Craving Country

by Gorman, A.

  “Good. Then I don’t have to.” She tilted her head to one side as his lips came down on hers, soft and yet possessive, as if he wanted to reclaim what they’d lost all those years ago. Ariel slid her arms around his waist, holding him close as his tongue slipped into her mouth. Their bodies fit together like they’d never been apart.

  But did they belong together now? She couldn’t stay here, and he wouldn’t leave. One kiss wasn’t enough. She drew back and pressed her hands on his chest.

  Eddie stole another taste of her lips then glanced over the top of her head. “We’re being watched.”

  She turned and gasped as their entire class and even the restaurant staff stood in the dining room, applauding their kiss. “Well, I wanted the spotlight. I may as well bask in it.” She pulled away from him and yanked the sliding glass door aside, stepping into the dining room to live out her fantasy. As her hand slipped from Eddie’s grasp, she turned to reach for him.

  But he folded his arms across his chest, encouraging her with a nod and a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Go.”

  Is this how he would’ve said goodbye? She didn’t know and never wanted to find out.

  Eddie hung back, nursing a beer while Ariel stood surrounded by their classmates as she gushed about her restaurant. “Just last week I got a five-star review from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. They love my food. They called me a shining star in the culinary industry.”

  He cringed as the lie tumbled easily from her lips. He had to stop her, but how? Kiss her again? He set the half-full beer glass on a table and moved forward, but Patti stepped in front of him.

  Ariel glowed among her admirers. “As soon as I get back, I’m going to be shooting the pilot for my Food Network show.”

  “That’s just so amazing!” Mrs. Wooten clasped her hands together and sighed. “I can’t believe you’re a star.”

  Patti snorted. “No, you shouldn’t believe it. It’s all a lie.”

  “Patti, don’t.” Eddie grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away from the growing crowd, but she jerked free and turned on him.

  “Oh, come on, Eddie. Her restaurant was all over the news last month. We all heard about the E. coli outbreak and how she had to shut down for good.”

  Eddie’s heart stopped as silence swept the room. Besides Ariel, Mrs. Wooten appeared to be the only person shocked by Patti’s claims.

  “What?” Color drained from Ariel’s face. “You couldn’t have heard about that.”

  Patti whirled and gloated at her. “You were headline news on all the TV stations here. ‘Chef with Bitterweed roots embroiled in scandal.’ It was a freaking media circus!” And Patti reveled in her role as ringmaster.

  Eddie’s heart started again, racing as he pushed through the crowd to get to Ariel. He slid his arm around her and pressed his lips to her ear. “I’m sorry.” Everyone in the restaurant had gathered around them. If anyone in town had somehow missed the story, they all knew about it now.

  Patti laughed. “The news reports were loaded with drama. People got sick, went to the hospital…” Mock concern twisted her face. “Didn’t someone die?”

  “No one died.” Ariel wrung her hands. “The board of health cleared me of any wrongdoing. The outbreak wasn’t my fault.”

  “That doesn’t matter.” Patti marched in her face. “All the blame fell on you and your hoity-toity restaurant became a pile of shit because you served bad lettuce.”

  “I didn’t know.” Ariel trembled, and her words strangled.

  “And you thought that I’d never amount to anything.” Patti drew herself up, standing proud over her shamed classmate. “My restaurant is flourishing, and I haven’t killed anyone.”

  “I never killed anyone!”

  “No, you just killed your career. But hey, welcome back to Bitterweed, baby. It’s so good to see you fail.”

  “I never should’ve come back.” Ariel swallowed hard and clutched her stomach.

  “You’re damn right you shouldn’t have. Stay in the city where you belong. You and your snobby friends and your fancy food. Nobody here cares about that shit.”

  Eddie stepped closer to Patti, his gut twisting in knots. “Back off.” He clenched his fists, fighting the urge to wrap his fingers around her throat to make her stop talking.

  “Hell no,” Patti snarled. “She’s been a snob ever since high school, hell, all her life. Fifteen years later, she comes back to lord it over us all.”

