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GOING TO BE YOURS
Samantha chase
TABLE OF CONTENTS
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Epilogue
About Samantha Chase
One
IF HAILEY BENNETT walked in right now, he’d kiss her.
Like seriously take her in his arms and kiss her.
Of course that might mean that Ty would kick his ass, but it would totally be worth it.
Will Campbell had never been more excited about a town festival than he was right now. Even though the town of Sapphire Falls seemed to have more than their share of events, he had a feeling that this new one was going to be his favorite!
“What are you grinning at?” his boss Dylan asked as he stepped away from the garage bay of Sapphire Falls Auto Care and headed toward Will.
Holding up the flyer, Will knew he was still smiling like an idiot. “Halloween festival. The first annual Halloween festival. Check it out!” He handed the paper to Dylan but immediately began reading it all rather than letting Dylan see it for himself. “A haunted hay ride in a hay maze over at Travis Bennett’s place, a round of zombie paintball over at Tucker Bennett’s, a haunted house, a monster mash costume party in the square and…a kissing booth.”
“Oh no,” Dylan groaned and quickly shoved the flyer back in Will’s hand.
“What? What’s so ‘oh no’?”
Dylan turned and looked at him with an expression that said it all. “Seriously?”
“Okay, fine. But this could be it! This could finally be my chance!”
“Will, seriously, dude. Let this go. Move on already.”
If it were that easy, Will would. But for some reason, he couldn’t. Three years ago during the annual town festival, he’d been working the kissing booth when she stepped up. Long dark hair, big green eyes, and a smile that was just-this-side of naughty. It was like every romantic stereotype you could imagine – Cupid’s arrow, being thunderstruck, tongue-tied, seeing stars…you name it, Will felt it. But after one mind-blowing kiss, she was gone.
Except…she showed up again for the Fourth of July festivities.
And the Christmas festivities.
And the Valentine’s Day festivities.
She’d come back for those events for three years running and each time, she’d kissed him stupid and then disappeared. And the worst part? Besides her disappearing? No one seemed to know who she was! Will had pretty much made himself – and half the town – crazy trying to find out her name and where she was from, and every time he got the same response – no one had any idea.
How was that possible? How could someone show up for multiple town events for three years without anyone noticing? By the third time he’d seen her, Will tried his best to strike up a conversation with her, but the line at the booth was always long and sometimes a little rowdy and she had cut him off – with a kiss – before he said no more than hello.
And by the time she stepped away, all the blood in his head had gone south and he was too dazzled to even remember his own name let alone remember to ask hers!
He had been anxious about having to wait so long for the Christmas pageant – since it was only the end of August – and now Hailey Bennet threw him a lifeline.
Maybe he’d go across town and find her and kiss her anyway.
Beside him, Dylan cleared his throat. “And what makes you think this time is going to be any different? You’ve been unsuccessful for three years. Three! What makes you think you’re going to succeed at the Halloween festival?”
“Because this time, I’m going to have a plan,” Will said simply.
“As opposed to all the other times when you…you know…had a plan?”
Will rolled his eyes dramatically. “Those weren’t very well thought out. This time I’ll make sure that I have a backup at the kissing booth so that as soon as she goes to walk away, I can quickly step out and go after her!”
“Will,” Dylan began calmly, “that’s what you said two years ago at the Christmas festival. And what happened?”
“I spilled hot chocolate on myself and burned my arm.”
“And at the Valentine’s Day right after that?”
“I knocked over the candy heart display.”
“And do I even need to remind you about what happened on the Fourth of July?”
“Did we really need that many fireworks?” he asked incredulously. “Everyone seemed fine with the sparklers that were left. It wasn’t a big deal!”
“Do you hear yourself? And for the record, it was a big deal. People enjoy the fireworks show and thanks to you that year, we only had enough fireworks for a five minute show!”
“Why was there a drink stand so close to the supply of fireworks? Maybe that’s the real question here!”
Laughing, Dylan patted him on the back and turned to walk away. “I don’t think this town can handle another one of your plans, Will. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Oh yeah? Well…my last plan helped you and Chloe, didn’t it?”
Dylan turned back and smiled. “It did. And I believe we’ve thanked you for that numerous times.”
Will nodded and smiled back. “Yes you did. But that just shows that my plans can work.”
“One time out of twenty doesn’t really support that statement.”
“It wasn’t twenty times…”
Dylan leveled him with a stare. “Really?”
“Okay, how about this – if my plan fails this time, then I’m done. I’ll give up on her. Hell, I’ll give up volunteering in the kissing booth for all Sapphire Falls festivals forever. How’s that?”
“A little extreme.”
Will’s shoulders sagged. “So what am I supposed to do? How can a woman come to town for all these events when she clearly doesn’t know anyone? And nobody even sees her!”
