Page 52 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

“Did you bring me to a five-star restaurant to feed me Pringles?” Sienna asked, and Beau’s face fell in defeat.

Yeah, Sienna, I did. Pringles on a silver platter.

The confidence Beau had built up, thinking it was a good idea to replay and upgrade their first date, waned until Sienna brought her hand to her mouth. She popped the entire chip in before bursting into laughter that reached her eyes and touched Beau’s heart.

* * *

Beau had downed two sandwiches and nearly half a can of Pringles when Sienna paused, tilting her head in question.

She reached for a small crumble of cheese next to what remained of the nearly florescent processed yellow they had scarfed down. “What’s this?” she asked.

“Well, I upgraded the cheese plate a bit.” Beau took the tiny crumble from her. “This,” he began, “is a truffled gouda.”

Sienna leaned her head back and let out a laugh. “At what point did you become a dairy snob? You used to shoot Cheez Whiz straight into your mouth.”

“I still do that,” Beau admitted cheekily, popping the gouda into his mouth. He was about to continue but paused to savor the richness. Reaching over the saltines for another cube, he held one in front of her mouth. “Try this and tell me it’s not what heaven tastes like.”

Sienna narrowed her green eyes at Beau’s hand before moving them to his own, holding his gaze as she took the cube into her mouth, her lips grazing the tip of his finger. When her lids drifted shut, and Sienna’s tongue swiped her bottom lip, Beau moved the hand still floating in front of her face and poured himself more whiskey.

“I’ll get us a driver,” he told her, tipping the glass back and welcoming the delight of the burn.Because I might need another one of these.

Beau didn’t know where to look—at Sienna, whose cheeks were flushing pink, at the table where her arm leaned, long, slender fingers fiddling with a fork. If he looked down, Beau would find the warm, smooth skin of her thigh flanking his.

He took another drink.

“I can’t believe you did this,” Sienna said quietly with a small laugh, peeking over her shoulder at the waitstaff on standby. “They probably think you’re nuts.”

“Let them.”I mean, they work for me,Beau added in thought but refrained from telling Sienna he owned the restaurant just yet.

“So, your neighborhood joint is a five-star restaurant that you have cater grocery store meals. Or your downstairs joint, I guess. Youreallylive upstairs?” Sienna asked through thick lashes.

“I do. But don’t ask me to take you up there tonight. I’m not sure I’d be as much of the gentleman I’m trying hard to be right now.”

As she tilted her head, Sienna’s hair fell to the side, curtaining half of her face. There was a darkening to her eyes. “Not much has changed. I spent a lot of time trying to get you to be less of a gentleman.”

“You came pretty close to succeeding. You could try the patience of a saint.”

When Sienna’s mouth flattened into a coy smirk, Beau trailed his vision down to the creamy skin of her neck, wondering if she still tasted the same. It was a battle to keep himself from leaning forward into the dip of her collarbone and finding out.

He cleared his throat. “But you’re right. I’m holding off until it’s the moment you deserve.”

Sienna’s smirk disappeared. “That’s what you said back then.”

“I know. It’s still true.” Beau reached out, holding her chin when he could sense she was going to look away. “You wanted to do a lot of things. Like this fancy date, the—”

“At the end of it all, back then, I wanted to spend time with you.”

“And now?” Beau asked. “What do you want now?”

“I want to be happy.”

I want to make you happy.

“I’m afraid, Beau. Of you. Of how I feel with you, even after all this time apart, even aftereverythingthat’s happened since you’ve been gone.” Sienna sighed. “I’m one tragedy away from a breakdown. I don’t know how I’ve kept it together for so long.” She shook her head. “It’s like I’ve been living only to get past all the hard bits. Mom dying. Dad dying. Grace’s cancer. Sometimes it feels likemylife hasn’t even started yet. And here I am finally at that point, and you show up and... ”

Beau prodded her. “And what, Sienna?”

“My heart is back there.” She pointed to the crust he had left of one sandwich. “It’s rolling around with you in the grass and sneaking you through my window. My head is telling me if I leave it there, I’ll get hurt. Like the last time.”

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