  Ariel gasped. “I wasn’t a snob. I just didn’t have the same interests as you. I wanted more from my life.”

  “More what? Fame? You sure got that. I’ll bet Food Network is thrilled to have a killer chef in its lineup.”

  Ariel shook her head. “There is no show. We didn’t even shoot the pilot.” She shuddered, and her eyes dimmed. “Everything’s gone. My restaurant, my reputation…all gone.” She raised a quivering hand to wipe away the tears trickling down her cheek, smearing black mascara over her pale face.

  Eddie growled. “Why’d you have to do that, Patti? We all knew.”

  “You knew?” Fire returned to Ariel’s eyes.

  Shit. “Yeah, it was on the news.”

  “No, you knew? And you didn’t say anything?”

  “Darlin’, I didn’t know what to say.”

  “I can’t believe you let me walk in here and…oh my God, Eddie!” Her white face turned as red as her dress. She shoved him and ran out the door.

  He stumbled after her, but Patti caught his arm.

  “Do you really think she wants you to follow her? You didn’t go after her the last time she left. What makes you think it’s going to be any different now?”

  “Because I’m not gonna make the same mistake twice.”

  Eddie ran out to the parking lot just as his Mustang roared onto the highway, heading west. Damn it, was she running back to Minneapolis in his car? He thought she wouldn’t take off if she was driving a borrowed vehicle. Apparently not. He jumped in his truck and took off after her, but the old engine barely kept up with the Mustang’s horsepower. She could’ve left him in the dust if she knew how to handle the powerful car. He nearly lost her around a curve but spotted the car’s distinctive taillights when she turned off the highway onto a dirt road. Memories guided him. Is she going to the barn? Does she know I’m following? Maybe she wants me to.

  The Mustang’s taillights dimmed as he approached the decaying structure. Turning off the truck’s headlights, he parked behind an old oak tree and watched the moonlight glint off her sequined dress as she picked her way through the brush toward the barn. “That place isn’t safe anymore.” He slipped out of the truck and followed her, keeping his distance so he wouldn’t scare her off again. Crickets chirped, surrounding him as he ducked from one tree to another.

  One of the old double doors had collapsed entirely, and the other hung from its hinges, the rotting wood pointing daggers at anyone who approached. She paused in the opening and peered into the darkness. Then she stepped inside.

  “Ariel, wait!” Eddie bolted from his hiding place, catching up with her as she turned to gasp at him. “This place is rotting apart. The whole thing could fall on you.”

  She backed up a step, further into the decaying barn. “Don’t come near me.”

  He ignored her and closed the distance between them with a quick step, grabbing her arm and pulling her out from under the creaking roof. “Trust me. I just want to keep you safe.”

  “Keep me safe?” She attacked him, pounding his chest with flying fists. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me go in there and flaunt my false success? That’s what set Patti off!”

  Her fingernail struck his face, leaving a burning sting behind. He grabbed her flailing arms and pinned them to her sides as he backed her against the car, forcing her to look at him. “Because I believe in you!”

  “Believe in me?” A bitter laugh escaped her as she struggled to pull free. “I’m a fucking failure!”

  He dared to let go of one
of her wrists and cup her chin. “But you’ll overcome this. You always have.”

  “How?” The fight went out of her, and her lower lip trembled. “What kind of success can I find now?”

  “What kind do you want?” Hopefully something that would keep her with him this time.

  Ariel blinked at him, barely catching the tears threatening to roll down her cheeks. “What does that mean?”

  “Do you want money, fame, a show on Food Network?”

  A few months ago, she would’ve responded, yes, without a doubt. But she suspected Eddie wasn’t finished, and she wanted to see what other options he offered.

  “Or do you want love, family, and a good dog?”

  After her mother died, her aunt had taken in their family dog. Ariel had wanted to, but her building wouldn’t allow pets.

  “I want…” Could she have it all? “I don’t know anymore.”

