Charmed by Chocolate (Love at the Chocolate Shop Book 6)
Page 15
“But…all our equipment is in there. And we need to—” Betsy stopped at the glare from Sage. “We’ll just walk around town to scout out areas,” Betsy said instead of what she was going to complain about. “Maybe Sage can explain how the scavenger hunt works.” She directed her remark to Sage as she pulled the keys out of her pocket and handed them to Leah.
“Once things calm down in here, sure, I can take a break and tell you about the coins and what we’ll do.” Sage stepped to the side so Leah could stand. “Go get him, honey, and don’t come back until you’ve told him exactly how you feel.”
Leah gave her a quick hug before she dashed out of the store and into the large SUV Betsy had rented, determined to do exactly that—find Wade and tell him how she felt.
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Her fingers danced nervously along the steering wheel as she pulled up beside Wade’s truck. She saw his footprints buried deep in the snow until they disappeared into the bush, and she groaned. She’d really been hoping he’d stayed in the truck, where it was warm.
After adjusting the scarf he’d made for her around her neck, Leah nudged the vehicle door with her hip and followed him, carrying the two cups of cocoa in her hands.
She tried to walk in his footsteps, but his stride was too long and rather than fall face-first into the snow, she sucked it up and made her own path, her toes freezing thanks to the rubber boots. What happened to all the snow melting, huh Dylan? Her brother really needed to start forecasting properly.
Ten minutes later, she found him.
He leaned against a tree, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes sorrowful as he watched her come to him.
She stopped a few feet away and breathed in the crisp air, letting it inflate her lungs and praying that he wouldn’t turn her away before she could share her heart.
“Sage sent me with this.” The words came out before she could stop them. She held out the cup, but he didn’t move.
“Is that the only reason you came out here in those godawful boots? Sure you can handle the cold and snow after living on the beach?” His voice, while soft, was edged like a sharp knife and cut deep.
She kicked her foot out in front of her. The boots weren’t so bad. Sure, they were yellow and stood out like a sore thumb and they did nothing to keep her feet warm. In fact, it was like the snow packed onto the boot with each step she took until her feet felt like they were ensconced in an igloo, but…
“Maybe I should have bought bright yellow snow boots. They’re kind of growing on me.”
She caught the tilt of his full lips as he struggled not to smile.
That gave her hope.
“Wade,” she breathed his name, her nerves all scattered, “I…” She couldn’t clear her thoughts enough, not with him looking at her like that.
Like he didn’t believe any good would come out of this conversation.
“Spit it out, Leah,” he said. There was a twinge of tenderness in his voice…at least, she hoped there was.
She breathed in deep.
“I didn’t like you leaving me like that.” She spoke with complete honesty, realizing that he deserved nothing less.
“I needed time to think.”
She swallowed hard. “I know. But…”
“But what?”
Leah pressed her fingers to her lips and pinched hard.
“But what, Leah?” Wade pushed himself away from the tree he’d leaned on and stood in front of her, his gaze steady.
She wanted to look away. Not because she was uncomfortable or what she had to say was anything but the truth, but because that was exactly what it was…the truth, and she was nervous about how he’d respond.
“You didn’t give me enough time to respond to your question.”
From the way his gaze melted as he watched her, she was very thankful she hadn’t looked away.
He didn’t say anything, just watched her. She grew warm beneath his gaze. Not toasty-warm-in-front-a-fire feeling, more like melting-from-his-smolder warm.
“Do you have any idea how long it took me to make this scarf?” He touched the wool around her neck, his fingers hooking through the holes, and then he pulled.
Only a few inches separated them now.
“Josie wouldn’t let me give up. I begged her to knit it for me, but she wouldn’t have it. Said it wouldn’t mean the same. I remember your reaction when you unwrapped it…do you?”
Remember? Of course she did. A scarf full of holes was the last gift she’d expected, and she was sure it had showed on her face. But what did that have to do with this?
“That scarf has always reminded me of our relationship. It’s not perfect and nowhere near what I thought it would be by now, but…” He ran his hand behind her head and threaded his fingers in her hair. “Every time I see you wear it, I think how perfectly it suits you. Like you suit me.”
“I suit you?” A flurry of swallows took flight inside her skin, and every part of her danced in a distinct but harried rhythm. They’d never been this close before. Not on purpose. She didn’t know where to look—his melt-worthy gorgeous blue eyes or his kiss-worthy amazing lips.
He pulled her closer.
She couldn’t breathe.
“You suit me. You don’t just make me a better person, you make me a different person. You make me want to be a better man—not just for you or for those around me, but for myself, too. You also exasperate me and drive me batty on the best of days, but I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. I want you in my life, Leah. But not like this.”
His warm breath brushed across her face, and she had a hard time concentrating on what he was saying to her.
“Not like this?” What was wrong with this? This seemed perfectly fine right now…especially if he kissed her. This would then be perfect.
