Page 158 of Small Town Firsts

Nope. Just a girl prone to making monumentally poor decisions.

Unfortunately, I came to this decision over coffee on Sunday morning while standing in Tatum’s doorway watching her sleep. So far, she’s never asked about her father, or where he is, or why she doesn’t have one. But, one day, she will. And I’m doing them both a major disservice by holding onto the truth.

So, Saturday night it is.

Downside, it’s only freaking Wednesday, which means I get to help Alden close tonight. Like I said…pins and needles. And because of that, I can’t seem to get my shit together enough to put up a front of being cool, calm, and collected.

It’s like that one time in high school when I drank for the first time. All of my friends were having a good time, but I was jumpy and paranoid that we were going to get caught and grounded for all of eternity.

So far, thanks to Jenny running interference, it’s been easy to avoid being completely alone with him. When I asked for a helping hand, she looked at me a little funny but agreed anyway.Thank you, girl code. But the fact that he just told her to go home early tells me he’s onto my avoidance tactics and that some one-on-one time is inevitable tonight.

I mean, she was in the middle of her freaking side work, for Pete’s sake, but Alden didn’t even blink about cutting her. Told me to take over, and her to see Carlos for tips and to vamoose.

The sounds of the kitchen crew breaking down for the night filter out into the dining room, letting me know that soon they too will be gone.

All I have left to do is clean my section and stack my chairs, and then I’m home free. Only thing stopping me from doing so is the fact that I have to go to the supply closet right next to Alden’s office. The very same office where I know for a fact he’s holed up doing end of day paperwork and God knows what else.

But, it’s the only way I’m getting out of here, so I need to put on big girl panties—so to speak—and deal with it. Plus, maybe with a little luck, I can creep by really quietly, and he won’t hear me.

I tiptoe through the dining room, probably looking like a cartoon villain, checking over my shoulder every few steps as if he’s going to pop up out of nowhere. I’ve almost made it when he steps out of his office, causing me to shriek. “Jesus, Alden! You scared me!”

He blinks innocently at me, but the spark of delight in his eyes isn’t very convincing. “Did I?”

“Ugh, yes! I about jumped out of my skin.” Luckily the startle has overridden some of my nerves. I better hurry before the effect wears off.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Small Fry. You about done for the night?”

I give him a tight smile and nod. “Yep. Just gotta clean my section.”

He moves past me, grabs the cleaning caddy, and passes it to me. “I’ll help. Two sets of hands are better than one, right?” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him no, but…technicallyif he helps, I’ll finish faster. And plus, we won’t be able to talk over the vacuum.

“S-sure. Sounds good.” I turn on my heel and head back to start wiping down my tables and chairs. Alden follows, vacuum in tow. I wait to hear the whir of the vacuum, desperate for some sort of noise to drown out his presence. But it never comes.

Determined to ignore the tension blanketing the room, I move to the next table, scrubbing away at a wine stain. “Natalie,” Alden speaks my name, and even though it hits me like a dart, I ignore him.

“Nat, please look at me?” he asks, his voice softer than before.

I’m well on my way to my third table when I feel Alden standing behind me. He’s so close that my body is absorbing the heat from his. If I were to move back even an inch, we would touch. Intent on continuing to ignore him, I vigorously scour the already-clean table.

Displeased with being ignored, he clears his throat. I spin to face him, and he steps into me. I try to move back, but the table digs into my ass, stopping me. “Wh-what do you want?” I whisper, terrified by his nearness and turned on all the same.

“This.”

He cups the back of my neck, pulling my face to his. The next thing I know, his lips are descending onto mine, claiming them in a hungry kiss. He nips at my lower lip, tugging. I open my mouth, intent on stopping him, but he takes it as an invitation and deepens our kiss. His tongue moves against mine in the most sensuous dance, robbing me of my words. He shifts his hand from my nape, trailing his fingers down my spine, settling his hand on my waist, pulling me into him. I gasp as his much-larger-than-I-remember erection brushes against my belly.

That’s all the encouragement he needs. Using his free hand, he threads his fingers through the end of my ponytail and fists my long locks, guiding me to the position he wants me in.

I’m all but ready to rub up on him like a cat against a tree when he pulls away. “What was—” I start to ask, but he shushes me with one last chaste kiss, followed by parting words that cause my heart to drop.

“Head home, I’ve got this.” I start to walk away, and he reaches out and snags hold of my wrist. His touch is like fire and ice all at once. “Oh, and Nat—plan on us picking up where this left off on Saturday.”

CHAPTER 15

NATALIE

If I thought gettingready for my date with Kevin was hard, it’s got nothing on this. I mean, what do you wear to tell the man of your dreams he’s unknowingly the father of your toddler? Somehow, I don’t think there’s an outfit in existence that saysI’m sorry for not telling you, please don’t hate me.

I settle on dark indigo wash skinnies with a chambray boyfriend-fit button-down. A statement necklace and pointy-toe nude heels complete the look. It’s casual and comfortable and maybe it screamsI’m not a total monster…or at least I hope it does.

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