by Emma Hart
The mic screeched. He jumped back, staring at it like it’d punched him.
I hid a laugh behind my hand.
“Uh, hello?” he said, giving the mic a tap to make sure it didn’t screech again. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say here, but I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to the kissing booth and seeing both myself and Halley. It’s been a long week, but I know I speak for us both when I say it was worth it. The playground is overdue to be updated, and this is going to make a huge difference to the kids in town. So, thank you.”
He paused while people clapped.
“I’d also like to thank Halley for being great competition.” He swept his arm toward me. “But I am happy to take that crown off her, so you guys can finally kiss someone else next year.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, but I was laughing.
“And on that topic: I won’t be defending next year. You’ll have two new competitors.”
Dad looked at me. “Why isn’t he defending?”
Preston beat him to it. “I’ve learned a lot over the last week or so, but the most important thing I’ve learned is that there’s only one person I want to kiss, and she’s standing right over there.”
My eyes widened as he pointed at me.
“And don’t worry, despite the look of terror on her face, she does already know this.”
My dad smiled, nudging me in the back to push me forward.
“What are you doing?” I mouthed to Preston.
“Kiss her!” Someone that sounded an awful lot like Reagan shouted from the crowd.
I was going to kill her.
“Yeah, kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!” That was my grandmother who was now standing on the judge’s table.
And she’d started a chant.
Oh, my God.
The entire crowd was joining in. It got louder and louder until almost everyone was doing it. My cheeks flamed red hot, and I looked at my sandal-clad feet on the stage instead of anywhere else.
Preston’s hand slid around to the back of my neck, and he dipped his head. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
He laughed, bringing our bodies fully together. “At least they won’t gossip now.”
And then he kissed me.
Just once. A single touch, but one that meant so much. It warmed my entire body, consuming me until I was barely aware of anything other than him.
I had tingles all over my skin where he touched me, and I knew.
I was teetering on the edge of falling in love with Preston Wright.
There was no going back from it, not now. It all felt completely right, even though there was whooping and hollering from people who loved a show.
He released me with a wide smile. His eyes shone with something I couldn’t place, an emotion that I knew was genuine all the same. “Whoops?”
“Whoops my ass!” I laughed and leaned into him when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, nestling me against him.
“Is this where I drop the mic?” he whispered into my ear.
“Metaphorically. My dad probably won’t like it if you actually drop it.”
His chuckle made his whole body shake, and he turned and held it out in the direction of my dad. “I just realized I kissed you in front of your dad.”
“Yep.”
“Shit.”
I laughed, covering my mouth with my hand.
Dad approached us with a stern look on his face. “And what on Earth was that?”
I could see the glint in his eye that said he was messing with Preston, but he went as rigid as a board next to me.
“I, uh, sir—”
Dad burst out laughing and yanked him over, hugging him. He patted him on the back twice before letting him go. “Go on, you two. I’m not surprised at all. We need to get the talent show back on.”
“Sure.” Preston tucked me back under his arm.
“Tell Grandma I’m going to kill her,” were my parting words to my dad.
He laughed, and Preston swept me off the stage and around the back. The crowd watching the talent show had calmed down, and there were so many people there that the food stalls were all but empty.
We detoured quickly and grabbed a couple of hot dogs before we made it back to the booth. It was silent, and we ducked inside the tent together.
“That was dramatic,” I said, sitting cross-legged on the stage.
Preston dropped to the floor in front of me with a laugh. “I’m not gonna lie, I did that in the hope Lindsay would leave me alone now.”
“I knew there was an ulterior motive for it.”
“Only a little one.”
I pursed my lips. “I can’t believe you beat me.”
He laughed, leaning back on his hands. “It was never in doubt.”
“Liar. You looked really shocked up there.”
“All right, I was. I really thought you were going to keep your streak going for another year.”
“Five would have been nice. What would have been nicer is being able to hold it over your head like you’re going to do to me, though.”
“Me? What gives you that idea?”
“The big shit-eating grin on your face,” I replied. “At least your sister is richer for it.”
“She bet on me, didn’t she?”
I nodded. “Ava’s going to be furious.”
“Ava’s always furious about something. It’s basically her default emotion, like Reagan’s is, well, she doesn’t have emotions. She’s basically a walking, talking potato.”
I snorted, scrunching up the hot dog wrapper. I leaned back and looked around the tent. “It’ll be weird not being here next year.”
“I guess it will be for you. It’s been so long.”
“I’m looking forward to it, though. Maybe I’ll actually get to enjoy the fair more next year. Although I won’t miss the smell of this place.”
Preston wrinkled his face up. “It is pretty damn smelly. Maybe next year the kissing booth needs to raise money to replace the kissing booth.”
I laughed, falling down onto my back. I sighed it out, happy to just lie there and soak in the peace for a little longer.
Preston took the space next to me, looking up at the ceiling just like I was. “What do we do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“This. Us. I’ve told you what I wanted. Hell, I showed the whole damn town.”
