So am I. “Tell her I stopped by, would you?”
The man gave a barely-there shake of his head and stepped away from the window. Nick couldn’t be sure, but the old guy looked let down, his lips pressing onto a tight line. “I’ll do that.”
What else was Nick supposed to say? If his sister couldn’t drag it out of him, then Sid’s neighbor had zero chance. Although for a split second there, Nick had thought about spilling his guts and asking for some advice. But with he and Sid heading to different states, and her needing more of a commitment from him, what was the point?
“Thanks,” Nick said, glad to know Sid was okay and apparently moving forward. That was what he truly wanted for her—a happy future.
*
Nick hit the snooze button one last time before stretching his arms over his head and rolling out of bed. The hardwood floor cool under his feet, he took a few steps to stare out the window of his apartment in Boise. Like it had for the past two weeks, the blue sky and mountain range in the distance rivaled the beauty of Marietta, but every time he’d stepped into the fresh air, something felt wrong.
He shrugged off the thought like he always did, showered, dressed, and grabbed a cup of coffee.
An hour later, he stood in a classroom with twenty pairs of second grade eyes looking up at him with curiosity and…hope. A recent tragedy in the community had landed him here. The new guy, whose special skills and training were welcome additions in the field, and whose personal experiences made him the perfect person to address accidents and loss.
Nick folded himself into a tiny plastic chair on the round colorful rug. Nerves didn’t usually grip him, but this crowd, with their small, expectant faces, had him rubbing the back of his neck, hoping he didn’t screw up.
He talked about his job. He talked about fire safety and prevention. He talked about himself, with far more ease than he’d anticipated. Kids apparently brought out the motor-mouthed boy of his youth. When finished, he asked if anyone had any questions. Every child’s hand, but one little girl’s, shot into the air.
Talk about an interrogation. They asked great questions. Smart ones. Funny ones that lessened some of the tension children should never be faced with. The morning had turned out to be his favorite one since arriving in Idaho.
The little girl with light brown hair and big green eyes, who coincidentally reminded him of Sid when she was young, hung back when the rest of the kids ran outside for recess. With a nod from the teacher, Nick knelt beside her at her desk.
“Hi, Becca.”
She continued to work on her drawing without answer.
“That’s a really nice picture. I bet the person with the big ears is your little brother.”
That got her to peek at him for a second. The picture of a family—her family Nick guessed—tore a hole through his gut. She’d lost her dad in a fluke accident during a controlled wildland fire.
“My sister used to draw me with a mouth that was wider than my face.”
“Did she call you big mouth?” Becca asked curiously.
“She did.” Nick caught a tiny smile from the young girl. It put one on his face. “Know why?”
“You tattled?”
Nick shook his head. “No. I could eat a double cheeseburger and she couldn’t. It made her really mad.”
“I like grilled cheese.”
“I like that, too.”
Becca flipped to the previous page on her drawing pad and tore out the single piece of paper to give to him. He stared at the picture, touched by what he saw.
“This is me?” The blue eyes, dark hair, and fireman’s hat gave him the hint.
She nodded without looking at him.
“Thank you.”
“Becca,” the teacher said, “I’d like for you to go play outside for a few minutes while I walk Mr. Palotay out.”
Becca put her crayon down and stood. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to him before turning and walking out the open classroom door.
He swallowed the giant knot in his throat and watched, as a little girl who had suffered far more than was fair, still have the grace to say those two little words to him. He should have said them to her.
In that moment, one person, the person, who meant everything to him flashed through his mind for the thousandth time. This is all wrong. Nick wasn’t where he wanted to be. He was fucking miserable in Idaho because Sid wasn’t with him.
Each night, he’d fallen into bed physically and mentally satisfied and made excuses for why satisfied was good enough. He’d skipped Friday night beers with a bunch of the guys twice, turned down a date with the nice barista who served him his weekend coffee, and when Rowan called to check in on him, lied and said he was great.
Lying pissed him off. Going through the motions from sun up to sun down was no way to live. Feeling more alone than he’d ever felt before sucked.
He was in love with Sid and had been too chicken shit to do something about it.
Well, someday was today, right now, and for the rest of his days if she’d let him. Like a fish over dry land, Nick needed Sid to breathe.
He folded his drawing, grateful to Becca for reminding him to treasure each day, waved good-bye to the kids on the playground, and took off to let his supervisor know he’d made a mistake.
*
Cassidy took one last walk along the river. Snow no longer topped the mountains of Paradise Valley and she idly wondered if she’d miss it before shaking her head. Of course she would. Marietta would always be home, always hold a special place in her heart.
Nowhere did Mother Nature better.
And nowhere held so many memories.
