The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,60
stop at the only light in town, which wasn’t far from his family’s restaurant, before turning toward the church where she’d left her car. “Will your mother and children be upset to find out you were with me?”
“I think they’ll be...surprised.”
“We’re just friends, remember?” His grin suggested he was hoping he could sell her that again. It had neutralized her resistance before. But after having dinner with him, she knew better. She could never be just friends with Quinn. Even now, despite eighteen years of being married to someone else, she wanted him as badly as she had back then.
“I remember,” she said wryly.
“You could say we were working on the fundraiser.”
“Yeah. I think I’ll go with that.” Since her car was still at the church, it made sense. Both her mother and her children had texted her earlier in the evening, and Mary had tried to call, but Autumn had ignored them all. She felt as though putting some time between now and when she talked to them would be a good idea.
The church was dark and so was its parking lot, save one lone streetlamp.
“Thanks for dinner,” she said as he pulled up next to her car.
“No problem.” Her hand moved for the handle, but he caught her other arm.
“I’d like to see you again,” he said.
She’d been planning to avoid him in the future, hadn’t expected him to be so direct. It forced her to be direct, too. “I’m sorry. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I wish you well, though. I really do.”
“I know that,” he said.
She opened the door but he still hadn’t let go of her. “Can I at least get your number? An occasional text or call wouldn’t be too bad, would it?”
Except that it would invariably lead to more. “It wouldn’t be bad. There’s just no reason to start anything.”
His eyebrows came together. “So...we live in the same town again, and we both feel something. But instead of exploring that spark, instead of seeing if it might turn into something bigger, this is it? One dinner?”
“This is it,” she confirmed, because cutting it off right now, at this very moment, was the only way she could justify doing what she’d been dying to do all evening. Leaving her door ajar so that she could make a quick escape, she turned in her seat, took his face in her hands and brought his mouth to hers.
The move seemed to startle him, and she could understand why. She’d been skittish, especially since they’d touched at the restaurant—careful not to even brush against him, if she could avoid it. But all of that effort had only made her fantasize about this—just one kiss before the night was through.
He quickly adapted, even bringing up his hand to gently touch her cheek before curling his fingers around her neck so that he could pull her in closer.
When he parted his lips to deepen the kiss, Autumn told herself to stop. She’d already gone further than she should have. She was a married woman! But she hadn’t felt anything like this in so long. Her heart was nearly pounding out of her chest, and she wanted to taste him so badly she couldn’t help meeting his tongue with her own.
He was obviously being careful not to overwhelm her, and she was trying to block out everything except the satisfaction she was feeling in this moment. But the kiss started to spiral out of control almost immediately, making her want even more of him, so she pulled away.
“Thanks again,” she said, breathlessly, and got out.
* * *
“Mom’s home. I just saw headlights in the drive,” Taylor said to Caden.
He was seated on the couch playing an online game with some friends back home. He made friends wherever he went and had a ton of them. Taylor envied him his flexibility.
“She coming in?” he asked without taking his eyes off the screen.
Taylor switched to a different window, trying to get a better vantage point. “Doesn’t look like it.”
“She never texted me back tonight.”
“She didn’t text me, either—which is weird.”
“Must’ve been busy,” he said.
“Doing what?” she asked.
“Working on the fundraiser for that lady who’s got cancer. I helped her hand out flyers this morning—when you were off with Sierra.”
She heard the sour note in his voice. “Why’d you say it like that? You’re mad because you had to do it and I didn’t?”
“I’m not mad. It’s just...you’re always with Sierra.”
“So? What’s it to you?” she snapped, instantly defensive.