Page 41 of Willow Vale

I crossed my arms, narrowing my gaze which only made him laugh harder. It was deep and loud, louder than I’d ever heard it.

I’m sure I wasn’t considered an intimidating person by any means. Looking like a clown while I tried to scowl at Travis probably didn’t do me any favors either.

“I’m glad you’re having fun. For a second there, I wondered if you even knew what that was.”

Travis walked around the table to meet me as I wiped my face. “Pouting really isn’t your thing. I’m the one who is supposed to have the shit attitude, darlin’.”

“I am not pouting,” I lied. I kept scowling, not wanting him to see the effect hearing him refer to me asdarlin’had on me.

He crossed his arms as he leaned against the counter. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” I mimicked him, which only made him chuckle some more. I pointed at the mess. “I just washed my hair this morning too. You have no idea how hard it is to tame this.”

“Just shake your hair out, I’m sure most of it will come off easy.”

With a sigh, I untied my hair and flipped my head over, doing as he said. Manny would have kicked us both out a long time ago for goofing around like this. In a way, I was glad he wasn’t here to witness the way I was making a mess in his kitchen.

When I straightened, I pushed the curls over my shoulder and faced him. “How does that look? Is it all off now?”

“Almost.” He was smiling as he reached over and ran his thumb over my cheek. His touch was warm, and I shuddered at the familiarity with which he touched me. As if he had done it a hundred times before. A pang of sadness hit me, knowing he used to touch me like this. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him as he wiped away the grainy flour off my cheek. When he noticed I was staring up at him, his smileslowly dropped. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing before he murmured, “Now it’s all off.”

“T-thanks,” I said breathlessly.

I felt it the moment the air around us changed. Like this electrical charge surged in the room, heightening my senses. His eyes drifted toward my lips, and I couldn’t help but lick them when they suddenly felt dry.

His jaw ticked, and I felt my breath catch in my throat as he inched closer. His hand moving to cup my cheek. I should push him away, right? This was crossing into dangerous territory and I couldn’t do that. We shouldn’t do this.

But it felt so…goodto have him touch me. To feel the warmth radiating off his broad chest. His spicy scent that made me dizzy. My hand travelled up to grip his forearm to steady myself.

“What the hell are you doing to me?” he rasped, whispering it as if it were a secret just between us.

I leaned into his touch as I whispered, “Travis, we shouldn’t.”

“Shouldn’t we?” God, did his voice drop another octave? My body reacted to him in a way I didn’t want it to. The way he was looking at me right now made me wonder what he’d do if I said yes.

I took in a shaky breath as his hand moved further down my neck. “We—we definitely shouldn’t.”

“Then why is your heart beating so fast right now?” His thumb rubbed my pulse point in slow tantalizing circles where I suddenly felt the fast beat of my heart.

“Because you make me nervous,” I admitted breathlessly.

“Why do I make you nervous?” His hand moved back up until his thumb pressed against my bottom lip. I watched him watch me, his dark gaze focused on the way his thumb ran across my lip.

My hand squeezed his arm, and he took that as encouragement to close the space between us. The worst part? I desperately wanted him to close it.

“Travis,” I breathed, unable to control the sound of my needy voice. Not sure exactly what I was asking for, but I wantedmore.

Before I could stutter another word, he breathed out harshly, “Fuck it.”

I gasped as he leaned down and?—

“Hey, Lila? Can you help me restock the delivery? It just came in.” Desi’s voice carried down the hall as she hollered for me. Then she sounded entirely too close. “Hey, where’d you go?”

Travis and I shot apart—more like I did, and he just stood there motionless—before Desi pushed her way into the kitchen.

“Oh, there you are! I was wondering where you disappeared to…” Desi trailed off as she looked between us. She arched a brow and grinned. “Am I interrupting something?”

“No,” I hurried to say.

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