Spring’s warm breeze rustled the leaves in the trees and rippled the steel blue water. A pair of paddle boarders floated toward her. On one of the boards, a black Lab sat up front, looking like the king of the world. Cass grinned and moved to the edge of the water to snap some pictures.
She planted her feet and lifted her camera from around her neck. Do not fall on your butt. There won’t be a handsome fireman to help you up.
Cass zoomed in on the dog. She didn’t normally take animal shots, but this was too good to pass up. Sensing her, she guessed, since she’d never had a dog, the Lab looked at her. A split second later, the canine dove into the water and started swimming toward her.
“Toby!” the teenager on the board shouted.
Toby didn’t turn around. Cassidy liked dogs, so stood her ground in case help was needed to get the dog back on the board.
“Sorry, lady. I think your camera set him off,” the young guy called out.
“No worries,” Cass yelled back.
Only as Toby reached the embankment, there was no easy ground for his paws to gain purchase with all the dense vegetation. Toby’s owner paddled closer, kept calling the dog’s name, but Toby seemed to want out of the water.
Cass knew if she tried to help Toby up, she’d probably end up in the river. If she didn’t have her camera with her, she’d happily go for it, but the dog wasn’t in danger, just excited to see her, and Toby’s owner was almost within reach now.
“Need some help?”
Cassidy jumped. That voice. She’d heard it in her head every day for the past several weeks. Without waiting for an answer, Nick filled the space beside her. His arm brushed hers.
“Hey, boy,” he said, easily bending down to spin Toby around so the dog swam away from the riverbank and back to his owner where he easily climbed back onto the board.
“Thanks, dude!”
“No problem,” Nick said, wiping a few splashes of water off his face.
Cassidy took a big step back. She didn’t know what to do with Nick’s surprise appearance. Run? Stay and act like seeing him again didn’t make her heart race? Crap.
He straightened. Turned a panty-melting smile on her. And then in some weird, slow-motion pantomime lost his footing and fell on his rear end, cursing all the way down.
She tried really hard not to laugh. “Are you okay?”
“I think I just bruised my tailbone.”
“Ouch. Give me your hand. I’ll help you up.”
As usual, when his midnight blue eyes met hers everything around her faded away but the two of them. The air crackled when their hands met.
“Hi,” he said, once back on two feet.
“Hi.”
“Follow me to safer ground?”
Cass didn’t think anywhere safe with Nick, but she nodded because, with her curiosity piqued, she’d follow him to wherever he wanted to go.
Back on the trail, she was surprised to see a tandem bike left unattended. Even more shocked when Nick said, “Take a ride with me?”
“Nick, what’s going on? Why aren’t you in Idaho?” If I get on that bike what does it mean?
He cupped her cheek. “I promise I’ll explain. Come on.” He straddled the front seat, looked over his shoulder and waited.
For weeks she’d tried to get over him and failed.
She climbed onto the back seat. They rode in silence under the powder blue sky until they reached a small picnic area with two tables. A red-checkered tablecloth, wicker food basket, and bouquet of red roses sat atop one of the tables. Nick parked the bike and hopped off. Standing beside her, he held out his hand. She took it as she dismounted, then keeping their fingers intertwined, he led her to the decorated table.
“You planned a picnic for us?” Her voice cracked, giving away her nervousness. She ran her free hand down the side of her pants to dry the perspiration on her palm.
“I did.”
She sat first. He took the spot beside her, straddling the bench so he faced her. What she dared to read in his expression turned her inside out. Yep, that’s my heart wanting to claw its way into your chest so it can hump yours.
Rather than touch her again, he gripped the edges of the wood seat.
“It’s lovely.” Stop thinking about heart humping and focus on food.
“Sid.”
“Yes?” She forced herself to keep her eyes locked on his.
“I’m sorry,” he said with so much sincerity she could feel it on her skin. “I’m sorry for walking away, and I never should have let you go that night at the diner. I want to be the guy who’s there for you. I want to help you get over your fear of matches and flames. I’m the perfect guy for it actually.”
She wanted to focus on the perfect guy part, but instead she said, “It’s okay.”
“It’s not. I—”
Cass pressed two fingers to his mouth. “I’m glad you didn’t come after me.” She’d needed to help herself that night. “Because,” she continued when lines creased his forehead, “it gave me the opportunity to work through it on my own.” She told him everything, a sense of accomplishment and pride stealing over her again.
“You’re amazing.”
“Thanks.”
He brushed a wisp of hair away from her temple. “I’m about to do something I’ve never done before so bear with me?”
She’d bear anything for him. Everything. She regretted having him and losing him because she’d needed all or nothing. If he sat here to ask for any part of her, she’d be his again. They’d figure out a way to make this work. “Is there fried chicken in that basket?”
“There is,” he said around a smile.
