Page 22 of Playing with Fire

Swallowing down the mass of dry crumbs, Beckett set aside the bag and pulled her hands into his. “Thank you for the gesture and the thoughtfulness,” he told her sincerely. The cookies may not be the best he’d ever had, but it was the thought that counted and there was definitely a lot of that put into what she’d made for him. “But Willa, you don’t need to thank me for giving you what you need, and as far as ditching me goes, we’ve talked about that and there’s no need to keep bringing it up.”

She nodded, looking slightly relieved. “Okay, I just felt a little guilty still.”

The worddon’twas on the tip of his tongue, but saying that would be a whole lot like telling her how to feel, and that was one thing Beckett wasn’t going to do. “Well, I can’t tell you not to feel guilty, but I will tell you that on my end, I’ve already moved past it.” Drawing her over to where she was now sittingon his lap, Beckett wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. “Besides, anyone who is willing to be this close to me when I’m fresh from a hard workout deserves the thank you, not me.”

Willa’s body shook lightly against his as she chuckled. “Oh, trust me, Beck. Seeing you in a clingy shirt is no hardship.” Her lips brushed briefly over his before she stood, pulling him up with her. “Now, let me take one last look at you in all your gym exertion glory before I go shopping with Lottie.”

Willa held Beckett’s hands out to his sides and took a leisurely look at him, the coy expression on her face causing him to stand just a tiny bit taller and his dick to go hard again. “Alright, you.” Escorting her to the front, Beckett opened the door for her. “I need you gone before I get in trouble for wanting to do very bad things to a member of the community in a publicly funded building.”

With a flirty wink, Willa sashayed out the door. “See you on Monday, Beck.”

“Yes, you will.” After watching her disappear around the corner, he made his way back toward the showers to clean up, only to get waylaid by the chief. The older man gave him a pointed look after scrutinizing his expression. “What?”

He smiled and shrugged a wide shoulder. “Nothing. Just good to see my guys happy is all,” Trilby said, looking like a proud papa as he stared at Beckett.

“Thanks. I am happy,” Beckett assured him.

As he washed up and got ready for the rest of his shift, Beckett’s mind kept drifting back to Willa. Their relationship had been a bit complicated from day one with all the near misses and hesitant glances, but now that they were on more solid ground, he couldn’t help how quickly he was falling. Past all her very necessary defenses was a woman who was bright, caring, and stronger than she gave herself credit for. If he could manageto take things slowly, he had the feeling that they could both be happy for a long time to come.

Chapter Fourteen

~Willa ~

Mondays were usually some of the busiest at Town Hall, and today was no exception. Willa’s morning had flown by in a series of meetings about the Fourth of July parade next week, necessary upgrades to the playground equipment at a few of the town’s public parks, and a meeting with city council members about the mayor’s downtown revitalization project. Each meeting was incredibly busy with enough information packed into it to fill one of Lottie’s newsletters ten times over, but it was that last one that had a headache forming at the base of Willa’s skull.

The amount of inane chatter by city council members would have been enough of a contribution to her current pain, but them also being so dismissive of Nate’s ideas, something that turned his normally invigorating mood sour, made it much worse. Willa tried to remain positive and turn things around for her boss, but as a newcomer to the town and her job, the council didn’t pay her much attention. That meeting had been over for at least half an hour, but Willa could still hear her boss fuming on the other side of his closed office door.

Grabbing her water bottle and a handful of ibuprofen, Willa choked down enough medicine to tranquilize a horse in hopes that it would prevent the dull throbbing from turning into a head-splitting migraine. She didn’t get them that often, but when she did, they were always bad enough to put her out of commission for the rest of the day. The last thing Willa wanted was to have to cancel her lunch with Beckett because she was feeling nauseous and dizzy from the pain in her skull. It was a date she had been looking forward to since the second he agreed to it.

Feeling slightly more settled now that she had somepain prevention in place, Willa started to compile the meeting minutes, making sure to leave out the parts where the council members had gotten distracted by talking about whether Mrs. Nelson from Nelson’s Cherry Farm would win the Harvest Festival pie contest again this year or if someone would finally take the crown from her. Apparently, her three cherry pie was to die for. Although Willa had never been a big fan of that particular dessert, she found the idea of tart cherries and flaky crust appetizing. Thinking of pie had her stomach growling and bubbling with hunger. Willa’s eyes flicked to the clock on her laptop, her heart sinking when she saw that she had at least another little while to wait until her lunch date showed up.

It had only been two days since Willa had seen Beckett, but the absence she felt when he wasn’t around was already starting to get to her. The hollow, empty feeling in her chest from missing him wasn’t something she’d expected to experience so early in their relationship.Too much, too soon.The words played over and over, the chorus of the song of her past haunting her present. But how could she not feel so much for a man who was sweet, caring, gorgeous, and made a concerted effort to avoid her triggers and make himself better for her? Willa knew in her heart that Beckett wasn’t the same man as her ex and that things were different this time, but the intensity of the feelings she had for him scared her just as much as her last relationship had, maybe even more so.

