“I like her.” I admitted whilst watching Tia on the other side of the room, laughing down the phone. “I like her a lot, sis. And I’m not planning on losing her number anytime soon.”
When I turned back to Shay, she had a goofiest grin on her face. “ Aww , Colton. You’re so cute.”
I slapped her on the arm. “Shut up.”
She was about to laugh but instantly stopped, and gripped my sleeve. “She’s leaving though. Back to New York.”
An invisible knife twisted into my chest. “Yeah. Don’t remind me.”
“What are you gonna do?” Shay looked almost panicked.
I placed my hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her worries. “It’s okay, Shay. I knew she’d leave eventually. We both did. It’s gonna suck, but I’m not gonna let it ruin the rest of our time together.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re just going to let her go? But you like her. This is the first girl you’ve really liked since Kim. And what, you’re just gonna wave her away too?”
The mention of Kim grated my nerves. I hated talking about her. I hated the reminders. It had been over a decade, and I cared very little for the whole breakup. I no longer held a torch for the girl I once loved, but there was no denying it still haunted me.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew it was because of Spencer. Kim’s departure from my life would always be connected with the death of my brother. So, yeah, it did still fucking hurt and probably always would.
The idea of Tia leaving stung like a bitch. But I always knew it would. We both took a chance to have a good time. We knew full well it was a risk.
The truth was, I didn’t want her to go. But I wasn’t an angry teenager this time. I was all grown up, and knew that the pain that would come from losing Tia was much more bearable this time around. At least I hoped it would be.
I took a deep breath before answering. “She has a life in New York, Shay. And I have a life here.”
“So you are just gonna let her go. What the fuck, Colt?”
I pulled her to the side, out of the earshot of little kids, and hissed back, “What am I supposed to do?”
“Make her stay.”
I almost choked on my own laugh. “I can’t just make her stay. Just because things are going good doesn’t mean she’s gonna pack up her whole life for a guy she only just met a few weeks back.”
“You should at least try. Look at all this she put together for you. All the extra work. You don’t just do that for a fling, Colton. She obviously likes you too. I saw the way she looked at you.”
She wasn’t wrong. This whole operation at the town hall had obviously taken a lot of time to arrange. But it wasn’t just that. This past week, spending every night in her cabin, I felt the change. Every night we grew closer. Not just physically either. Tia would look up at me, wide eyed and naked, listening intently to stories about my childhood. And although I knew she was holding back a lot, she slowly began offering me snippets of herself too. Tiny chips of her hard exterior. I ached to know more, but every piece was proof I was getting closer. She wanted me to know about her and who she was.
So Shay was right. I could feel Tia falling too. Maybe not as fast and as hard as me, but with enough time maybe she’d catch up.
Before I could answer my sister, Tia hopped back over with that sexy smirk. “You too look like you’re plotting something over here.”
Shay forced a big grin on her face and grabbed Tia’s hands. “Dinner. This Friday. Colton always has dinner with us on the second Friday of the month, and you don’t want to miss Mom’s famous pot roast, Miss Lopez. Trust me. So, you’re both coming.” She turned to me and gritted through her teeth. “Right, Colton?”
“Um...well...” I stuttered, trying to figure out a decent excuse, but Shay was looking murderous at my reaction. It was fair to say I was a little afraid to piss off my firecracker of a sister. “I guess.” I cleared my throat and turned to Tia. “Would you like to have dinner at my parents house on Friday?”
Tia looked as unsure as me, but she smiled back at us both and nodded. “Sure. Why not?”
Shay let out a breath of relief and beamed up at me. “Great. I’ll let Mom know you’re bringing a girl. She might even get out the fancy plates.” She walked back to her workstation but turned back to me on the way, wiggling her eyebrows.
I knew exactly what she was doing. Shay didn’t want me playing this thing off as a temporary fling. If I took Tia home to meet my parents, then it would be seen as anything but fling activity.
Tia looked up at me, nibbling on her lip. “Never met the parents before.”
“They’ll love you.” It wasn’t a line. I had no doubt my mother would fall in love with her as soon as she stepped through the door. As for Dad, he would be over the moon to see me turn up with a stunner like Tia on my arm.
She smiled up at me, the nerves completely washed away. “Well then, I can’t wait.”