I rolled my head to the side and looked at him. Really looked at him, studying his handsome face. I picked up where his beard stubble was a little longer in one place, like he’d rushed while shaving. The tiny scar close to his hairline that was no bigger than a pimple. His thick eyebrows that were naturally better shaped than mine were, and his dark eyelashes that framed his stunning eyes.
“I know,” I said softly. “I just—we’re such different people, Preston. I’d made peace with the fact that we were never going to happen, and now it is, and I think I just need to stop telling myself it’s all going to go wrong.”
“It might go wrong,” he said honestly. “I fucked up literally an hour after our first date, so…”
I smiled. “Are you afraid it’s a little too fast?”
“I’m not asking you to marry me, Halley. Hell, I’m not even telling you that you have to be my girlfriend. We can take it slow and see how it goes without putting any big labels on it.”
“But we’d be exclusive?”
“I can honestly say there isn’t anyone I’m even remotely interested in. Except for you.” He looked at me. “And maybe Betty. For a raccoon, she’s a bit of a MILF, isn’t she?”
I laughed, pressing my forehead against his shoulder. “I can take sharing affection with Betty.”
“I have to share with Boris.”
“Boris is a jerk. It’s when those babies come that you’ll be sharing affection.”
“Oh, God, are you going to take time off work?”
“No! Oh, my God!” I laughed all over again. Honestly, it was a miracl
e I didn’t have abs at this point. “The rescue just outside town has a vet they send out to keep an eye on her. A couple of years ago, one of their older babies got caught in a bear trap. We freed it, and we looked after it until it was recovered when we sent him back out to Betty. But, also, you’ve never seen how freakin’ cute raccoon babies are. They’re the fuzziest little things.”
“You’re getting overexcited, aren’t you?”
“Little bit.” I smiled, rolling onto my stomach. Accidentally, I rolled into Preston with an “Oomph.”
Instead of letting me go, he wrapped his arms tightly around me. I peered down at him, my lips curving.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing. It’s just—this is weird, isn’t it?”
“Yep.” His eyes sparkled. “But I like weird.”
I dropped my lips onto his.
Yes, it’d only been a week. Yes, it was crazy, and it could all go wrong, but I wanted to take the risk.
More than anything, I was happy he wanted to take the risk with me.
Even if we were going to be the talk of the town for his little show.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – HALLEY
Boom Chicka Wow Wow
One Month Later
“Happy one-month anniversary!” Preston stood on my doorstep with a huge bouquet of flowers in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.
I blinked at him. “What—what are you doing?”
“Reagan told me it was our one-month anniversary. I told her she was fucking dumb, but she insisted that I come over here with wine and flowers.”
“You were right.”
“Of course I was right. Now let me in so nobody sees me standing here like a lovesick teenager.”
I rolled my eyes and moved so he could follow me into the house. “I do like flowers and wine, though.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t forget Betty.” He set the wine and flowers down on the kitchen table and swung his backpack off his shoulders. He swiftly produced a lunchbox full of peanut butter sandwiches and another plastic tub full of sliced watermelon.
I didn’t even know raccoons liked watermelon until Boris literally swiped mine from under my nose one evening when I was reading on the porch.
Ever since then, we’d been feeding them fruit, but the watermelon was the resounding favorite.
Even Betty accepted it being dropped down the hole into her nest under the porch.
She was getting lazy, but Preston was spoiling her.
For all his joking when we’d started dating, he was pretty much in love with her.
“She’s gonna love you. Boris will think you’re trying to steal his wife.” I took the flowers from the table over to the sink.
“I would steal her, but I don’t think she’d like my apartment.”
“I don’t like your apartment. There are too many people there.”
“Thanks.”
Laughing, I looked over my shoulder. “You know what I mean. Any time I’m there, it takes me ten minutes to get anywhere. There’s always someone who wants to ask me something or make suggestions about the new kissing booth. I’m not even thinking about it yet!”
Shortly after the fair was over, my dad had made good on what he’d said to me. He’d made me the Kissing Booth Coordinator, a volunteer position on the fair’s committee, and word had quickly spread that I was going to overhaul the entire thing for next year.
Unfortunately, that meant that I couldn’t even buy bread without someone giving me the next big idea.
At least they were big ideas in their minds.
Not so much in mine.
“Nah, I know what you mean.” He walked around the table and came over to me, slipping his hands around my body. He hugged me from behind as I trimmed down the stems on some flowers. “You’re doing it wrong. Cut them at an angle.”
I held up the scissors. “You do it, then. You can arrange them for me, too.”
Preston sighed, taking the scissors after he released me. “I showed you how to do that one time, and now there’s no getting away from it.”
“Mm. It’s my mom’s birthday next week. I need some flowers.”
“I’ll arrange a nice one and send you the bill.”
“Thank you.” I smiled and pulled myself up onto the counter. “Has Bethel gone home yet?”
“Shit, I meant to call you this morning.” He peered at me from the side. “She’s decided she’s moving in with Mom and Dad. Something about getting old and needing to be looked after.”
