Page 150 of Small Town Firsts

A rock to crawl under would be really nice right about now.

I open my mouth to reply, and close it—twice. I’m positive I look like the damn goldfish Nate won for Tatum at the county fair last year. Alden slides his hand from my lower back and slips his thumb through my belt loop, snagging my sweating latte with his other hand before tugging and guiding me to the little alcove he’s claimed as ours. The action catches me off guard, as it’s hands-down the most intimate we’ve been sincethatnight

Whereas I’m an awkward, fumbling mess, Alden’s the picture of cool, calm, and collected, slouched back in his chair with his beverage balanced on his knee. The silence stretches out between us, his eyes fixed on me, burning me from the inside out. I’m embarrassed he caught me staring, but more so by my apparent loss of motor skillsafterhe caught me. I mean,come on!I’ve practically known Alden my entire life, so there’s no reason for me to be acting so nuts—you know, other than the massive secret threatening to spew from my lips at any moment.

Alden lifts his cup to his lips—his luscious, kissable-looking lips—and takes a few sips, his eyes never leaving me, even over the rim of his mug. Finally, he speaks, but I really wish he wouldn’t have. “This weirdness between us isn’t gonna work for me, Small Fry.”

Deny, deny, deny!my mind demands. “Weirdness? Pssh. What weirdness?” I wave my left hand in the air as if I’m shooing away a fly.

He smirks. “Thatweirdness.” He leans toward me, placing his coffee on the table, and grabs my hand, effectively halting my fidgeting. “Seriously, who are you, and where’s my Natalie? You’re acting like you’ve been body snatched. What gives?”

My brain trips over themy Natalie,and I know my cheeks have to be crimson. Sure, his voice sounds sincere, but the gleam in his eye shows me he’s enjoying himself, even if it is a little at my expense. “I-I guess it’s just nerves.” I release a long exhale.

“Why? What’s there to be nervous about?”

Well, mostly because you’re the father of my child, and the secrets and lies are slowly driving me insane.Speaking of insane, I pull my hand back from him, becausewhy are we still holding hands anyway?“I don’t handle change all that well. And even though Don’s an asshole, he’s always been good about working around my schedule.” I nibble on my lower lip, drawing his eyes. They dilate; I pretend not to notice.

“Natalie, if you’re worried about?—”

I cut him off, not wanting to elaborate any more on Tatum—I’m already near my breaking point, and hearing him speak her name will surely rupture the dam. “I don’t expect special treatment. I want you to treat me like any other employee. So, if my schedule has to change, or you have to let me go, I get it. It’ll epically suck, but I get it. Business is business, and your friendship with Nate shouldn’t change anything.” My words come out so fast and jumbled that by the end of my tirade I’m breathing heavily. I probably sounded like a freaking auctioneer.

I’m not sure what type of reaction I’m expecting from Alden, but it certainly isn’t laughter. All the same, his low, husky laugh meets my ears, sending tingles down my spine, all the way to my toes.

“For real, girl?” He crosses his right leg over his left, propping his ankle on his knee. “First off, my relationship with your entire family, not just Nate, has no effect on your continued employment—your job performance, on the other hand, does. You do your job and do it well, and you’ll stay on the staff. It’s that simple.” He leans forward, assessing me. “As for your schedule, I don’t see any reason for it to change. So, we good?”

A small smile graces my lips. “Yeah, Alden, we’re good.”

He eyes me, then his gaze flits to the window. He almost seems nervous, but I can’t fathom what he has to be nervous about. It’s not like he has some fifty-ton secret crushinghischest. “Wonderful,” he murmurs, his voice dropping deliciously low. “So, since we’re good, you’ll let me take you to dinner one night so we can catch up some more?”

“Dinner? Let’s just catch up now.”Seriously, who goes to dinner?

Alden makes a big show of checking his watch. “Well, I’d totally be down for that if I didn’t have to be at the café at noon.”Holy shit! Noon? That means we’ve been here for almost half an hour!“So, like I was saying, dinner…”

“I’ll probably be busy,” I say, deflecting.

He shoots me a sly grin and places his hand on my knee. The contact heats me straight through. I want to wiggle and shrug his touch away, but at the same time, it is the sweetest kind of torture. “I haven’t even said when, Natalie.”

“Oh, right.” I look down to my lap, far too embarrassed to meet his eyes “When?”

“How about next weekend? That should be plenty of time to request off and secure a babysitter, right?” The corners of his mouth tip up. He knows he has me. I’m but a fish on a line, and he is reeling me in.

Dammit! He’s thought of everything; I don’t really have a way to say no!“Yeah…sounds great.”

He stands and extends a hand down to help me up. “Great. It’s a date.”

I yank my hand back from him so hard that I slam back down into my chair. Alden quirks a brow at me.Gah, somehow this only serves to make him look hotter.“Nope! Not a date!”

Yet again, my outburst has Alden in stitches. “Easy there, tiger. It’s not a date.”

“Promise?”

He shakes his head back and forth. “You’re bad for my ego, Nat; because, gotta say, I’ve never had a girl beg me not to take her out on a date.”

Ugh. The thought of all of the girls between Mia and now makes my stomach churn. Not with jealousy, but with…well…something. “Well, there’s a first time for everything. And I’m betting your ego can handle it.”

CHAPTER 11

ALDEN

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