“Not like this,” he repeated himself with a hint of laughter in his voice, as if knowing exactly what he was doing to her. “Not only as friends. I need more. I want more. If that’s too much for you…I won’t stick around and wait. I can’t. So I need you to decide.”
Leah licked her lips, her gaze now completely on his mouth. She watched him form the words, heard what he’d said, but it took a moment to register.
“You need me to decide.” She nodded her head and went to pull back slightly, as if to get her bearings, but his hold on her head wouldn’t let her move. “That’s why I’m here.” She looked him in the eyes, full on, and her heart melted by the look of love in his own.
“You’ve made a decision?”
She nodded before releasing the full throttle of her love for him in her smile.
“I love you, Wade Burns. I’ve loved you for a long time, but I was too afraid to admit it. I tried to tell you how I felt before I went on the show, but I think…I don’t think you heard me.” She swallowed hard and forced the words to come out before she could stop herself. “I thought you didn’t feel the same way anymore but didn’t know how to tell me, and it broke my heart. Then Betsy convinced me to go on that stupid show, and I made a bloody fool of myself, which made me come here. But I didn’t know how to face you after confessing how I felt and—”
“You were in the bath when you called me, weren’t you?” His voice deepened, his eyes turned a husky blue, and his fingers rubbed the back of her neck with mesmerizing strokes.
She nodded, completely embarrassed that he’d known. It had been the first time she’d ever called him like that…
“Do you have any idea what that does to a man? To know you’re talking to him, covered only with water and bubbles? I could barely concentrate on your words, Leah…and I had to hang up after I heard you move in the water. I could barely hear you, but the picture in my mind…”
“You couldn’t hear me?”
She knew the moment he was talking about. She could see it so clearly in her head. She’d said I love you and sat up in the water at the same time, moving fast enough that the water had spilled over the edge of the tub. The sound had echoed in her very small bathroom.
She should have known he hadn’t heard her.
“Tell me again,” Wade said.
No. Not said. Demanded. In a I-need-to-hear-you-say-it-before-I-drown type of insistence.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you,” she breathed.
“I love you.” She loved—with all her heart, she loved those very words, as if they were chocolate for her soul. She loved him with everything inside of her and if he-didn’t-kiss-her-this-very-instant-she-was-going-to-explode.
He closed the remaining distance between them. When he touched his lips to hers, she breathed out one final word that said everything she’d ever felt and would feel about this kiss.
“Finally.”
Chapter Eighteen
Leah sat at the small corner table in the Copper Mountain Chocolate Shop, a large mug of Sage’s amazing cocoa and a small box of assorted chocolates in front of her. Her fingers were wrapped around the warm mug and she flashed a warm and truly heartfelt smile at Betsy, who sat slightly off to the left.
“How did I feel about the name Lonely Leah?” She repeated Betsy’s question for the camera. “To be honest, it hurt. Sometimes, the truth hurts, right? But if it hadn’t been for that name forcing me to run home to heal my broken heart, I probably wouldn’t have built up the courage to tell Wade how I really feel about him.” She glanced out the window to where Wade rested against his pickup truck. He gave her a wink before he turned to talk with her brother.
The sun was just about to go down as she completed what Betsy promised would be the last of the plethora of interview segments for the Charmed feature. Segments where her and Wade spoke as a couple, where it was just Wade, then her, and then little side ones with her brother, Grams, and even Sage.
Betsy made true on her promise. They shot these segments all over town and focused on Marietta and the people here that Leah loved with all her heart.
“I was looking for love when I came on Charmed; I just didn’t realize that I was looking in the wrong place.” She said this, not only for Betsy and to help her save face when it came to her job, but also for all those who would watch the show from here in Marietta, those who already knew that her and Wade were meant to be together.
The butterflies in her stomach wouldn’t stop. She knew it had nothing to do with all the cocoa she’d been drinking today and everything to do with the man who stood outside the window.
The man who was hers.
After finding him out in the bush yesterday, after that life-changing kiss she’d finally experienced, her whole life changed.
At least, that was how it felt for her.
When she couldn’t handle her frozen toes anymore, they returned to their vehicles and drove back to Dylan’s house. They curled up on the couch, with Wade rubbing her feet as they talked about what this meant for them and their relationship.
Wade hadn’t been kidding when he said he couldn’t do this anymore.
He asked her to move back to Marietta full time, with him.
First thing this morning, Leah had left a voice message for her boss, asking if they could discuss some changes. She wanted to move back here, she really did, but she didn’t want to stop working for KIND. If she still had a job, she wanted to see how open they would be to her living in Montana while working for them.
She didn’t want to return to California. Not now. Not ever, unless it was for a quick trip.
Betsy made a roll motion with her hand, indicating time to wrap up to the crew, and Leah breathed a sigh of relief.
