Lyrics of a Small Town Read online

  Thank you,” I said.

  He grinned. “You’re welcome.”

  “Do you want to come inside and get cooled off?” I asked.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Why don’t you come to my place? I have a pool,” he reminded me. “We can watch the sunset.”

  The idea of wearing a bathing suit in front of him with all my pale skin on display made me panic for a moment. He was waiting for me to respond and I had no excuse to keep from going. I wanted to spend time with him, get to know him. If I had to put on a bathing suit then so be it. I could do this.

  “Okay,” I agreed

  He stood up. “Where’ve you been?” he asked me.

  “Another item on Gran’s list checked off,” I told him then went to unlock the door.

  “I take it there was no major revelation in this one, you don’t appear shaken.”

  I shook my head and went inside the house. “No, it was easy enough. Just dropped off some of her items to a friend.” I turned to look at him then. “I’ll just go get my bathing suit. If you want something to drink, there is bottled water in the fridge.”

  “Thanks,” he replied and walked toward the kitchen.

  I hurried back to my room and had the debate over one-piece or two-piece. My two-piece was nothing like the bikinis I had seen on the females at his house party, but I liked the color on me. The turquoise had made my pale color more attractive or so I had thought when I bought it. Picking it up, I put it in a bag then added a beach towel. Taking one last look at myself in the mirror, I took a deep breath an exhaled slowly.

  When I made my way back to the kitchen, Saul was leaning against the bar drinking a bottle of water. His tank was sticking to his sweaty chest and I took a moment to admire the view. It had been awhile since I allowed myself to even look at a guy. After Will, I didn’t notice guys at all. I didn’t notice a lot of things. I hadn’t been living life just going through the motions.

  My life had become routine and since moving to Gran’s, I realized just how boring I had been. Will would have never wanted that; Gran definitely hadn’t wanted it.

  Well, Gran, it’s not boring now.

  “I have some cookies if you want one,” I offered.

  He cut his eyes to the cake plate on the counter that the cookies were being kept. “I noticed. Wasn’t sure if they were for the café or not.”

  Walking over to the cake plate, I took a napkin and put two of the cookies on it then handed it to him. “They were a trial run. When I get stressed or bored or just in the mood, I begin making up recipes. I tried one and I liked it, but I need a second opinion.”

  He took a bite of one of the cookies and I realized I was watching his neck muscles flex in the process. Snapping my eyes back to his face, I caught him grinning. I knew I was blushing, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

  “These will sell. Fucking delicious,” he said then put the rest of the cookie in his mouth.

  “You can take the rest. I won’t eat them and I’ll have to make fresh ones for the shop,” I told him.

  After I bagged up the other cookies, I started to turn around and hand them to him, but he backed me up into the corner of the bar. Both of his hands lay flat on the marble counter top and he looked down at me with a small grin tugging at the corner of his perfect lips.

  “Before we go,” he said in a low voice then he lowered his head and his mouth found mine. I may have let out a small moan of pleasure because even sweaty having Saul Hendrix this close made me lightheaded. He tasted of my cookies and that made my heart do a silly little flip.

  He growled then broke the kiss but ran his nose across my jawline before standing back up. “I’m nasty and if we don’t stop, you’re going to be as fucking dirty as I am,” he said.

  The images that brought to mind didn’t repulse me in the least. It did quite the opposite. I didn’t tell him that though, because it sounded a little deranged. He took the bag from my shoulder and the cookies from my hand then nodded his head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

  I was smiling. I couldn’t help it. He made me smile. This version of Saul was the one that made me happy inside. He made me forget there was another version of Saul that was very different. If he continued being like this, it was going to be hard to remember how falling for him was foolish.

  It was too late about the caring for him. I cared for him before he kissed me. It hadn’t been his looks that had caused it either. It had been him. It was hard to put off a bad boy vibe when you spent your days saving the people you cared about from themselves. There was more to Saul than he wanted people to know. Gran had known just how good he was and I trusted that.

  He opened the passenger door of his truck and I climbed inside. It smelled surprisingly good except for the nicotine scent, although I was becoming fond of the faint linger of cigarette smoke. Probably a very bad idea but it reminded me of Saul. That and coconut. His truck smelled much like the tropical vacation commercial he should be starring in instead of driving around in this truck wearing a pair of jeans and a sweaty white tank.

  I glanced down and saw a rehab pamphlet between the seats. When he was inside the truck, I picked it up. “Did Lily come home?” I asked him.

  He simply nodded.

  I started to put the pamphlet down, thinking it bothered him that I had seen it. He glanced at it then looked at me. “You can look at it. That’s a new one she’s not been to before.”

  It was in Washington. That was so far from here. I wondered if she always went that far or if this was something the doctor thought was a good idea.

  “She swears she will be better. I’m just torn about trusting her. I don’t want to make the wrong decision.”

  I couldn’t imagine that kind of pressure. It was his mom’s life and he had to decide what was best for her. That kind of responsibility shouldn’t come until she was elderly and could no longer live alone. And yet he had been doing it since he was a teenager. Had he even had a chance to be a kid?