Chapter Eighteen
Tia
I took the last bite of the homemade cheesecake and relaxed back a little in my chair. “That was delicious. My compliments to the chef, Mrs Haxley.”
Colton’s mother glowed with pride and waved her hand in front of her face. “Oh please, Tia. Call me Cathy. And you’re very welcome.”
The whole meal I’d been a bag of nerves. Not because of Colton’s family. They were more than welcoming. But more the fact that this whole thing was incredibly new to me. The last time I’d sat down for a home cooked meal was on graduation day, three years ago, when Lily’s parents had hosted a dinner party. I’d certainly never met a guy’s parents before.
Cathy stood up and began clearing the table. I was about to offer her a hand when Colton’s dad turned to me. “So Tia, how are you finding it working with our Shay? Is she behaving herself?”
Shay rolled her eyes at the other end of the table. “Dad. Don’t be embarrassing”
“I’m not. I’m just asking. Taking an interest in my daughter’s life isn’t a crime.”
“Honestly, Mr Haxley, Shay has an incredible work ethic for a girl her age. She comes in early and stays late. She’s even submitted a piece for the charity auction. If she keeps up at this pace, I see no reason why she can’t fulfill any path she wishes to take. You’ve raised a good kid with a lot of promise.”
Shay blushed and rolled her eyes at me. “Urgh. Now you’re the embarrassing one.”
I giggled at her modesty.
Her father had such pride in his eyes, but not wanting to embarrass the girl any further he just sat back and nodded. “And Colton? Is he treating you well?”
I turned to Colton, who was sitting by my side, hiding a smile under his hand. “Yeah, Tia. Am I treating you well?”
I knew what he was doing, putting me on the spot in front of his father. It was funny how alike we were despite our very different upbringings. Both of us shared a similar sense of humor, teasing the other and playing games. I could see Colton’s spark of mischief in his eyes, no matter how straight he attempted to keep his face.
I bit away my smile and focused my attention back on his father. “He’s been very kind.”
“Always a gentleman, our Colt. Even when he was a kid, he was helping out anyone who needed it. He’s a good boy.”
I didn’t need to be told. I could see it from the first night I met him. Colton was genuine. Nothing about him seemed fake or forced. As the weeks passed, I realised without any doubt in my mind that I trusted him completely. Never had that happened to me before. It should have been a pleasant discovery, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread. With trust, came love. I wasn’t sure I could give myself completely like that.
<
br /> I would leave soon enough, just as I always knew I would, and as painful as that felt, it was also a relief. If I left on my own accord then I wouldn’t have to lose Colton in some other heartbreaking way. I knew only too well the grief of having someone ripped away from your life without a moment of warning. I couldn’t go through that again.
There was no saying it would happen but it was still a risk. And I didn’t do risks .
Cathy came in to clear more dishes and I jumped up to help. She tried to refuse, but I insisted and followed her into the kitchen.
As the sky turned dark, I could see the small lights in the backyard switch on. The large bay window above the sink gave me a full view of the family garden. Colton and his dad had slipped outside to look over his father’s latest project. It was an old row boat he had been restoring. I watched on as the two men buzzed over the bust up old thing.
Cathy passed me another wet dish to dry, rolling her eyes. “He’s been going on about that damn boat since last year. Finally, I caved. Two days later, and it’s in my backyard.”
“Does it even float?”
She snickered and passed me another dish. “He’ll find a way. That’s one thing you need to learn about these Haxley boys, Tia. They don’t give up easily. And even if that boat sinks to the bottom of Shard Lake, Donny will jump right in and pull it back out. Colton’s the same.”
“He is?”
“Oh, yeah. One time he went camping with his friends. Must have been around thirteen years old. He broke his arm on the first day, jumping over a ravine. He stayed the whole weekend up on that mountain, camping out and having fun. He didn’t even bother to come home. He just strapped it down with an old shirt and carried on.”
I glanced out the window at him and smiled. “He’s not afraid of anything, is he?”
“Nope.” She giggled, drying her hands on a towel. “You take a look around my house, Tia. Every photo of him, he’s wearing some kind of cast or bandage. By some miracle we haven’t had any serious accidents with him yet.”
Lost at Heart: A Steamy Small Town Romance (Bluerock Series Book 2) Page 14