“All done,” Betsy said. “I don’t think we need to redo anything, and that was just about perfect. A little bit of editing and it’ll be a fairy tale come true for the little hick girl from Marietta. It’s perfect.”
“So no more?” Leah wanted to make sure.
“Nope, I don’t think so. Why?”
Leah took a long gulp of her hot cocoa, not even noticing the scald down her throat, before she stood, leaned down to give her friend a kiss on the cheek, and shrugged her coat on.
“I have a hot date planned with that man outside, and I’m itching to get back out on the ice. I’d prefer to do it without a camera crew following me around.”
“Oh, come on.” Betsy stood with her. “It hasn’t been all that bad, right?”
Leah glanced over at Sage who stood at the counter, a slight frazzled look on her face. “I think Sage would like some breathing room in her shop,” she said.
At least Betsy had the decency to look guilty. “I know, I’m so sorry.” Betsy raised her voice. “I didn’t think we’d take this long. I’ll make it up to you,” she said to Sage. “I promise.”
Sage waved her away, as if it wasn’t important, but Leah caught the flash of relief on her face.
“You’d better buy out her stock of boxed chocolates, at the very least,” Leah prompted.
“Done and done. Charmed is also going to be paying her plenty for these hours of inconvenience.” Betsy gathered her bag, stuffing all her notebooks and other things into it. “Just let me chat with the crew for a minute about the next steps, and I’ll meet you outside.”
Leah barely heard her. She was out the door so fast and at Wade’s side before Betsy even realized she was gone, no doubt.
She shivered with a rush of anticipation and excitement when Wade placed his arm around her and pulled her close.
“Listen, if this is the way things are going to be, keep it at your place. Okay, buddy?” Dylan said as Leah leaned into Wade’s embrace. She loved the way it felt to be held by him. He towered over her, for sure, but she felt sheltered, safe, and secure—more than she’d ever felt in her life.
This was where she belonged. In his arms. She couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to realize it.
“That’s what I’m trying to convince her of,” Wade said as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.
“Whoa…” Leah looked up at him. “Let’s not rush into things, okay? One step at a time.” Although, truth be told, she was okay about rushing. It felt natural to take this next step in their relationship, and she was quite looking forward to it.
“On that note.” Wade reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “This is for you.”
The grin on his face reminded her of Dylan’s cat, Jack, after catching a mouse in the basement.
“What’s this?” She took the paper and opened it, squealing with delight at what she read.
“I figured now would be the perfect time to go on that trip of ours to Napa,” Wade said.
She caught the wink between him and her brother and knew she was out of the loop on something important. She didn’t care at the moment, though—she was headed to Napa Valley with Wade on a romantic weekend away.
She read the name of the hotel and couldn’t believe Wade had booked it. She knew how much this hotel cost, knew because it was the one place in Napa she’d been wanting to visit but couldn’t afford.
“Is this all from…” She looked up and caught the telltale smiles on both Wade and Dylan’s face. “Wait a minute…” They didn’t, right? They wouldn’t…they couldn’t…Dylan was horrible when it came to forecasting the weather, right?
“I don’t know what you’re about to accuse me of, but you’d better stop before you say anything else. I would never, in good conscious, do anything to hurt my career or the name of the radio station I work for. Not even if the whole town was involved and wanted to ensure Wade took you to the most romantic location you’ve ever dreamed about. Not even then. Got it?”
Leah blinked away the tears of extreme happiness she felt in this moment.
And to think she’d almost thrown it all away because she’d been too afraid.
The End
You’ll love the next book in…
Love at the Chocolate Shop series
Book 1: Melt My Heart, Cowboy by C.J. Carmichael
Buy now!
Book 2: A Thankful Heart by Melissa McClone
Book 3: Montana Secret Santa by Debra Salonen
Buy now!
Book 4: The Chocolate Cure by Roxanne Snopek
Buy now!
Book 5: The Valentine Quest by Melissa McClone
Buy now!
Book 6: Charmed by Chocolate by Steena Holmes
View the entire series here
Book 7: The Chocolate Comeback by Roxanne Snopek
Buy now!
Book 8: The Chocolate Touch by Melissa McClone
Coming soon
Book 9: Sweet Home Cowboy by Marin Thomas
Coming soon
The rest of the Love at the Chocolate Shop is coming soon!
Find out about the rest of the series here
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About the Author
Steena Holmes is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the novels Saving Abby, The Word Game, Stillwater Rising and The Memory Child, among others. She won the National Indie Excellence Award in 2012 for Finding Emma as well as the USA Book News Award for The Word Game in 2015. Steena lives in Calgary, Alberta, and continues to write stories that touch every parent’s heart. To find out more about her books and her love for traveling, you can visit her website at www.steenaholmes.com or follow her journeys over on Instagram @steenaholmes where she’s always on the hunt to find the best chocolates around.
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