  I glanced at him as he drove and wished, once again, I could help him. I also feared just how much I cared about him. The more I was around him and the more I got to know him, I let a little more of my guard down. How long would it take for me to have nothing left to protect myself? And did I care about that anymore? Would it be so wrong if I did fall in love with Saul? Maybe it was time I wasn’t so careful… this could be my chance to truly let go and just live.

  Twenty-Two

  Rio was sitting on the massive sectional sofa with a bag of chips and the television remote in his hand when we walked into the living area. He looked up at us and then grinned. I returned his smile and Saul’s hand touched my lower back. I wasn’t sure if it was some sign of possession or warning to Rio. I had thought after the information about us possibly being siblings, Saul understood our relationship.

  “You want something to drink?” Saul asked me.

  “Water is fine,” I told him, wanting any reason to stall from getting changed into my bathing suit.

  “I’ll take a beer,” Rio said, flashing his dimpled grin at Saul now.

  “You got a problem with your legs?” he shot back.

  Rio stretched them out and groaned. “Yeah, they’re killing me.”

  “Sure they are,” Saul replied and left my side to walk over to the bar.

  “I’m fucking serious! Do you know how many boxes of produce I had to unload the past two days? Pops is trying to kill me through manual labor. You’re at the bar already. You can get me a beer,” Rio told him.

  “If you’re serving drinks, I want a Jack,” Drake called out as he walked into the room from a doorway I hadn’t been through and had no idea where it led.

  “His legs work fine,” Rio said.

  “What? Something’s got to be wrong with my legs for him to get me a drink? He’s at the bar already,” Drake replied. “Hey, Henley,” he
added when he saw me.

  I lifted a hand in a small wave.

  His drink request forgotten, he walked over to the stairs leading up to the second level of the room and leaned on the rail. “You know you can always bring that hot little redhead that works with you at the shop when you come over. I won’t complain and I’ll share with Rio.”

  “Jesus, Drake,” Saul said as he walked back my way with a bottle of water in his hand and nothing else.

  I thought of the fact that Rio might just be related to Emily and knew I was going to have to deal with that very soon. “I don’t want to share with you, Drake,” Rio called out. “You didn’t get me a beer? Seriously? What has our friendship come to?”

  Saul ignored him and his hand returned to my back. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can get changed.”

  “So I can’t ask her to hook me up with the redhead?” Drake called out as Saul led me away from the room and to the door that went back to where the stairs were.

  “Ignore him. That’s what we do,” Saul said.

  “He’s very…” I wasn’t sure the right word to use for him.

  “Fucking annoying,” Saul finished for me.

  I laughed. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

  He led me up the stairs and I saw he was smiling. It wasn’t a big smile, but it was something. I liked to see him smile. He seemed younger and less burdened. He didn’t smile enough.

  “You’ll learn soon enough and that is exactly what you will be saying,” Saul informed me.

  “Yet he’s one of your best friends and roommate,” I said.

  “I had to give in. He was like one of those puppies that won’t go away,” Saul told me as we reached the top of the stairs. He went to the first door on the right and opened it. “You can change in here. Bathroom is that way if you need it.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  He didn’t make a move to leave and I waited, watching him. His eyes were so blue it was easy to get lost in them when his gaze was locked on you. His hand touched my chin then and he brushed my bottom lip with his thumb.

  I shivered and stood very still, in hopes he was about to grant me with another of those kisses that made my knees weak. He bent his head and brushed a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “If I kiss you we won’t leave this room,” he whispered near my ear before dropping his hand and walking away.

  I held onto the door frame for support for a moment then inhaled and gathered myself before stepping back and closing the door.

  “Whew,” I muttered. Every nerve in my body seemed to come to life so easily with Saul.

  I looked at the bed in the center of the room and thought about what he had said. I wasn’t so sure I had a problem with not leaving this room. At least my body didn’t. Shaking my head in hopes of clearing it, I sat my bag down on the end of the bed and opened it up to pull out my swimsuit. I hadn’t brought a cover-up, but I did have the large beach towel I could wrap around myself. There was no way I was walking through this house with nothing but my bathing suit covering me.

  Quickly I changed and wrapped myself up in the towel in case Saul came back. I didn’t look in the mirror for fear I wouldn’t have the nerve to leave this room. I didn’t look bad in a bathing suit. The turquoise somehow made my pale skin appear attractive, if that was even possible. My body was decent. I just had years of my mother in my head, telling me my flaws and how to fix them.

  I folded up my clothing and put it in the bag and picked my bottle of water back up before opening the door. I didn’t see Saul and I wondered if I was supposed to wait here or go back downstairs. After a moment, I decided I’d head down and wait for Saul there.

  I could hear Rio and Drake talking about a volleyball game they had planned tomorrow but I didn’t hear Saul. Glancing back at the stairs, I wondered if he was still up there. Standing in the foyer was dumb, so I forced myself to go into the living area. Drake would probably say something that was embarrassing or shocking, but Rio was there. I wouldn’t be alone with him.

  The moment I walked into the room, Drake let out a low whistle.

