Still The One - Carrie Elks Page 0,37
up. “Thank you.” She lifted it to her mouth, closing her eyes for a moment as she took a sip, then let out a long, deep sigh. “Oh, you don’t know how much I needed this,” she said, looking up at him through her dark lashes.
He swallowed hard, even though his coffee remained untouched. Did she know what she sounded like when she sighed?
Like sex.
Shut up.
Was his mind really arguing with itself right now?
“Bad day?” he asked, as they walked out of the square and crossed the road. One of his aunt’s friends was scrubbing the steps of the First Baptist Church. He lifted a hand in greeting, and she waved back.
“Something like that.” She inhaled deeply. “But I’m feeling better now. Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything.” He shrugged. “But I’ll take your gratitude anyway. “ He winked. “If you’ll take my job.”
“Okay.”
He blinked. Her sudden acceptance shocked him. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I need a job if I’m staying around a while.”
“I had this whole speech memorized.” He grinned at her. “I was prepared to beg you. I’m kinda disappointed now.”
She pouted. “So am I. You want to do it anyway?”
He laughed. “Nope. Not when you’re such a pushover.”
“Shut up. And I haven’t told you my terms yet.” Her voice was almost cocky. He loved confident Van.
Loved? What the heck?
“I accept them,” he said smoothly, ignoring the thoughts whirring through his brain.
“Stop it!” Her bottom lip dropped open. “What if I told you I wanted to be paid a million dollars and have half the shares in the company?”
“I’d tell you that you’re underselling yourself.” They turned the corner, walking past the big houses that led to the creek. “You might have to wait a while for the million though. Until we’re turning a profit.”
“I don’t want a million.” She took another sip of coffee. Some foam clung to her red lips, and she licked it away. Tanner tried to pull his eyes away, but he couldn’t. It was too mesmerizing.
“What do you want?” he asked, his voice thick.
“I just want people to know I got this job under my own merits. Because I’m good at what I do. I don’t want the gossips saying you gave me a job because you feel sorry for me or…” She sighed. “Or that I’m sleeping my way to the top.”
“But you’re not.”
“That’s not how they’ll see it. People are already talking about us.”
“They are? Who?” His brows pulled together as he looked at her.
“Your sister for one.”
“Becca said something to you?” His frown deepened. “I’ll speak to her.”
“No, don’t.” Van shook her head. “She was just being silly. Asking me if I was single. Telling me that you were.”
He took a deep breath. His chest felt strange. As tight as it did the last time he finished a marathon. “Are you single?” he asked her. His breath caught in his throat as he waited for her answer.
She tipped her head to the side, her hair falling over one shoulder. “I am.” She nodded.
Good.
They’d made it to the edge of the creek. Van lifted her hand to her brow to block out the sun. “Remember when we tried to build a raft?” she asked him.
He smiled. The water was glistening, reflecting the solar rays that hit it. “Yeah. I remember how it sunk as soon as you climbed on it.”
She laughed, and it looked good on her. Way too good. “I only climbed on it because you were too scared to.”
“Too sensible, you mean.”
Her gaze met his. “You always were the one with more common sense.”
“I wanted to be like you. Fearless. You were never scared of anything.”
Her lips parted. He could see the tip of her tongue peeking through. “I was scared,” she said. “I just hid it well. I find that harder to do as time goes on.”
“What are you scared of now?” he asked. He could feel the blood pumping through him, heating up his skin. A gust of wind lifted her hair, leaving a tendril stuck to her lips. He reached out to pull it away, tucking it behind her ear.
Her skin was warm. Soft. Everything he remembered.
“How long have you got?” she asked him. “The list is long.”
His eyes met hers again. “I can listen for as long as it takes.”
God he loved the way she smiled. The sun dipped behind a cloud, the shadow cooling his skin. He could feel his heart pumping in a steady rhythm against his ribcage. Standing there by the creek, she looked