“Will, people have seen her…”
“But they don’t know her. And I’m back to square one.”
They stood there in silence for a moment until Dylan finally said, “Then I guess you better get planning.”
Yes! And the first part of his plan? Find Hailey and thank her.
****
Serena Hughes looked at her calendar and sighed.
Christmas was still a little over three months away.
It wasn’t that she was overly enthused about the holiday itself, just some of the perks that went with it - namely the Sapphire Falls Christmas Pageant. Besides the festive atmosphere, the lights and the hot chocolate, there was the kissing booth. And no doubt, he’d be there again.
For the life of her, Serena didn’t know why she hadn’t been more proactive in introducing herself to the handsome guy who she’d been kissing for three years now. But…what started out as a dare from her cousin Peyton somehow turned into a silly tradition.
Kiss the hot guy and then walk awa
y.
This tradition officially sucked now.
Why? Because Serena had a feeling that her nameless kisser was a decent guy. She didn’t know for sure, but Peyton may have mentioned that she’d heard he was. Now if only she’d tell Serena his name! It was funny at first – the whole secretive thing – but now? Now she wanted to know him. What was his name? What did he do for a living? Did he think she was a crazy person? Stuff like that.
When she confronted her cousin about it, Peyton laughed and dared her to go and find out for herself. Serena now realized she should have done just that, but she told herself that too much time had passed and it would be awkward. Her cousin had always been a bit of a wild child with a snarky sense of humor and this was the first time that really bothered Serena. Now she just wished Peyton would be mature and actually help her rather than mock her.
Wishful thinking, but there it was.
Another sigh.
Then there was the whole distance thing. Serena wasn’t from Sapphire Falls, she was from Lincoln. Not that it was another country or anything, but it wasn’t right in her own backyard either. She had a life in Lincoln, a good life. Okay, maybe good was stretching it, but she had a decent job and a cute apartment.
Another sigh.
Her job currently sucked and the walls in her apartment were paper thin and even right now she could hear her next-door neighbor snoring.
“This is my life,” she murmured, resting her head in her hands. “Kissing guys and walking away and listening to my neighbor snore. Good times.”
Beside her, her cell phone beeped with an incoming text. Reaching for it, she saw it was none other than Peyton. Intrigued – since she’d just been thinking about her – she quickly tapped the screen, pulled up the message and read it. “Check your email.” That had Serena growling slightly as she stood and walked over to her desk where her laptop was. Sure she could have just checked it on her phone, but she preferred the full-screen of her computer.
Sure enough, there was an email from Peyton with a subject line of “OMG! Read Now!” Serena clicked on it and saw that it was some sort of forwarded message from the town of Sapphire Falls about their new Halloween festival. With every word she read, her eyes grew a little wider and her heart beat a little harder.
“Yes!” she cried, jumping up from her seat. “I don’t have to wait until Christmas!”
And that’s when it hit her.
She did not have to wait until Christmas.
Hell, she didn’t even have to wait until Halloween.
Serena’s mind began to swirl a bit with possibilities. She wanted to meet her mystery kisser because…well…the man had some serious kissing skills. But more than that, she just wanted to know him. That meant going to Sapphire Falls. She could easily call Peyton and ask her if she could come and stay with her, but there was a part of her that kind of wanted to do this on her own.
Just in case it didn’t go well.
That wasn’t entirely true. Serena just felt like this was something she should be mature about – which she really hadn’t been up to this point – and having a little less of an audience might be the way to go.
Less group effort, more one-on-one.
“Decision made,” she murmured, sitting back down. She took a minute to think about her next move before pulling up her calendar to decide when she could make her first secret trip to Sapphire Falls. The weekend was the most logical time but…she was going to have to carefully feel Peyton out and try to get a little information so she wasn’t wandering around blind.
A name.
An occupation.
Something. Anything!
Phone in hand, she pulled up Peyton’s number and hit send.
“Did you see it?” Peyton asked as soon as she answered the phone.
Serena laughed softly. “I did. I did,” she replied, trying to sound as blasé as possible. “So it looks like there’s going to be all kinds of stuff that weekend.”
“Definitely. This is the first one ever so I’m not even sure what to expect. But…there’s the kissing booth. You’re totally going to come for that, right?”
“I don’t know,” Serena said with a sigh. “It’s not like…you know…he’s even going to be there again. I mean…what are the odds?”
Peyton let out a hearty laugh. “You’re kidding, right? Will’s like a permanent fixture at the kissing booth! And I have a feeling that for the last couple of years, it’s been because of you!”
Will! He had a name! Serena had to be careful not to acknowledge her cousin’s slip of the tongue. “Somehow I doubt that,” she said instead. “The booth always has a long line and I can’t imagine any red-blooded American male not wanting to have the opportunity to kiss every girl in a thirty-mile radius.”
