Page 29 of Playing with Fire

Stepping into the room, Willa raised a brow at her friend. “Wolves? Reformed rakes? You seem to have given this a little too much thought, sweetie.” Lottie disappeared as Willa shut the door in her face and tried on the dress at the woman’s beseeching. There was no doubt in her mind that it would be inappropriate for the occasion, but she didn’t mind humoring her friend.

“Of course I have,” Lottie huffed from the other side. “I have no dating prospects of my own and my well of usual hookups has run completely dry. Until it starts raining dick again, I have to live vicariously through you and anyone else who is getting some on the regular.”

Chuckling, Willa slipped the dress over her head, her eyes widening when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The dress was definitely short, but instead of looking a little risqué, it showed just the right amount of skin and made her legs look longer than normal with the lace back also giving just the slightest peek of skin. The dress was tastefully suggestive and completely perfect for whatever “special evening” Beckett had planned.

Opening the door, Willa stepped out and spread her arms wide. “What do you think?”

Lottie took one look at her and started a slow clap. “Yes, girl. You are going to get the pounding of a lifetime, and while I am envious as hell, I am also happy for you.” She wrapped Willainto a hug. “He’s a good man and you deserve him and every other awesome thing to come your way.”

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by her words, Willa turned away but couldn’t keep the shy smile on her face. “Thanks.” Slipping back into the dressing room to change, she called over the door to Lottie. “You deserve awesome things too, you know.”

“Maybe,” Lottie said quietly. “Doesn’t mean I’ll get them though.” Once Willa was facing her friend again, she was sad to see her looking slightly dejected.

Wrapping her arm around Lottie’s shoulder, Willa steered them toward the sales counter. “I think one of Beck’s coworkers is single. Dale, maybe?” She couldn’t remember the man’s exact name since Beckett often referred to him as “the probie.” “Want me to ask about a double date?”

Lottie rolled her eyes as the cashier rang up the sale. “Dale Banks is barely of legal drinking age, and I’m not that desperate.” She gnawed at her lower lip for a moment as Willa grabbed her purchase and they headed outside. “Actually, ask me again in six months. I might be that desperate then.”

“Will do,” Willa chortled.

When they got to her sedan, Willa paused at the door when she realized the promise she had just made. Would she and Beckett even be together in six months? With a smile, Willa slid into the car and started home to get ready for the date, the whole time hoping that the two of them would be together for a lot longer than that.

****

At the chime of the doorbell, Willa brushed past Lottie who had been putting the finishing touches on Willa’s hair and grabbed her purse. Excitement pulsed through her and she opened the door with a wide smile on her face, feeling like a kid in a candy store. It was an appropriate feeling since Beckett stood before her looking like quite the snack, and when he pulledanother bouquet of wildflowers from behind his back, she could see that he was a sweet one at that.

“Willa,” Beckett greeted. His honeyed voice was low, pouring over her just like the thick liquid as his eyes moved up and down her body. The move was a physical caress that caused goosebumps to break out over her skin even as her internal temperature racketed up a few degrees. “You are always beautiful, but tonight you are absolutely gorgeous.” He leaned down to brush a chaste kiss on her lips as he handed her the flowers.

That nearly was enough contact for Willa, and she was tempted to drop the bouquet and drag Beckett back to her room with both hands. Like the telepathic friend she was, Lottie appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the flowers from her. “I’ll take these,” she announced. After batting her eyelashes at Beckett, she winked at Willa and waltzed into the kitchen in search of a vase. Her head popped up from her cabinets and she waved them off. “Get out of here you crazy kids.”

Laughing, Willa and Beckett stepped out into the warm night. As they walked, Willa took in the view of him in a tight pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbow, putting the deliciously corded muscles of his forearms on display, though she missed seeing his ink. Fortunately for her, there was enough golden skin on display to make up for it being hidden away. Besides, the odds were good that she would be getting a look at his beautiful tattoos again later anyway. She could be patient.

Willa was so mesmerized by the way his muscular form moved that she didn’t notice that he was walking them toward a large, white truck until they were right next to it. “New ride?” she asked as he opened the door for her.

“Just for the night,” he explained. As he rounded the hood to his door, Willa glanced in the backseat, smiling when she sawa cooler and pile of blankets. When Beckett hopped inside, he clucked his tongue at her. “No peeking. You’ll spoil the surprise.”

Holding up her hands, Willa smiled and let the low music pouring out through the speakers do most of the talking while they drove, content to sit next to Beckett and simply enjoy his presence. As the lights of the neighborhood started to fade, she saw that they were heading toward the mountain where she’d twisted her ankle. “Pretty dicey play, Beck. Taking me back to the scene of one of the worst dates of my life.”

Beckett smiled crookedly at her and turned off onto an adjacent dirt road. “I’m not taking you up the trail, though as painful as that day was for you, I do have some very fond memories of it.”

Remembering the way it felt to be carried by Beckett made her feel tingly all over. Reaching across the console, Willa took his hand in hers and clasped it firmly, lacing their fingers together. “I do too,” she admitted. As crappy as that date had started out, it did end quite well.

“Good.” He kissed her hand and pulled the truck to a stop.

Pulling her gaze from him, Willa gazed out the window to see that they were at the edge of a very large orchard. “Is this…?”

“Yup,” he said, his hazel eyes dancing merrily. “This is home.” Willa looked over at Beckett to see him staring at her with a tender yearning, perhaps thinking that his new home wasn’t a place, but a person instead. As she gazed at him, she also started to wonder if the special part of the evening was finally meeting Beckett’s parents, and suddenly she wished she had worn anything but the dress that was on her body. At her panicked expression, Beckett chuckled and opened his door. “Don’t worry. Tonight’s just the two of us.”

Appreciating Beckett’s ability to read her mind a little, Willa stepped out of the truck. Oddly enough, she was actually a little disappointed to hear that she wouldn’t be meeting thepeople who raised him to be the wonderful man he was today. Other than feeling inappropriately dressed, she had gotten excited at the prospect. “I wouldn’t have minded if we were meeting other people here. If that’s something that’s important to you, it’s important to me too.”

Beckett’s face lit up like she’d just handed him the world. “Yeah?” As Willa nodded, he drew her into his side and swayed them gently. “Maybe next time, but I want to share this with you first.”

He grabbed the cooler and blankets from the backseat and moved to the rear of the truck. Lowering the bed to reveal a number of sleeping bags, Beckett climbed up and started setting up a makeshift bed for the two of them. Once it was all laid out, he reached down and pulled Willa into the truck with him.

Smiling, Willa lay on the padded truck bed and raised a brow at him. “Got a small taste for sex in public and now you want more, huh?”

Chuckling, Beckett joined her and reached into the cooler to pull out a bottle of sparkling apple cider, two plastic champagne flutes, and a container filled with lemon bars. “I’m definitely not going to say no to that, but maybe not in a place where my dad or brother could run into us.”

Beckett popped the top on the cider and poured them both a glass. They clinked them together, the plastic making a dull thud. “Deal.” Willa sipped at the cider, the tickle of the bubbles on her tongue pulling a little giggle from between her lips. “Well, if we aren’t out here for a little exhibitionism, what are we doing?”

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