Her therapist informed Willa that it was likely just jitters from stepping into something unfamiliar and having to learn to trust someone again, but knowing that didn’t make actually trusting everything about her feelings for Beckett any less difficult. Willa wished nothing more than to be able to blink her issues away and just enjoy the ride with him, but that wouldn’t happen, and she had to deal with all of those as well as the terrifying emotions that came along with a new relationship.Luckily, that relationship was with a patient man who wanted her despite the mountain of troubles she came with, and that was certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Clearing her head of the weighty emotions and newly determined to focus on her work, Willa returned to her typing only to be interrupted again moments later. This time it wasn’t her intrusive thoughts that had her fingers hovering over the keys, but a cold compress and an essential oil roller landing on her desk. Blinking from the items up to the person who threw them, her mouth twitched when she saw Lottie standing in front of her desk, one hand propped on her hip and a determined glint in her eyes.

Willa’s best friend looked particularly gorgeous that day in one of her signature looks. Her dark hair was styled like something straight out of a World War II propaganda film, the top twisted up in twin victory rolls and the rest falling in fat waves. Her body was encased in a red polka dot dress with a sweetheart neckline that showed off the pinup-worthy curves that Willa had always been the teensiest bit envious of. Lottie resembled a time traveler from the 1940s, a quirky and over-the-top look that suited her. Willa absolutely loved it.

Smiling, Willa grabbed the items Lottie had tossed her way. “How did you even know I would need these?” Willa uncapped the roller and applied some of the oil to the base of her neck. Peppermint, eucalyptus, and lavender wafted upward and the smell alone helped release some of the tension in her shoulders. As she pressed the cool compress to her temple, she studied the woman in front of her. Lottie was her very best friend and knew Willa well, but even she wasn’t powerful enough to predict the possibility of a migraine from miles away. “Are we connected by some sort of telepathy?”

Lottie chuckled, waving off Willa’s question as she moved to the chair in front of the desk and got comfortable. “Telepathywould be pretty cool, especially when I need you to grab extra milk at the store. But no, I heard that the city council meeting didn’t go very smoothly for the mayor and I know how cranky he gets when things don’t go his way.” She shrugged like having all of that information was typical for someone who didn’t work at Town Hall. “I figured I would drop those off for you to help deal with his grumbling.”

Raising a brow, Willa tucked the items into her desk drawer. “Okay, the fact that you are privy to so much of what goes on in this town is honestly a bit scary, but beyond that, how do you know so much about Nate and his moods?” Willa whispered. “There is clearly a history there, and the curiosity is killing me.”

Anytime Willa would bring it up to Lottie, her friend brushed it aside or made some vague comment about high school, but she never went into more detail than that. As someone who also had a hard time opening up to people about the past, Willa had tried to be understanding, but it was tough when there was obviously something between her friend and her boss.

Lottie’s perfectly manicured nail tapped against her chin. Finally, she shrugged and smiled sadly. “We went to high school together and competed for a lot of the same things like Student Body President, highest GPA, stuff like that. That’s how I know so much.” Her eyes shifted to Nate’s closed office door, a wistful look coming over her face before it morphed into something far more playful. “Speaking of the mayor, does he have a meeting on the books right now? I have business with him.”

“Lottie,” Willa warned. She could tell her friend was gearing up for something. One part of her was curious enough to see it play out, but another part, the one that liked her job and the money that came with it, wasn’t as keen to go along with it. “He’s not in a good mood.” In fact, Nate was in anuncharacteristically horrible mood and probably would be until he started making headway on his big project, something that no one but Willa seemed to want to help him with.

Lottie’s eyes sparkled as she bounced up from her seat. “That’s what makes it so fun, though.” She grabbed Willa’s desk phone, holding it out to her with big, pleading eyes. “Call him out for me, will you?”

Against her better judgement, Willa shook her head and pressed the buttons that patched her into Nate’s office phone. “You’re going to get me fired,” she mumbled.

Willa wasn’t sure why she always went along with Lottie’s schemes, but even in the short time they’d spent together in college, she had been helpless to not tag along with her dynamic friend. The woman had an insatiable curiosity about people and their business, and Willa always had a great time accompanying Lottie on her adventures, even if she herself didn’t understand the desire to learn everyone’s story. That was Lottie’s thing and right now it seemed she wanted a story from Nate. If nothing else, watching the two of them interact would be entertaining.

“Yes.” Nate’s voice was strained when he answered, and Willa instantly regretted her actions. Hopefully, Lottie wouldn’t push him to the brink, but one glance at her friend’s tenacious expression told Willa her hopes were likely in vain.

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