by A. K. Evans
She looked down the hall, back at me, and returned, “It’s all yours.”
By the time I made it to where the collision had occurred, the parents were still standing there, but the children were all still running toward the end of the hall.
“I’m so sorry,” the father lamented. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she answered.
“Are you sure?” the mother pressed.
Instead of speaking, she nodded.
“Honey, why don’t you go ahead with the kids?” the father suggested. “I’ll help clean this up.”
That’s when I stepped in. “It’s okay, sir,” I interrupted. I was standing there with the broom and dustpan. It wasn’t uncommon to have popcorn spill; though, I always found it to be rather annoying. For the first time ever, I didn’t mind that the buttered snack was strewn about the floor. “You should go ahead with your family. I’ll get it taken care of.”
“Can we at least pay for a new popcorn?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll get her a new one.”
At that, the father strode off to wrangle his children and my eyes went to the girl. Her face was bright red, and I knew she was feeling embarrassed.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I assured her as I started sweeping the popcorn into a pile.
“That kid came out of nowhere,” she replied.
“Are you okay? You weren’t hurt, were you?” I questioned her.
She shook her head. “No.”
I worked quickly to get the popcorn all cleaned up. Then I offered, “If you want to go into the theater to grab a seat, I can bring the popcorn to you. Or you can follow me back to the concession stand.”
There was a bit of a nervous edge to her voice when she replied, “I’ll follow you.”
I gave her a nod, and the two of us started walking back down the hall.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
She hesitated briefly before she answered, “Scarlet. Scarlet Morgan.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Scarlet. I’m Ryker Holt,” I returned as I glanced over at her again.
Scarlet smiled at me again before looking away.
In just the few minutes of interaction I had with her, there was no mistaking just how shy she was. I found it to be an endearing quality.
We came to a stop at the side of the concession stand. I ended up going behind the counter to wash my hands. Then I confirmed, “Just a small buttered popcorn?”
Scarlet nodded. “Yes, please.”
After I got the popcorn for her, I asked, “Are your friends already in the theater?”
Shaking her head, she answered, “No.”
“Are they meeting you here?”
“No. I’m here alone,” she shared.
It was a Friday night. Even though our encounter was brief, all of my initial thoughts about the kind of girl Scarlet would be were being blasted to smithereens. I had expected someone uptight with a boatload of friends.
“Right,” I returned. Holding the popcorn out to her, I said, “Enjoy the movie.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Scarlet took off toward the theater where the movie she was seeing was playing. And roughly an hour and forty-five minutes later, I saw her as she walked back down the hall toward the main entrance. She didn’t see me watching, but I was. The look on her face told me she had her head in the clouds. This was clearly the effect of the romantic comedy she’d just watched.
As she walked away and out the front door, I found I couldn’t wait until next week. I was hoping I’d see her again when we were back at her house cleaning the pool and mowing the lawn.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said, as I got out of the car.
It was a week after I’d first seen and met Scarlet, and my dad had just pulled up outside work. His first job wasn’t for another half hour, so he had time to get me to work this morning.
“No problem, kid. Have a good day, Ryker,” he urged.
“Thanks. You too.”
While I never really looked at work as a means to an end, I found myself feeling particularly excited about today. Matt and I were going to be heading back to the Morgan residence again.
And because I was looking forward to the possibility of seeing Scarlet again, I ended up being extra productive at our first two homes that morning. Just like we’d done the prior week, Matt and I got to Scarlet’s house and took care of the pool. And much like had happened the first time we were there, Matt got on the phone with his girlfriend during our break.
Given where Matt had parked the work truck, I had a pretty clear line of vision to the pool. Almost like clockwork, I saw Scarlet walk out to the pool deck with a book in her hand. She had been wearing a sundress when she first walked out but quickly pulled it over her head. Then she sat down in one of the lounge chairs in her bikini.
I didn’t even try to keep my eyes off her.
I thought she was perfect. Stunning.
Barely taking enough time to swallow my food, I hurried to unload the mower and get back to work. I wanted to get Scarlet to notice me, so I came up with a plan. After bringing the mower closer to the edge of the pool deck, I pretended there was a problem with it and turned it off. Then I began faking an inspection of it.
Much to my surprise, relief, and sheer joy, I heard that angelic voice only a few moments later.
“Ryker?”
She remembered my name.
I looked up from the mower, saw her beautiful face and body up close, and did my best to seem surprised. “Scarlet?”
She bit her lip before she replied, “You remembered my name.”
“Of course. You remembered mine, too.”
“So, you work two jobs?” she asked.
I nodded.
Dipping her chin in acknowledgment, she wondered, “Is everything okay with the mower?”
“What?”
Pointing at the lawn mower, she repeated, “Is everything okay? Is it broken?”
Damn. I’d forgotten what I was doing.
“Oh, yeah. I think it’s fine. I heard something funny and just wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything caught in it,” I explained, hoping she couldn’t see right through my lie. “But it’s all clear.”
“That’s good.”
“Sorry if I disturbed you,” I lamented.
Shaking her head, she insisted, “No, it’s okay. It’s actually nice to talk to someone. Who would have thought I’d be spending my birthday alone?”
The minute the words were out of her mouth, two things happened. First, Scarlet slapped her hand over her mouth and said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
But the second thing that happened was the most unexpected. I found the courage to respond in a way I never would have imagined. “There’s no need to apologize,” I insisted. “Besides, who would have thought I’d be spending my birthday working?”
