Page 23 of Playing with Fire

“There’s someone here to see you, Nate.” When Willa glanced back up at Lottie, she looked almost like a kid on Christmas morning, her eyes dancing with mirth as her body vibrated with anticipation. Even as Willa winced at how badly this could go, she had to stifle a laugh at Lottie’s ridiculousness.

A heavy breath sounded through the speaker before Nate’s voice came through again. “I’ll be right out,” he replied tiredly.

As soon as Willa dropped the phone back onto the cradle, she heard the door to Nate’s office open, his heavy footstepsreverberating off the wood floor. Spinning in her chair, Willa watched as he buttoned his jacket. “How can I help…” he trailed off as soon as he saw Lottie. His eyes seemed to light up for a split second before his brow furrowed deeply. After shooting a somewhat irritated look at Willa, he gazed over at Lottie. “What do you want, Charlotte?”

Undeterred by his gruff tone, Lottie smiled brightly and met him where he stood, her body nearly pressing up against his. If she wasn’t mistaken, Willa thought she saw that tiny spark of interest back in the mayor’s eyes, but it was gone again in seconds. “Oh, now don’t act like you’re not happy to see me, Mister Mayor, and I’m here to collect on something you owe to the citizens of this town,” Lottie said before whipping out her phone and shoving it under his chin. “As the number-one source of news in Applewood, I think it only fair that you finally grant me an interview forLocally Sourced. The people want to hear from their new mayor about what you have planned, and I am happy to be the one to tell the story.”

Lottie nibbled at her ruby red, bottom lip as she waited for his reply, her eyes hopeful even as Nate pinched the bridge of his nose. When Nate finally raised his head, he looked more annoyed than Willa had ever seen him as he narrowed his eyes at her best friend. “Sure, I’ll grant you an interview the moment you show me your press pass,” he said coolly.

The buoyant look Lottie had been sporting vanished instantly. “You’re not serious, right?” At Nate’s impassive expression, Lottie’s jaw clenched tightly and she crossed her arms protectively over her chest. “You know I don’t have one,” she whispered. Lottie may be the town’s number-one source of news, but that was in an unofficial capacity. She’d left school after her freshman year and never completed her degree program, so she wasn’t an official member of the press. Knowing how much Lottie hated being reminded of that fact, Willacouldn’t help but frown at her boss.

“Then we’re done here,” Nate said with a curt nod. Turning to Willa, he flashed a cool stare at her but his tone was polite and professional. “I’m unreachable for the rest of the afternoon unless it’sofficialbusiness.” After putting Willa in her place, he marched back to his office and practically slammed the door.

“Yeesh.” Beckett’s smooth voice brightened Willa’s mood instantly, and she turned to watch him stroll up to her desk looking like a sight for sore eyes. He had a blanket under one arm and a picnic basket hooked over the other, and she was instantly excited to find out what he had in store for her. “What’s got Nate’s panties in a bunch?”

“Me.” The admission was nonchalant, but Willa could see the dejected look in Lottie’s eyes. “And as much as I would love to help him untwist them, he’s not interested and I’ve got other places to be.” Lottie shoved her phone back into her purse, and after a quick hug to Willa and a nod at Beckett, she smiled sadly and backed toward the staircase. “You guys have fun at lunch.”

Beckett’s head pinged from where Lottie had been standing to the closed door of his brother’s office before he shook his head dismissively. “Shall we?” He held his hand out to Willa and smiled. “We should get out of here before Grumpy the Bear comes back out of hibernation.”

Grabbing her purse, Willa locked her computer and slipped her hand in his, the feeling of their warm skin melding together washing away the tension from the day and the weirdness from moments ago. “Sounds like a plan.”

Their fingers intertwined automatically as they made their way out of the building and into the perfect June weather. The move to Washington had come with many benefits, but the biggest one had to be the lack of insane humidity. Walking around during the Florida summer was unpleasant, to say theleast. The air was always thick with moisture, making you feel like you were drowning anytime you tried to breathe. Here, the sun shone brightly and warmed Willa’s face, but the air was crisp and much cooler than she had expected it to be.

It was a great day to be outside, something Beckett clearly had in mind as well based on the picnic basket over his arm. They caught up on the events of each other’s day as they basked in the sun and walked towards the current town square. The space was small, boasting only a couple of benches scattered here and there, and some parts of the cobblestone were raised and overgrown with grass. It was charming in a way, but Willa could see why her boss wanted to improve it and make the town center more of a place to gather and celebrate, not just somewhere that acted as a quant picnic spot.

After laying the red plaid blanket onto a patch of bluegrass, Beckett took a seat, patting the spot next to him. Smiling, Willa joined him and watched as he pulled items out of the basket one by one, each reveal making her mouth water. Glass containers filled with fresh strawberries, cheese squares, and cornbread muffins found their way to the blanket. Willa’s stomach growled audibly at the sight of so much delicious food. Beckett chuckled at the sound and when he reached in and pulled out one filled with brownies, Willa almost wept.