  He took her hand and led her to the riverbank. The noisy crickets ceased their chatter as they strolled through the grass. Ariel kicked her shoes into the wildflowers, the damn bitterweed, then sat on a rock to dangle her toes in the chilly rushing stream.

  “You still love the water.” Eddie sat beside her, his dark eyes glittering in the moonlight.

  “It’s where I belong.” The cool river swirled up to her ankles. “The water flows around me. It doesn’t force me to become something else to fit its ideal.”

  “I never wanted you to be anything but yourself.”

  “I know.” She blinked again, and her eyelashes turned wet. “Why does everyone else hate me?”

  He shifted closer and reached out to stroke her arm. “You acted like you were better than us, and no one ever understood why. You were born here just like everyone else, but you seemed to think you were too good to be here.”

  His words stung, but his touch drew her closer to him. “No, it wasn’t like that. I saw how my parents struggled, how hard they worked for nothing. I wanted better for my life, and I knew I wouldn’t find it here. So I got out as soon as I could.”

  “You left me.” His eyes hardened, and he withdrew his hand.

  Ariel’s face heated. How long had he been waiting to shoot that accusation at her? It wasn’t about him. “I left to pursue my dream!” Cold water splashed up to her knees as she stood and marched onto the grassy bank.

  “Yeah?” Eddie scrambled up from the rocks and followed her. “How’d that work out for you?”

  Her wet feet squished as she stepped into her shoes then whirled to face him. “Didn’t you have dreams? Or is this piece of shit town good enough for you?”

  He caught up to her and grabbed her arms, pulling her close. His eyes softened, and for a moment, she thought he might kiss her. “All I ever dream about is spending my life with you.”

  Present tense again. “You still do?”

  “Always.” This time he kissed her—hard and hot—a sharp contrast to his gentle words.

  She responded with equal force, nicking his tongue with her teeth as it swept her mouth. He nipped her lower lip, and she felt it in the heat pooling between her legs. She staggered back, panting. “Why didn’t you come after me?”

  “Because I belong here,” he answered too quickly. “Your world of fancy things…that’s not for me. This is my home.” He held out his hand, and she took it, following him through the shadowy woods to the Mustang.

  They couldn’t go into the barn and hide in the hayloft like they did in high school, so they leaned back against the hood of the car, staring at the stars through the trees.

  One thing had been bugging her for fifteen years. “You waited for me to come back? All this time?”

  “I knew you would.” He smiled and laced his fingers with hers. “This is your home no matter how much you deny it.” He winked and squeezed her hand. “And I’m here.”

  Ariel laughed. God, I never should’ve left him. She should’ve dragged him along with her. She was going to ask him to come, but when he never showed up at the barn, she knew what his answer would’ve been. “Pretty sure of my feelings for you, aren’t you?”

  He leaned close, his lips hot and soft on her ear. “Always.”

  A heated shiver shot down her spine. She’d wanted him to be her first. That was another thing she’d wanted to ask him that night. She turned into him and ran her fingertip down the buttons on his shirt. “I’ve been with other guys, you know.” He doesn’t need to know that!

  “It’s been fifteen years.” Laughter underlined his words as he caressed her cheek. “If you’d never been with anyone else, I’d be a little worried.”

  Whew. Of course, if he had no reason to worry, then…“Have you been with other women?”

  “Several.” Moonlight illuminated his smirk.

  She shoved him and sat back. “You don’t have to brag.”

  He slid off the hood to stand directly in front of her. “Isn’t that what you came here to do?” His eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

  Her heels sank into the ground as she jumped off the car, planting her against him. She grabbed his firm biceps, and he caught her to keep from toppling over. “I wanted to come to the reunion and live my fantasy of being a big deal in this town. To prove that I’d made something of myself.” Wow. Her plans had failed spectacularly.

  “Is that the only reason you came home?” He rubbed her arms from her elbows to her shoulders and back as if seeking comfort.