  “Shut up,” Rio told him.

  “What? She’s not my sister,” he replied.

  I glanced at Rio and he shook his head. “Ignore him.”

  That made me laugh. It was exactly what Saul had said.

  “Guess the pool is off-limits this evening,” Drake said and fell back onto the sofa. “Saul won’t share. He’s the selfish sort.”

  I walked down the three stairs and went to the opposite side of the sofa to sit down. “I saw your text,” Rio told me. “Just haven’t had time to respond. Work has been brutal.”

  “It’s okay. It can wait,” I replied.

  “Yeah, she’s a bit busy herself,” Drake said with a wicked grin.

  Rio glared at him then rolled his eyes.

  I took a drink of my water, torn between wanting Saul to hurry up and wanting him to take a while longer so I could get my courage up about this swimming suit thing.

  “I told her he’s been playing the guitar again,” Drake said in a low voice.

  Rio glanced at him then me. “That’s a good thing,” he told me. “It’s been awhile since he’s done that.”

  I hoped I would get to hear him play the guitar and sing. I wasn’t sure if it was something he only did alone in his room or in front of people. However, asking him would mean I had to tell him how I knew about it and I didn’t know if that was an issue.

  “We got a volleyball game out on the sand tomorrow. Want to join? You can be on my team,” Drake said then and I turned to look at him.

  “She’s got plans,” Saul said and my attention quickly shifted to the doorway he had just walked through. My breathing also became difficult. He only had on a pair of dark blue swim trunks and there was not one flaw on his body. It was unfair and beautiful at the same time.

  Drake chuckled then and propped his feet up on the large round ottoman. “I’m sure she does,” he replied.

  Saul’s gaze found me and I felt my entire body flush. I put the top back on my water and stood up. A crooked grin curled his lips. “Come on,” he said.

  We left the other two inside as we made our way out to the pool. The sun still had an hour before it set and the light on the gulf was beautiful. Standing on the pool deck, I looked out over the fading day glistening on the water. The hard things in life seemed easier when you saw things such as this.

  “It’s my favorite time of day to be out here,” Saul said, standing behind me and placing a hand on my hip.

  “I can see why,” I replied softly.

  Neither of us said anything more for several moments.

  When Saul finally moved from behind me, I turned toward him. He gave me a wicked grin and then his eyes surveyed the towel I was clutching at my chest. “You gonna take that off?” he asked then walked over to the edge of the pool and, as if it was a choreographed move, dove smoothly into the water barely breaking the surface.

  I stood there watching him glide under the surface, knowing I was going to have to take the towel off and get in too. It was either that or I could stand here like an uptight dork all evening. I did have the setting sunlight to help aid in my pale skin. When the sun was bright, I always feared my skin glowed from its lack of a golden tan.

  Easing my hold on the towel, I let go of it and laid it over the edge of a lounge chair then walked to the edge of the zero-entry side of the pool and made my way down the small slant into the deeper water. I knew Saul was watching me but making eye contact seemed impossible right now. I was sure my cheeks were red and I hated that about myself. I wanted to be as cool and as tropical vacation commercial worthy as he was but that wasn’t happening.

  Once the water was below my breasts, I felt brave enough to meet his gaze. He had a crooked grin and I could see the twinkle of amusement in his eyes. This wasn’t someth
ing I was used to seeing from Saul. The guy I knew wasn’t playful at all but dark, broody, and withdrawn. The one looking at me now was different. More approachable. Less intimidating.

  “Am I amusing you?” I asked.

  He nodded slowly.

  “And what am I doing that has you amused?” I shot back with my own playful smile. I didn’t want broody Saul back just yet. I liked this version.

  He gave me a full sexy as hell smirk then and I felt tingly all over. “You’re shy about being in your bikini in front of me. It’s fucking adorable.”

  I glanced down at my body under the water. My two-piece would qualify as a bikini but not by the standards of most girls I had seen at his house. When I lifted my eyes back to meet his I shrugged, acting as casual as I could about this. I didn’t know what to say to his accusation since it was entirely true.

  Saul moved toward me and I had to remind myself to keep breathing. His bare muscular chest looked even more amazing with water droplets running down his sun-kissed skin. He didn’t stop until he was barely an inch from me. I watched as he lifted his hands from the water and cupped my face.

  Knowing what was coming next, I closed my eyes just as his lips met mine. Once I had kissed Will in the rain but never had I been kissed in a pool. There was a sexiness to it that felt more intimate. The fact we had very little covering our bodies, our cold wet bodies touching, the sun setting just over our shoulders. This would be one of those kisses I remembered. Long after I left this town, this would come back to me. How it felt to have this beautiful boy touch me, how he tasted of whiskey and sunshine, and the warmth our bodies created from their nearness.

  Wanting to feel his skin under my fingertips, I ran my hands up his chest. He shivered under my touch and the power that came from such a simple reaction was what I would guess a high felt like. I wanted more of that, more of him being made weak by me. This was new to me and so very different from what I had known before. Leaning closer to him, I ran my hands up to his shoulders.