She was more than ready to dive into the meal, but seeing Beckett pause halfway to placing the brownies down had her brow furrowing in confusion. “Something wrong with the brownies?” Willa teased. Her tone was light despite the sinking feeling in her stomach.

Beckett smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “No, they’re good. It’s just that I realized I didn’t ask you if you were okay with a picnic. I just assumed.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked over at her sheepishly. “I should have asked. It’s just such a nice day out and…I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Shifting so she was directly in front of him, Willa took his big hand in hers and kissed it. “You don’t need to be sorry. It is a nice day out, and having a picnic was a wonderful idea.” Cupping his face with her other hand, Willa ran her thumb across the smooth skin of his cheek. Stubble was nice, but she loved him clean-shaven as well, his soft skin a lovely contrast to his hard body. “I know that it’s tricky, trying to figure out what’s too much or not enough with me, but the fact that you’re even thinking about all of that is amazing and it means a lot, probably more than I can say.” Willa’s heart ached at the fact that they had to deal with this when it would be so nice to just be able to sit back and enjoy one another, but it also stretched, new compartments appearing to make room for all the lovely feelings coursing through her in the face of Beckett’s determination to meet her needs. “Thank you.”

Leaning up, Willa placed a feather-light kiss on his lips, intending to not do any more than that, but as soon as she got a taste, she couldn’t help herself from going back for more. Any good intentions she had about keeping things chaste flew out the window in the face of her desire for Beckett. Licking his bottom lip, Willa tasted the cinnamon of the gum she’d seen in his car, the chocolate and sugar from the brownie he probably snuck as he was packing the basket, as well as the heady taste that was uniquely and wholly his. With a groan, Beckett dropped the brownies and pulled Willa into his chest, their bodies colliding with enough force to have them tumbling backward onto the blanket.

Laughing against his mouth, Willa peered at him to see a look in his eyes so intensely affectionate that her heart nearly stopped beating. Hell, even time seemed to stop as she stared into the pools of hazel blazing with something that looked a whole lot like love.Too much, too soon.The words whispered in her mind, but instead of scrambling off him, Willa was ableto place one last peck on his kiss-swollen lips before sitting up.Progress.

“Sorry,” she said with a shy smile. “Guess I got a little carried away.” It was easy to do with someone like him, and Willa could easily see it becoming a regular occurrence.

Beckett smiled and righted himself before passing her a container. Their fingers brushed as she took it, the warm tingles it caused lingering even as she opened it up and popped a strawberry into her mouth. “You have my full permission to get carried away anytime you like, Wild Woman.” He moved her hair off her shoulder, his fingers gently brushing against the skin of her neck for a moment causing Willa to shiver. “In fact, I’m counting on it.”

Blushing, Willa offered up the strawberries to him and couldn’t stop from beaming at him when he ate them from her fingers. “You’re incorrigible,” she scolded lightly.

With a wink, Beckett took her hand and squeezed it. “I want to thank you too.”

His eyes were filled with an emotion she couldn’t quite decipher, but if Willa had to guess it was something akin to admiration. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone looked at her like that. Looks of derision, of pity, and even some looks of understanding were all ones she was used to, but no one aside from perhaps her best friend had ever looked at her admirably. Having such a brave, accomplished man gaze at her that way was potent, so much so that Willa was almost lightheaded with how good it made her feel, her heart swelling with pride in herself for some unknown accomplishment.

“Thank you for surviving what you went through, and thank you for being brave enough to leave, and to try again with me.” Willa’s throat closed up as she watched Beckett raise her hand to his mouth and place a gentle kiss there. “I’m glad to know you, Willa Rose.”

Willa nodded as best she could while trying not to cry. As necessary as it was, leaving Jeff had also been incredibly difficult, and other than her therapist and Lottie, Willa didn’t think anyone had recognized that until now. “Thank you,” she whispered. Beckett pulled her into a hug and a few tears spilled out as she sank further into the warmth of his chest.

Getting out had been hard, and scary, and leaving the little bubble that had become her entire world, regardless of how toxic it was, had been a big fucking deal. Having Beckett not only see that but acknowledge it, acknowledgeher, made Willa feel more seen than she ever had before. It was something she hadn’t expected to happen at all, let alone so soon. As good as it felt, it also had her feeling a little frayed at the edges, like an exposed nerve.

Sniffing, Willa leaned back and tried for a smile, knowing that it probably came across as more of a grimace. “Maybe we can talk about something else now.”

“Anything you need, Willa.” His breath fanned against her hair, tickling her skin as it brushed her shoulder. “Should we eat?” Instead of moving back, Beckett stayed close and held onto her as they dug into the meal he’d so thoughtfully prepared.

They spent the rest of their afternoon talking about anything and everything from their shared love of taco-flavored corn chips to their differing views on superhero films, but what they didn’t talk about was the elephant in the room. The one that had been lingering but hadn’t made itself known until that day. So far, Willa had been able to handle the two of them dating casually, but this felt anything but casual.

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