This time, I let the giggle break loose from my throat. I swung the door open to find Alex standing there, bare ass naked.
“About damn time,” he said with a wide smile as he brushed past me.
He didn’t miss the opportunity to reach over and squeeze my bottom. Those little fireworks of joy went off again. I closed the door firmly behind him and had to lean against it to catch my breath and tell myself feeling this happy wasn’t smart.
Chapter Fifteen
Alex
“What the hell are you doing in North Carolina anyway?” Toby asked.
I’d met Toby at flight school. He was a great guy and a good friend. He’d actually come out a few summers and done some flying in Alaska. It was good money, and you could get temp jobs there easily because the work ramped up so much in the summer. When I’d emailed him about a possible trip here, he’d told me he could line up a few jobs with him for me. That had sealed the deal for me coming to see Delilah. Not that I needed to work while I was here, but I knew her schedule wouldn’t permit her taking two weeks off, so it kept me busy while she was working.
I tossed a rag stained with all kinds of engine fluids into a bin and turned to wash my hands in the large sink. “I came for a girl.”
Toby barked a laugh. “You came all the way to North Carolina for a girl?” His expression could only be described as incredulous.
“Absolutely.”
I quickly scrubbed my hands. As I rinsed them under the hot water, Toby asked, “So who is this girl who dragged you all the way across the country?”
“Delilah Carter. She lives in Stolen Hearts Valley.”
Turning the water off, I tore a paper towel off the holder and leaned my hips against the sink as I dried my hands.
“That’s about forty-five minutes away,” Toby observed. “Dude, Alaska to North Carolina is one hell of a commute. How’d you meet her?”
Tossing the paper towel in the trash can by the door, I said, “It’s kind of crazy. I met her at camp years ago in Colorado. Never forgot her. Can’t say we fell in love, but I had a crazy bad crush back then.”
“Y’all stayed in touch all this time?” Toby’s brows practically hit his hairline with that question.
“Nah. I sent her a few letters, but she never got them. Turns out, a friend of hers from her hometown moved to Alaska. He’s a friend of mine and lives in Willow Brook. Long story short, he and his wife had to cancel a ski trip and gave her the reservation. I found her on the side of a snowy highway. We were both going to the same ski lodge.”
“Man, that is wild. I’m not much for believing in fate, but that feels a little bit like it. Are you in love?” he asked.
There went that four letter word. My heart felt like its shelter was being ripped away. Although Delilah meant a lot to me, and I was willing to chase her, I still wasn’t ready to label my feelings. I wasn’t even sure if we were on the same page yet. My prickly girl was so cynical.
“Yo,” Toby said, snapping his fingers in the air.
I realized I’d let the pause go on a little too long. “I don’t know. All I know is I missed her, and when you told me you could hook me up with some work here, I got a plane ticket.”
“And you’re gonna drive back and forth between Asheville and Stolen Hearts Valley every day for two weeks?”
“Well, five days a week,” I corrected with a grin.
Toby rolled his eyes. “I’m calling it. You’re in love. Now, let’s go get lunch.”
Chapter Sixteen
Alex
That evening, I turned off the highway onto the narrower road that led deeper into the Blue Ridge Mountains. The famed blue haze was hanging over the horizon. The fading rays of the sun shot through it in silver, and a watercolor of lavender and pink stained the sky.
It was beautiful here, beautiful enough that a distant corner of my mind considered the idea of moving here to be with Delilah. My thoughts shied away. I wasn’t ready to go there.
Delilah had told me she had a lunch shift at the bar and would be getting off around six. I drove straight to Lost Deer Bar. She promised me dinner and good beer when I’d dropped her off earlier.
A few minutes later, I walked into the bar, my eyes scanning the room before I found Delilah. She was sliding a pint of beer across the bar to a customer. She was moving so fast that she barely paused when she snagged the cash and handed over some change while she was already taking an order from another customer.
Her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail, perched high on her head. It swung as she strode quickly behind the bar. Just seeing her from across the room had anticipation sizzling in my veins.
Toby’s words rang in my mind. I’m calling it. You’re in love.
Maybe I wasn’t ready to label how I felt about Delilah, but I didn’t doubt the fierce power of my draw to her. I weaved my way through the tables and people crowding the bar, aiming for a corner against the wall. Just as I leaned my elbows against the bar, Delilah finally saw me.
Her eyes widened slightly as she glanced to the side and collided with my eyes. A smile curved against her cheek before she caught herself, schooling it to a slightly milder version. Oh, Delilah. So guarded, such a challenge. I could wait.
She finished serving a guy, and I didn’t miss the appreciative gleam in his eyes. Without even trying, Delilah was sexy as hell. I experienced a twinge of something unfamiliar. Possessiveness. That was new.
She crossed over to where I was. “Hey,” she said simply.
“Hey. When did you say you were done again?”
Delilah’s ponytail fell over her shoulder as she angled her gaze up toward the clock mounted above the door behind the bar. Her pretty eyes came back to me. “In fifteen minutes. Do you mind waiting?”
“Absolutely not.”
We stared at each other, and my heart twisted in my chest.
“Do you want something to drink while you wait?”
I couldn’t help myself. Reaching across the bar, I caught the end of her ponytail with one hand to loosely twirl the ends of it around my fingers. My girl was still a little nervous around me. She bit her lip.
“Nothing to drink unless I can drink with you,” I said with a quick shake of my head.
Someone called her name. “I gotta go work.”
I let her hair slide loose from my hand. “Go work. Don’t worry about rushing. I’m here.”
Without a word, she spun away, immediately taking a customer’s order. Slipping my hips onto a stool, I rested my back against the wall and watched a basketball game on the television mounted behind the bar. This wasn’t a sports bar, but practically every bar had a TV.
It wasn’t long before Delilah slipped out from behind the bar where the counter had an opening near me. “Ready to go?” she asked.
She had on her fluffy down coat and her purse on her shoulder. I wanted to kiss her, so I did.
Catching one of her hands in mine, I reeled her close between my knees and leaned forward. I meant for it to be a brief kiss, but this was Delilah and me, and we were like a fire always waiting to catch hold. Touching her was like dropping a lit match in dry leaves. Whoosh. In a hot second, our tongues were tangling. Delilah gasped into my mouth before she pulled back.