  “No. There’s another part of the fantasy I didn’t dare pursue.” But she should have. From the beginning. And if she was honest with herself, she had. The dream about showing off at the reunion hadn’t got her out of bed. The thought of seeing him had. She slid her hand over his pounding heart. Tell him! “You. Kissing me.”

  “Just kissing?” He brushed his nose against her cheek, his lips a breath away from hers.

  “So much more.” The words escaped in a breathless rush an instant before his mouth came down on hers with intent and purpose. More? Yes, now!

  She pushed back, panting as the invitation she’d planned to give him long ago rolled off her lips. “Make love to me, Eddie.”

  His cock hardened, jutting against her with swift certainty. Eddie could’ve let his carnal reaction serve as his answer, but he needed to say words. Speak, idiot! “Yes,” he managed to croak through dry lips. He clasped her face in his hands and met her gaze. “Yes,” he said, biting off the word so she’d have no doubts. And neither would he.

  Ariel leaned back on the hood of the Mustang, pulling Eddie with her as she sat down. He stepped between her parted thighs, sliding her skirt up and stroking her leg while they kissed. His whole body trembled as they touched. Memories rattled him. Kissing in the front seat of his truck. Slipping his hand under her shirt and stroking her small, soft breasts, stopping with a painful hard-on mashed against his zipper when she said they’d gone too far.

  She moaned in his mouth and pressed against him as his hand slid behind her, his fingers toying with the zipper of her dress. “Please.”

  He drew his hand away to cup her cheek. “We don’t have to rush. There’s no curfew tonight.”

  “Waiting fifteen years isn’t slow enough for you?” She reached for his belt buckle and tugged it open with a swift yank.

  He choked on a laugh as she pulled his zipper open then shoved his jeans down his thighs. His naked cock smacked into her hot palm.

  “You’re not wearing underwear.” Her fingers curled around his erection in a twisting stroke.

  “I never have.” Heat licked his body.

  Ariel gave him a pretty pout. “Why didn’t I know that?”

  Whatever he might have said faded away as she bent down to suck him. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he gasped as her tongue swirled around his hard dick. God, he’d imagined her doing this for so long, but he had to stop her soon. He didn’t recover as fast as he did in high school. Many nights he’d come in his pants while sucking her breasts only to get hard again a few minutes later. She nev
er knew.

  He bent over, gasping for breath as he pulled her zipper down. Her dress parted to expose a black satin bra strap. Eddie smiled and slipped his fingers under it, pushing up with his thumb. The strap snapped apart, and she sat up, clutching her loose top to her breasts.

  “You can still undo it with one hand.” She smiled.

  “I haven’t forgotten how to do that.” He hooked a finger in the front of her dress and pulled it down, exposing the breasts he’d longed to touch again. To kiss, lick, and suck until she gasped and cried out. Had he given her an orgasm back then? They didn’t know it at the time, but now he suspected he might have.

  She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder as he cupped her breast. “You were the first man to make me come.”

  Her confirmation made him smile as he dragged his thumb over her taut nipple.

  “And you did it so well.” Her arms went slack, and he leaned back slightly to let her dress slide to the grass in a pool of sparkling red.

  He pressed her down on the car and caught both breasts in his hands, sucking each fat tip in turn. The hood bowed underneath them with a resounding thud as he crawled on top of her, but he didn’t care. He’d dent the thing to hell and back fucking her. At least the damage would stick around.

  Ariel hooked her toes in his belt loops and pulled his pants down, leaving him in nothing but his shirt and her in flimsy lace panties. She’d never been this naked with him before. Eddie had only ever taken off her bra under her shirt, and sometimes she’d let him take a peek at her bare breasts. But now only a tiny scrap of fabric kept him from penetrating her. She had to be rid of it. “Take it off.”

  “Huh?” A wet nipple popped from between his lips as he pushed up on his elbows.

  She wriggled under him. “Take my panties off.” She rolled them down her hips as far as she could reach. “I want you.”

  “Oh.” Eddie swept the bunched-up lace down past her knees, and she kicked them off. A gasp escaped him when he looked back at her. “You’re naked.”