“Okay, you may have a point there.”
“Of course I do,” she said simply. “Anyway, I’ll mark my calendar and try to think of a good costume to wear. Any idea what you’re going as?”
“We seriously just found out about the festival today,” Peyton said with a chuckle. “You should go as something mysterious – like where you can wear a small mask or something! That would be perfect!”
“Why?”
“So no one will know it’s you, silly!”
“Peyton, other than you, no one in Sapphire Falls knows me. I don’t think we need to add any more mystique to the situation.”
“But you’re going to do it, right? You’re going to come and kiss him again?”
Oh yeah, Serena thought.
She was definitely coming to Sapphire Falls with every intention of kissing…Will.
And this time, without the aid of a kissing booth!
Two
SATURDAY MORNING, SERENA parked her car at the Stop gas station and went inside to the convenience store. She knew that Peyton was going into the city for the day so there was no chance of running into her, but she also had no idea where she was supposed to start on her search to find Will.
And for some reason, she did her best to be a little…incognito. Her hair was in a ponytail and she wore a baseball cap and a pair of big sunglasses.
All she was missing was a trench coat.
“I’m completely ridiculous,” she murmured as she walked up to the door.
Inside, she looked around for a minute and then grabbed a bottle of Coke and a bag of pretzels. Her stomach was a little rumbly and she figured she might stand out like a sore thumb eating by herself at the diner so it was safer just to eat a snack in her car. Although, as she made her way up to the register, she noticed the pizza and ice cream. Suddenly her miniscule snack wasn’t so appealing.
It didn’t take long for Serena to decide to just pay for the snack and get a slice of pizza too. There weren’t very many people sitting down at the few tables and chairs or at the counter, so she figured she’d be a responsible adult and sit down and eat.
And boy was she glad she did! The pizza was delicious – so much so that she ordered a second slice. She was just getting ready to take a bite when a small group of guys walked in. She’d taken off the sunglasses but she pulled her cap down a little bit – just enough to hide part of her face, but not enough to block her view.
None of them were Will.
Or at least…no, no…none of them were Will, she confirmed after a longer glance.
Although…if this was any sort of example of the male population in Sapphire Falls, she was going to go home, quit her job and move here permanently. Damn!
“So what are you going to do?” the one guy asked. Serena had no idea who they were, so she was going to call him Cute Guy Number One.
Cute Guy Number Two – equally hot and resembled the first guy enough to be his brother – said, “I’m not sure. It could be worth fixing but…do I really want to put the time and effort into it?”
And then there was a third cute guy – clearly no relation but hot nonetheless – who added his two cents. “That car is a classic. How could you just let it go? If for nothin
g else, fix it up and sell it.”
Ugh. Cars. There was almost nothing that made her eyes glaze over faster or bored her more than the topic of cars. What was the big deal about them? And why did guys have to talk about them so much? Giving up on listening to any more of their discussion, she took a bite of her second slice of pizza.
“Dylan said he was pretty swamped at the shop, but Will could look at it,” Cute Guy Number Two said, and at the sound of Will’s name, Serena’s ears perked up. True, it was a common name, but what if they were talking about her Will?
“Are you sure you’re comfortable with that?” Cute Guy Number One asked. “Will’s a good guy and all, but…he’s been a little distracted lately.”
All three guys chuckled.
“Still…he’s a great mechanic. I’ve seen some of the work he’s done on his own cars. He’s had a number of classic cars over the years. If you can get him to focus on work and not Halloween, you really can’t go wrong,” Number Three chimed in.
Halloween? Wasn’t that a little strange for a grown man to be distracted by Halloween? In August? Maybe the Will they were talking about and the Will she was looking for weren’t the same guy.
But before she could eavesdrop a little more, the men were walking out.
Well damn.
Sighing, Serena went back to finishing her pizza and quickly cleaned up and then simply stood and looked out at the town. Where was she supposed to start? Was she supposed to just drive around or walk around or…?
“You’re looking a little lost,” a voice said from behind her. “Can I help you with something?”
Turning around, Serena smiled at the older woman. “I…I was just sort of wondering if anything was going on in town today,” she said easily.
The woman smiled at her. “Just the usual hustle and bustle of shoppers. No festivals or anything like that. Although, if you stick around through the day, I’m sure it will seem like there’s a party over at the Come Again.”
“The Come Again?”
Nodding, the woman said, “Saturday night is always a good time to come in. Lots of music and dancing and normally just about everyone in town stops by.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Serena said, not really sure she’d be able to linger around town for that long without looking like some sort of crazy stalker – especially with nothing going on where she could blend in in the meantime.
Sapphire Falls: Going To Be Yours (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 1