Page 37 of Small Town Schemes & Summer Kisses
“Do you want the pie now or later?”
“I can wait. Just don’t forget where the spork is.”
Caroline finally met his eyes again, and the intensity he saw in hers was undeniable. She swallowed and took a breath. “Beck, about what I said. I didn’t mean to make it—”
“Complicated?” Beck finished for her. With a soft sigh, she nodded. It was all it took for him to find a small crack in her resolve. Just enough. “What if it’s not complicated?”
“Then what is it?”
“Simple.” He shifted on the bucket, knowing he could fall but not caring. “I thought I’d be long gone by now, Caroline. I promised one afternoon, but I can’t stay away. It’s not just the project.”
“The project won’t matter anymore.”
“Because?”
“I’m stepping down as mayor after I get out of here.”
“What?” Beck said, eyes wide. “You?”
“Yeah. Me,” Caroline replied. “I’ve been working my tail off, and sometimes I think I’m the only one who cares about this. Everyone else is just making up squares on a bingo card. Why should I keep working if no one cares?”
“So, I’m not the only one trying to run away?”
She arched a brow, wondering if Beck was as serious as his voice seemed. “I’m not running away. I’m quitting. There’s a difference.”
“What happened, Hollis? What happened in the few days I’ve been gone?”
“When I thought I was here alone, it made me realize I should never have let Daddy talk me into this. I did not know what I was in for when I agreed, and it’s turning out all wrong.”
“Seems right to me,” he whispered, the words heavier than the rain. “You aren’t alone.”
“Is it?” Caroline paused as if she were measuring his resolve. “What are we doing, Beck?”
“We’re eating dinner in a bait shop and wearing ridiculous shirts,” he replied, laughter in his voice. “Maybe we’re finally admitting what we want.”
“I don’t know what I want. I’ve just gone from one project to the next.”
“Was this just a project to you?”
“I don’t want to see Bluebell Bay shrivel up like so many of the small tourist towns.”
“Are we just a project?” She shook her head. Beck reached over and grabbed her hand. “Don’t quit, Caroline. Not on the town. Not on us. We need you. I need you.”
“You need me?”
“More than you know.”
Her lips parted in a small gasp. The storm wasn’t the only thing building now. She didn’t let go of his hand either.
She squeezed it and moved a little closer to close the gap between them. He felt her pulse race as she leaned in, and Beck was overwhelmed. With her stubbornness, with her beauty, with the terrifying possibility this could be more than he let himself believe.
“May I kiss you again?” he murmured, his lips brushing against hers.
When she nodded, he kissed her slowly and deeply, letting everything go that kept him from telling her she was all he wanted. The world shifted, and he had the same dizzy rush of speed he felt when he walked in the door. After all the weeks of trying to outrun this, it caught him. He didn’t want to escape.
Caroline was the one who finally drew back from the kiss. Beck gently pulled her onto his lap and encircled her with his arms, holding her close as if he never wanted to let go. “I went home to visit my parents,” he explained.
“Your parents?”
