Breaking Stars - J. Sterling Page 0,70

“Alone. I just—”

“Paige.” She reached across the table for my hand. “It’s more than okay. You’ve brought light to my son’s eyes again and a smile to his face. It’s been too long since I’ve seen either.”

Tatum squeezed my thigh and nodded in agreement at his mom’s words. A smile spread across his face, and my eyes instantly filled as I fought to keep back the tears that threatened to spill. I refused to be the girl who cried at dinner because some nice words were spoken about her. Focused on holding back my emotions, I’d almost forgotten my manners. “Thank you, Mrs. Montgomery. That was really nice of you to say.”

“I wasn’t being nice, dear. I only speak the truth. So, thank you.”

Tatum’s mouth breathed against my ear, “She’s right. You’ve made me believe in love again. I’d all but given up any hope for it existing before you came along. Thank you for reawakening my heart.”

I ducked my head, and the tears I’d fought so hard to stop from falling spilled down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away as Brina sauntered over to our table. Perfect timing.

“Make her cry already, Tatum? Great job, sweetheart,” she snapped as she placed the three drinks on the table.

“Brina Marie Ward, I know for a fact that your mama didn’t raise you to have such a smart mouth. I’ll ask you one last time to act like the Southern woman you were raised to be before I start lodging complaints. And you know how much I’d hate to do that.” Mrs. Montgomery cocked her head to the side and smiled.

Brina straightened her back and lowered her head. “Yes, ma’am. You’re right. I apologize. I’ll be back in a minute to take your order.” She quickly shuffled away.

“Wow. That was impressive,” I said, somewhat intimidated by Mrs. Montgomery’s attitude.

“Here in the South, we know how to make you feel about this big.” She held her fingers almost an inch apart from each other. “And we do it all with a smile on our face.”

“You ladies scare me,” I admitted with a tight laugh.

“Me too,” Tatum chimed in.

Dinner was uneventful and Brina didn’t act out anymore. Matter of fact, she barely spoke to us unless absolutely necessary. I think Mrs. Montgomery scared her. After paying for the check and tipping Brina more than she deserved, I noticed Tatum’s eyebrows pull together as his eyes got that faraway look in them.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“I think I left the office door unlocked at the shop. I need to run there real quick and make sure I locked it all up.”

“This is a dangerous town. You should definitely dead bolt everything,” I teased.

Mrs. Montgomery chuckled. “You two go check on the shop, and I’ll go wait in the car,” she offered with a smile.

“Thanks, Mama. We’ll be right back,” Tatum said before giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

As we closed in on the shop, I noticed the side door hanging completely open. “Tatum, you didn’t even close the door!”

He shrugged. “I was in a hurry.”

“For what?” I asked as we entered the dark space.

“To see you.” He wrapped an arm around my lower back as his lips met mine softly, his tongue gently begging for entry. I opened my mouth, allowing him in and greeting his tongue with my own. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged as I deepened our kiss, his lips all over mine, tasting me, wanting me. But then he broke our kiss just as slowly as he started it. “Stop distracting me.”

“Me?” I pretended to growl and walked through the office door out into the garage. Even in the dark, my eyes immediately found my beautiful black car, gleaming as it sat in one of the garage’s two bays. I walked around it, noticing all four tires were intact and in place.

“Uh, Tatum?” I shouted toward the back office where he was doing God knows what.

“Yeah?”

“Is this my car?” I asked, knowing full well that it was.

“Yeah,” he drawled out.

“How long has it been fixed?” I asked with a small smile playing on my lips.

He exited the office and stared at me before answering, “Pretty much since you got here.”

My mouth fell open. “What?”

Tatum stalked toward me, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me against him. “I didn’t want you to leave. I still don’t.”

His lips came down on mine and I lost myself in the feel of his tongue slowly exploring my mouth. His