firelight, in the circle of the people who’d loved them best their whole lives.
Shelby sniffled in front of me. And damn if my throat didn’t feel just a little tight.
“This is the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen,” Leah Mae sighed as a tear slipped down her face.
Bowie and Cassidy sealed the deal with a kiss that garnered hoots and hollers of appreciation. Cassidy hugged her parents while the Bodines converged on Bowie, and the lovefest was on.
Q. Do you ever feel lonely?
Jimmy Bob Prosser: Unfortunately, I am one to succumb to the draw of loneliness. I get to interact with family, friends, and neighbors all day long in the store. But along comes closing time and I know there’s no one waiting for me upstairs. I hope someday there will be someone again. I miss having someone. I don’t need much. Just a hand to hold while the TV’s on or someone to pick up flowers for. Someone to fix a leaky faucet for. I’m hopeful. A little lonely, but mostly hopeful.
16
Shelby
The stars were bright, the flames were high, and I was dancing with Jonah Bodine. And dang it, now I was doing the first name last name thing. But the moment called for it. It felt momentous and ordinary. Intimate and somehow distant.
The music was low and slow. People surrounded us, all in their own little worlds.
I hurt everywhere. I’d overdone everything today. The food and the sun. The fun. I was exhausted and knew I’d pushed too hard. But I wasn’t going to let it make me miss out on Jonah.
He was looking at me. Focusing in like there wasn’t another thing in the world that deserved his attention.
I wanted him to kiss me. But that was old-fashioned, wasn’t it? Waiting for the hero to bestow a kiss. Couldn’t I be my own hero?
I wet my lips and noticed Jonah noticing.
“You’re a great guy.” The words escaped before the thought was fully formed.
We stopped swaying. “Is this a brush-off?” he asked.
“Oh, God no. It was just a thought that popped up. Considering we’ve spent the last week or so in a rather contentious situation. I’m noticing now that you’re pretty great and was just trying to work up the courage to kiss you. Not tell you that you have a nice personality. Which you do. I’m not saying you don’t.” Shut up, Shelby!
“Shelby?”
“Huh?”
“Maybe just don’t talk for a minute?” he suggested.
“Yeah, okay. I can do that. No problem—” He pressed a finger to my lips, sealing them. Everything that hurt stopped hurting. My body stopped telling me how exhausted it was and started reporting in how Jonah’s finger on my mouth was the most important thing in my world.
I’d kissed and been kissed before. But I’d never hung as much expectation on a first kiss as I was piling on this one.
Was it because he was so blatantly male? So physically appealing? Was it because his green eyes had flecks of gold in them? Or that there was a picture of him grinning, surrounded by weightlifting senior ladies, circulating on social media? Or maybe it was that he cared enough about his family to be hurt when he thought they were rejecting him?
The balance of strength and vulnerability in Jonah was extremely attractive to me. And so was everything else about the tall, leanly muscled man before me.
Or maybe it was just the romance of witnessing the happiest day of another woman’s life that was confusing things for me.
He removed his finger from my mouth and slid his hands along my jawline and into my hair, tilting my head up, up, up.
Our eyes locked, breath mingled. I was no longer sure that the heat on my skin was from the bonfire alone. Using his thumbs, Jonah nudged my chin up, and I watched him lower to me. Whisper-soft, his lips brushed mine. Once, twice, before landing lightly. I sighed into him, melting. And the kiss changed. He was still gentle, still slow, but now he was tasting me. Thoroughly savoring every breath, every sigh, every second.
I wanted to watch him kiss me, wanted to keep my eyes on his face so I could see how he looked as he breathed me in, lapped me up. But my lids were heavy, and the sensation of his mouth on mine, his tongue against mine, was too decadent to be dissected and analyzed. A first.
The kiss stretched on and on. My hands fisted in his shirt at his waist, my