“Wasn’t she doing fireball shots at that charity Magic Mike thing over the weekend?”
“Yup.” He popped the ‘P.’ “Apparently it takes her a week to get over hangovers at that age. Mom told her to stop drinking, and Aunt Bethel looked at her like she’d run over a puppy.”
“On the bright side, Grandma refuses to live here now, so at least they’re not together all the time.”
“Yeah, but it’s Aunt Bethel’s birthday in a couple of months, and she wants a big party. Which means your grandma will be back in town. As long as she doesn’t bring the glittery dress again. I think I’m still fucking scarred.”
Yep. It wasn’t just me and Abigail who’d experienced that.
Before Grandma had left, she’d insisted that Preston come for dinner at my dad’s. I wasn’t given a choice in the matter, and unbeknownst to us, she’d changed into the glittery number that showed her nipples.
“She won’t. I stole it.” I swung my legs, grinning. “It’s now safely where it belongs: a trash can.”
“She’s going to kill you.”
“I don’t really care.” I shrugged and looked over. He’d arranged the flowers in one of my favorite vases, and even though I didn’t know what half of them were, it was a stunning explosion of color. “That’s gorgeous.”
“So are you.” He came over and slipped between my legs to kiss me. “Did I tell you that your hair looks great today?”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “You did now.”
I dipped my head and kissed him a second time. Then a third, and a fourth, and again and again. The kiss became longer, our lips moving together in more sync than before. His tongue flicked against the seam of my mouth, and he took my lower lip between his teeth and nibbled at it, sending a bolt of lust through me.
Preston grabbed my hips, pulling me to the edge of the kitchen counter. My fingers had somehow clawed at his shirt, pulling it halfway up his back. I kept going as his tongue moved against mine and his cock pressed against me.
Heat flushed through me.
It’d been a month, and we’d never done more than kiss. He’d kept his promise that we’d go slow; that we’d figure it out one way or another.
We had. At least, I thought we had.
And now, I wanted more.
I was ready for more.
I already knew I was falling headfirst in love with him, if I wasn’t already there.
I yanked more at his shirt until it was under his arms.
“Halley?”
“Take it off,” I murmured against his lips. “I’m ready, Preston. I want more.”
He groaned as he raised his arms. I pulled his t-shirt up and over his head and tossed it on the floor. His skin was hot and smooth and tanned, and I ran my fingers over his shoulders as we kissed again.
His cock was getting harder and harder, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, holding him totally against me. The zipper brushed against my clit since my dress was no barrier at all between us, and I jerked.
He smiled before it quickly dropped and he kissed me again. He probed my thighs with his fingers, working his hands up my legs until they were under my dress. Each squeeze sent jolts of want through me, and I responded by squirming against him.
It was all too clear to me that all he had to do was unzip his pants and move my panties to the side and—boom.
We’d be having sex.
A kitchen counter wasn’t the first place I thought we’d do it, but I wa
s totally okay with this.
Preston kissed along my jaw, dragging his lips across my skin. He used his hands to part my legs farther. My clit ached, and I pushed my hips farther into him until I was literally balanced on the edge of the counter.
He kissed up my neck, flicking his tongue against my pulse point and making me shiver. “Really? Here?”
“Uh-huh,” I breathed, grabbing hold of his shoulders. “You wanna move?”
He swallowed, pulling back and looking me in the eyes. “Honestly, Halley, if I don’t fuck you right now, I’m going to explode.”
I dropped a hand and moved my panties to the side.
He glanced down and groaned, then took a step back. I ran my gaze over his lean, muscular body, over the dips and rivets of his stomach down to where he was undoing his jeans.
He popped the button, then slid both his pants and his boxers down to his feet. He shuffled forward and bent down, flipping up my dress so that I was exposed to him.
Then he buried his face between my legs.
I cried out. The sensation of his tongue moving over me, exploring every inch, teasing me, was so damn good. I never wanted him to stop as he licked and sucked me, bringing me to the absolute brink of orgasm.
I gripped his shoulders, and he pressed harder, right on my clit. The orgasm hit instantly, wracking my entire body with shudders and clenched muscles. It was a sudden release, one that had all of me on overdrive.
Preston wiped his mouth as he straightened, and a small smirk played on his lips. He grabbed his cock, then hesitated, his gaze seeking mine.
My breathing was thick and fast, and I nodded. Only once. It was all he needed to know that I trusted him, because he took my mouth with his one more time in a kiss that was fast and ferocious.
It was all passion and heart and tasted like desperation.
He reached between us and took his cock in his hand, moving closer to me. Anticipation tightened in my stomach, and as he pushed slowly into me, my nails dug into his skin.
It felt so good. My muscles clenched around him, but he kept moving until he was fully inside me. Sweat beaded on my back, and I moaned as he captured my mouth with his own.
We kissed like that, just for a moment, as my body got used to him being inside me. He moved after a moment, easing out and back in. Seconds passed as our bodies responded to the other, coming together until we found an easy rhythm that had my nails in Preston’s shoulders and his fingers digging hard into my hips.