“Okay, then. Go ahead.”
“I hated Idaho. It was a nice place and the job was good, but I was missing the one thing I realized I can’t live without.”
“The ocean?” He’d been a navy guy for the past twelve years. It made sense.
“I do miss that. Not sure what I was thinking with the landlocked work, but, no, that’s not it.” His gaze moved around her face before settling on her mouth. He leaned forward, brushed his lips against hers. “I missed you. You matter most to me, and I don’t care where I am as long as I’m with you. Life isn’t always fair. But I don’t have a life if you’re not in it.”
Heart jackhammering in her chest, she managed to whisper, “Meaning?” She needed him to spell it out; afraid to trust the path her thoughts had taken.
“I quit the job in Idaho. I don’t have to figure out my next career step yet. And when I do, I want it to be something we decide on together. We’ve never really talked about my job and it comes with risks.”
Her body shook with gratitude and love. So much love it overwhelmed her. She’d never ask him to give up something he was passionate about, but his asking her to help with his decision calmed any fears that might come up. She’d read Rowan’s article and knew how devastating losing his friends on the sub fire had been. Add in Sloane, and he’d never wish that feeling on someone else. She knew down to her bones he’d take extra care of himself if he had someone waiting for him.
“I love you, Sid. You’re my home. The person I want to share every day with starting right now. Please tell me I’m not too late. It wrecked me to think I’d never kiss you again or hold you in my arms and whisper how beautiful you are.”
Cassidy flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. A messy and wild kiss she poured all the admiration and affection she had for him into. When she came up for air she took his face in her hands and said, “You’re not too late. I love you, too.”
He crashed his mouth against hers. It was his turn to show her how much he cared and he succeeded spectacularly. Her lips were sore, her head woozy, her heart full when he pulled away several minutes later.
“I will never get enough of that,” he said.
She turned to straddle the seat and put her hands on his thighs, canted her head to nip at his earlobe. “Me either.”
“I also want to strip you naked and come inside you against this table.”
A rush of warm wet heat settled between her legs. “What are you waiting for?”
He did some curse-groan-mumble thing under his breath. “I didn’t surprise you out here to do that.” Taking both her hands in his he brought them to his mouth, kissed her knuckles. “This was supposed to be romantic and a chance for me to fully apologize.”
“Apology accepted. And I’m sorry, too.”
“When do you fly to LA?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I’ll catch a flight, too. I meant what I said. I want to be where you are. I’ll find a place to rent and—”
“Don’t.”
“Shit. I’m moving too fast. Making assumptions I shouldn’t.”
“No. It’s not that.” She squeezed his hands, kept them firmly in hers. “If you’re okay with it, you could move in with me.”
His eyes twinkled. “Thanks, but I don’t think that would go over very well with Rowan.”
“She’s not going to be there.” At his frown she added, “She’s staying in Marietta. You haven’t talked to her?”
“Not in a week. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, and I’ll let her fill you in on her good news. So…it happens that I have this really great condo all to myself.”
“Done.”
Bursting with happiness only touched the surface of the emotions swirling inside Cass. “Yeah? You know I travel a lot, right?”
“I could come with if you want. Other times, I’ll keep the bed warm.”
“I love both those ideas.”
“I love you. And plan to show you how much every single day.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her closer so she straddled his lap. “How about I feed you the fried chicken and we get out of here?”
“Or…”
“Or?”
“We could take it with us and eat it in bed.”
Nick jumped to his feet with her in his arms. “That’s a much better plan, but fair warning. I may forget about the chicken.”
Cassidy giggled. “Me, too.”
The End
The Bachelor Auction Returns
Bachelor for Hire by Charlene Sands
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Falling for Her Bachelor by Robin Bielman
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For more stories from The Bachelor Auction, check out…
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About the Author
When not attached to her laptop, USA Today Bestselling Author and RITA Finalist, Robin Bielman loves to read, take hikes with her hubby, and frequent coffee shops. A California girl, the beach is her favorite place for fun, relaxation, and inspiration.
She loves to go on adventures, and has skydived, scuba dived, parasailed, gotten lost in the wilderness (and only suffered a gazillion bug bites for it) hiked to waterfalls, and swam with dolphins. In her spare time she also tries to put her treadmill to good use while watching her favorite TV shows, indulges her sweet tooth, and plays a mean game of sock tug of war with her cute, but sometimes naughty dog, Harry.
Writing is a dream come true, and she still pinches herself to be sure it’s real. She lives in Southern California with her high school sweetheart husband and loves to connect with readers.
Get the scoop on Robin, her books, and sign up for her newsletter on her website at robinbielman.com.
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Falling for Her Bachelor (Bachelor Auction Returns Book 2) Page 14