second Kissing Creek was in the rearview window. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen the thank you for visiting Kissing Creek sign, which meant she hadn’t made it to the edge of town in months.
Or was it years?
Despite the awkward moment at the end of the meet and greet, Audrey found herself biting back a giddy grin as she sat in the passenger seat of Ronan’s car. The roads were quiet, and they zipped along the highway toward a town that was perched along the coast, closer to the New Hampshire border. Forever Falls was the only other town in Massachusetts that came close to rivaling Kissing Creek for silliest town name…and that was saying a lot, since their great state was home to such gems as a town called Sandwich.
But while Kissing Creek leaned into gimmicks to differentiate their town, Forever Falls didn’t need anything like that. Audrey had been there several times as a kid, and it was one of the most beautiful places she’d ever seen. They had a boardwalk along the beach strung with fairy lights and dotted with ice-cream stands. The quaint old buildings had a storybook look about them, and there was all the natural wonder you could cram into a single town. It wasn’t surprising that tourists flocked to the small town every summer, swelling their population for three months of the year.
“Apparently the pub in this place is really good,” Ronan said as they navigated the roads. The sun was fat and low on the horizon, bathing everything in red and gold. “I’ve been itching for a good pub meal since I got back.”
“Not the same as England, is it?”
“Unfortunately, no. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there are some things that we do way better here, but nobody does pub food like the British. I’m pretty sure I existed solely on fish and chips and Guinness the entire time I lived there.”
Audrey glanced at Ronan’s cut physique and rolled her eyes. “Only a man could do something like that and not put on a pound. All I have to do is look at a pint of beer and I feel my pants getting tight.”
“I do have a fast metabolism,” Ronan admitted. “I hated it when I was a kid.”
“Really?” It felt like a real treat having Ronan all to herself, and getting to learn about him—even mundane things like his metabolism—felt special. The warmth of joy wound slowly through her system, loosening her. Uncoiling her.
“Oh yeah, I was that skinny kid who was all elbows and knees until I hit my teenage years. Even then, it took a while to get going. I was never really into sports much.” He turned to her and shot her a grin. It was hard to imagine Ronan as anything but the roguishly handsome man with the panty-searing grin he was now.
“Me neither.” Audrey wrinkled her nose. “I can’t even tell you how many times I faked being sick to get out of swimming. I was pretty sure the teachers thought I was a hypochondriac.”
“You didn’t like swimming?”
“I didn’t like being in a bathing suit in front of my peers.” Back then, Audrey had been self-conscious of her body, even if she wasn’t as curvy as she was now. “I was the only thirteen-year-old wearing a D-cup bra with booty before booty was cool.”
Maybe don’t talk about your tits and ass, weirdo.
“I guess all teenagers are self-conscious,” she barreled on, heat filling her cheeks. “Kids can be cruel.”
“Were you teased?” He frowned so seriously and yet so comically that Audrey had to laugh.
“Uh, yeah. I’ve always been on the, uh…chubby side.” Audrey had probably left chubby behind twenty pounds ago, but these days she was comfortable with her body. “Took me a long time to accept myself for how I was. I used to wear really baggy clothes to try and hide myself, and I would never let anyone take my picture.”
Ronan’s eyes were trained on the road as they approached the welcome sign for Forever Falls, but she could see the concern in his eyes.
“Raising my little sisters is actually what made me learn to love myself,” she said. “Especially Deanna. She would hang on to every word I said and observe every little thing I did, and one day I realized that if I kept hating my body, then there was a good chance I’d teach her to do the same. I wanted to be better for them, so I