Scarlet’s eyes widened.
“It’s your birthday today, too?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“How old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
She smiled at me before she confirmed, “Me too.”
“Well, Happy Birthday, Scarlet,” I started. “I hope you have something fun planned for later.”
She shook her head. “Not really. What about you?”
“I’m working tonight,” I told her.
“At the theater?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded slowly and looked away. I could see the thoughts running through her mind. Despite knowing something was occupying her mind, I didn’t wait for her to share it.
Instead, I offered, “You know, if you don’t have plans and are up for it, there is an eight o’clock showing for a new romantic thriller movie that released this week. And I know you can get free admission on your birthday as long as you mention it at the ticket booth.”
Her brows furrowed. “Really? I didn’t know that.”
“So, what do you say? Are you going to tak
e advantage of it?” I asked.
Scarlet stood there staring at me for a moment. Finally, she beamed a beautiful smile at me and said, “Yeah, I think I will.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
“Okay,” she replied as she looked away with a smile still tugging at the corners of her mouth.
At that, I fired up the mower again and gave Scarlet one last up-close look. Then I got back to battling between mowing the lawn and looking at her. It was tough to say which one I did more of.
Later that evening, I was standing at the head of one of the lines validating tickets and directing customers to the appropriate theater when Scarlet walked up.
“They told me at the front that you bought my ticket,” she greeted me.
I shrugged my shoulders and replied, “I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Scarlet shot me a look that told me she didn’t believe a word I was saying. It also said that she really found the gesture to be sweet. That made it all worth it. But I wasn’t done yet.
I took her ticket, tore it, and directed her to her theater. From her perspective, nothing other than me paying for her ticket was different than her last trip. In thirty minutes, that would change.
“I’m taking my break,” I told my co-worker.
“Okay.”
I ran to the break room, grabbed the surprise, and took off toward the theater Scarlet was in. Luckily, it wasn’t too crowded, and there were several empty seats around her. I walked over and sat down next to her.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
I handed her the small Styrofoam container and returned, “Happy Birthday.”
Scarlet took the container, opened it up, and her entire face lit up. “This is for me?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“I feel bad for not getting you anything to celebrate your birthday,” she said.
“Technically, you are,” I told her. “My mom made a batch of cupcakes for my birthday. This is one of them. I wanted you to have it.”
“That’s really sweet, Ryker.”
A moment of silence passed before I urged, “Try it.”
Scarlet lifted the cupcake to her mouth and took a bite. After she chewed and swallowed, she declared quietly, “It’s really good.”
“You like it?”
She nodded and held the cupcake out to me. I took a bite of it as she watched me. Then I grinned at her and lamented, “I’m sorry I can’t stay for the rest of the movie. I’ve got about ten minutes left on my break, so I hope you don’t mind me joining you.”
“Not at all.”
“Maybe one day I can enjoy an entire movie with you,” I suggested.
Scarlet’s shy demeanor took over again. I thought it was adorable. But she ultimately rasped, “I’d love that.”
And that was when I fooled myself into thinking I actually had a chance.
Get Far Beyond Repair here
To my husband, Jeff: Thank you for believing in me as both a writer and a race car driver. I appreciate your confidence in me more than I could ever tell you. I love you.
To my boys, J&J: Don’t ever let anybody tell you that you can’t do something. With hard work and dedication, you both could rule the world. I love you.
To my ARC Team: Your support means absolutely everything to me. Thank you for always being there for me.
To Ellie, Rosa, Stacey, and Sarah: I wish there was another way to tell you how grateful I am to have each of you on my team. Thank you for helping me make my books the best they can be.
To my readers: Thank you for being along on this wonderful ride with me. I couldn’t possibly tell you how much it means to me that you continue to read my stories, so I’ll do the only thing I know I can to show you. I’ll keep writing for you.
To the bloggers: Thank you. A million times over… thank you so much.
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The Everything Series
Everything I Need
Everything I Have
Everything I Want
Everything I Love
Everything I Give
The Cunningham Security Series
Obsessed
Overcome
Desperate
Solitude
Burned
Unworthy
Surrender
Betrayed
Revived
Road Trip Romance
Tip the Scales
Play the Part
One Wrong Turn
Just a Fling
Meant to Be
Take the Plunge
Miss the Shot
In the Cards (Coming April 6, 2021)
Hearts & Horsepower
Control the Burn
Behind the Wheel (Coming December 29, 2020)
Far Beyond Repair (Coming January 19, 2021)
How to Rebuild (Coming February 9, 2021)
Out of Alignment (Coming March 2, 2021)
A.K. Evans is a contemporary romance author of over twenty published novels. While she enjoys writing a good romantic suspense novel, Andrea’s favorite books to write have been her extreme sports romances. That might have something to do with the fact that she, along with her husband and two sons, can’t get enough of extreme sports.
Before becoming a writer, Andrea did a brief stint in the insurance and financial services industry and managed her husband’s performance automotive business. That love of extreme sports? She used to drive race cars!
When Andrea isn’t writing, she can be found homeschooling her two sons, doing yoga, snowboarding, reading, or traveling with her family. She and her husband are currently taking road trips throughout the country to visit all 50 states with their boys.