Page 62 of Lost Love on 6th Street

“Of course you will. Southern gentleman.”

“Obviously.”

“Obviously.”

The anticipation is already killing me. I don’t know how I’m going to make it until Wednesday. However, I’ve got a job to do and a crew that’s probably wondering why I’ve been gone longer than ten minutes.

“You should probably get back to work,” she says as if reading my mind.

“Yeah, probably. I’m glad you decided to be a creep.”

She gapes at me. “Hey! I wasn’t actually a creep, I changed my—”

Before she can finish her sentence, I press my mouth to hers in a solid, simple kiss. How I wish I could fill my hands with her instead of these damn cups of coffee.

Eleanor gasps into my mouth and leans into me almost immediately, welcoming the kiss.

Just one kiss with her is dangerous. I’d like to throw the coffee down, pull her into my arms, and take her all the way home. Fuck the show. I have something much more important to do.

Eleanor rips away first, much stronger than I am, pushing her hands lightly against my chest. “You should go before I don’t let you.”

A shiver runs down my spine. “That gives me lots of ideas,” I say, backing up a few steps.

“Get out of here, Wyatt,” she says, grinning after me.

The swarm of 6th Street starts to engulf her as the space between us grows and eventually, I am resigned to leaving her behind.

Wednesday, I’ll have her all to myself. No distractions or interruptions. Wednesday will be like seeing her for the first time. Something between us has finally been born. I want so badly to get it right.

21

ELEANOR

“I know it’s not a Great lake,” Luke says. “But it is a lake.”

It might not be as endless as Lake Michigan, but Lake Travis is stunning in its own right. Especially from right on the lake. The view from our pontoon is stunning. We’re surrounded by panoramic vistas that stretch for miles. The lush water is streaked with the setting sunlight. There’s a shocking amount of greenery since I’ve always pictured Texas as a desert. And though there are plenty of other people at the lake, it feels so peaceful to be out here to take in the moment alone with Luke.

“I love it,” I say softly.

From his place in the captain’s chair, Luke throws me a soft smile. I never thought I’d say it but a man who can navigate a boat, even if it’s just a pontoon, is sexy. So, we’ve added cowboys and boat captains to the list of guys who are my type.

Hell, I might as well just write Luke’s name on the list in all caps.

The night has been an ideal first date. Luke picked me up at my place with flowers at the ready. We had a beautiful dinner through which conversation was giggly and a little bit awkward in the best first date kind of way. And then Luke brought me out here for a boat ride. It’s all been . . . too much. No one has ever treated me like this. It’s always been dinner or drinks. Usually, we’d split the bill.

I haven’t had to lift a finger tonight and I have to say, I’m loving it.

Luke scans our surroundings, calls it good, and drops the anchor. Once we’re locked in place, he starts to put the canopy down which he’s informed me is called a Bimini. “Can I help?” I ask.

“No,” he says, remaining focused on pulling the top down. A lock of hair falls onto his forehead, his white dress shirt rumples. Rumpled to the point of looking delectable. “You just sit there and look pretty,” he says, then gives me a devilish smile.

I scoff at him, but play my part, drawing my legs up onto the bench and straighten out the legs of my black jumpsuit. A loan from Jolene. When she heard the date was happening, she insisted I buy a new dress for the occasion and when I told her that there was simply not money for a new dress, she offered one of her own.

“It will look better on you anyways,” she said when she brought it into work this morning.

It does look good on me. I won’t argue with her on that. The spaghetti straps and keyhole cutout right at my sternum between my breasts show off my best assets. And I’m inclined to say Luke agrees, not only because he was eager to tell me how beautiful I looked tonight, but also from the way his eyes kept traveling the length of my body whenever he got a moment.

If we’d just met, I’d be uneasy. But it’s Luke. He’s proven ten times over that he’s not just in it for my body. Case in point, his refusal to come up the other night and sleep with me, which, while disappointing, has had me swooning since.

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